The Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday acquired Jhoan Duran, one of baseball’s best relievers, and they paid a high price to the Minnesota Twins to get it done.
Minnesota received catcher Eduardo Tait, regarded as a top 100 prospect, and pitcher Mick Abel, a rookie with six years of team control. They are ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, among the Phillies’ minor league prospects by ESPN.
Duran, 27, is known for two wipeout pitches — a fastball with an average velocity of 100.2 mph and a curveball he throws in the mid-80s — and he is among the most dominant closers. David Dombrowski, the Phillies’ head of baseball operations, again aggressively worked to plug a major hole in the bullpen.
“We got a dominant closer for a tough price, two good players, but something that we think [with] where we are makes sense,” Dombrowski said.
The Phillies have a deep and powerful rotation and a lineup composed of sluggers such as Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, but their bullpen has been a problem again. Jordan Romano, who was signed in the offseason, has struggled, and Jose Alvarado was suspended for 80 games under baseball’s performance-enhancing drug policy. Alvarado will be back to pitch in August, but because of his suspension, he is ineligible to pitch in the playoffs and World Series, if the Phillies get that far.
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The Phillies have 16 blown saves this season, tied for fourth most in the National League. And they have struggled to find a permanent closer, as five players have multiple blown saves, tied for third most in the majors, trailing only the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels, who both have six.
“This guy’s one of the best closers in baseball,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Duran, “and we’ve turned the bullpen into a really good bullpen as far as I’m concerned.”
Dombrowski has a long track record of being willing to give up high-level prospects in midseason deals. Last year, he aggressively moved for Carlos Estevez.
He said a lot of teams with available closers asked for Andrew Painter, but the Phillies have decided they aren’t going to trade the highly regarded right-hander right now. The contractual control for Duran played a role in the team going ahead with the deal. He isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2027 season.
“We would not have paid this price for a rental,” Dombrowski said.
The Phillies have an older roster. Schwarber and catcher J.T. Realmuto are eligible for free agency at season’s end, and the general perception within the industry is that the team is in a window to win now.
Word of the move filtered through the Phillies during their rain-delayed loss to the White Sox on Wednesday, one that dropped them to 61-47 on the season and a half-game back of the NL East-leading New York Mets, who also were busy with a pair of trades to help fortify their bullpen Wednesday.
“I think that whenever you make a splash for a high-caliber player, that means something,” Schwarber said. “It means that they really want to help put you over the top and get you going.”
Duran was expected to join the team before Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Tait, 18, is hitting .251 with 11 homers for Single-A Clearwater. Abel was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020 and progressed to the big leagues for the first time this season.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan, ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
