All Things 2025 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

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Duran would have likely received a significant pay bump via arbitration from his $4.12M this and with Jax and Varland, we have enough late inning options.

Nice article by Matthew Leach, Twins beat writer on MLB regarding Tait and Able -

MINNEAPOLIS – The reshaping of the Twins took a rapid step forward on Wednesday when the club agreed to trade closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies for Top 100 prospects Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel. The deal came together approximately 24 hours before the Trade Deadline, and could be the beginning of a busy Deadline for Minnesota.

TRADE DETAILS
Twins receive: C Eduardo Tait (MLB No. 56 prospect), RHP Mick Abel (MLB No. 92 prospect)

Phillies receive: RHP Jhoan Duran
“It’s always weird,” manager Rocco Baldelli said on Wednesday morning. “And it’s always challenging. In a lot of ways, you love your players and you love everything they do for you and for the team. And you care about them, and you treat them well, and you know they have families, and you know this can be an uneasy time. It’s also a time of, sometimes, change and opportunity as well. You have to treat it as is.”

In Abel, the Twins receive a big, hard-throwing right-hander with a broad arsenal who already has some Major League experience. He made six starts for the Phillies earlier this year though he was returned to Triple-A after struggling in the last two.

Abel, who turns 24 next month, slots in as the No. 6 prospect in the Twins’ farm system and he ranks No. 92 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. He will initially report to Triple-A St. Paul. However, for a club facing multiple starting pitching injuries that’s currently short on starting depth, it would not be shocking if he were inserted into the Major League rotation sooner than later.

Tait, who turns 19 in August, is a left-handed hitting catcher who is highly regarded for his power and his throwing arm. He was recently promoted from Single-A to High-A, and has a combined .255/.319/.434 line across the two levels this year. Tait will be assigned to High-A Cedar Rapids.
 











TNGophfan said:
I think Jax goes but they keep Ryan.
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Hope so😊

Do you know what teams are still shopping for high end relievers?

Passan wrote that the Twins asking price for Duran & Jax was two Top 100 prospects, which he thought might be too high. 4 Top 100 prospects would oy us inthe upper tier of farm systems and give hope to the fans and New Ownership 🤞
 

Gopher_In_NYC said:
Duran would have likely received a significant pay bump via arbitration from his $4.12M this and with Jax and Varland, we have enough late inning options.

Nice article by Matthew Leach, Twins beat writer on MLB regarding Tait and Able -

MINNEAPOLIS – The reshaping of the Twins took a rapid step forward on Wednesday when the club agreed to trade closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies for Top 100 prospects Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel. The deal came together approximately 24 hours before the Trade Deadline, and could be the beginning of a busy Deadline for Minnesota.

TRADE DETAILS
Twins receive: C Eduardo Tait (MLB No. 56 prospect), RHP Mick Abel (MLB No. 92 prospect)

Phillies receive: RHP Jhoan Duran
“It’s always weird,” manager Rocco Baldelli said on Wednesday morning. “And it’s always challenging. In a lot of ways, you love your players and you love everything they do for you and for the team. And you care about them, and you treat them well, and you know they have families, and you know this can be an uneasy time. It’s also a time of, sometimes, change and opportunity as well. You have to treat it as is.”

In Abel, the Twins receive a big, hard-throwing right-hander with a broad arsenal who already has some Major League experience. He made six starts for the Phillies earlier this year though he was returned to Triple-A after struggling in the last two.

Abel, who turns 24 next month, slots in as the No. 6 prospect in the Twins’ farm system and he ranks No. 92 in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. He will initially report to Triple-A St. Paul. However, for a club facing multiple starting pitching injuries that’s currently short on starting depth, it would not be shocking if he were inserted into the Major League rotation sooner than later.

Tait, who turns 19 in August, is a left-handed hitting catcher who is highly regarded for his power and his throwing arm. He was recently promoted from Single-A to High-A, and has a combined .255/.319/.434 line across the two levels this year. Tait will be assigned to High-A Cedar Rapids.
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Tait is now listed as our #4 prospect and MLB ETA is 2028 - that’s one slot ahead of Cullpepper
 





TNGophfan said:
Next years starting rotation - Lopez, Ryan, Ober, Zebby and Abel. Would be nice to have a decent lefty.
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You may have to wait a few years, but Hill’s stuff has been turning heads from what zve seen online.

Only 19 and 165 Lbs, but ranked #7 prospect, with only Able ahead of him as a pitcher at #6.

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

While the Twins aggressively went after advanced bats in the 2024 Draft, taking college hitters with seven of their first eight picks, they made one exception in Competitive Balance Round B. That’s when they took Hill, a super-projectable Texas high school left-hander. The best prep southpaw from the Lone Star State since Kyle Muller, Hill received an over-slot bonus of $2 million to sign him away from his Dallas Baptist commitment. He didn’t pitch last summer, instead focusing on building up and preparing for his first full season of pro ball.

Following a growth spurt during his senior year, Hill now stands 6-foot-5 and saw his velocity increase thanks to his added size and strength. While pitching in live BP settings with the Twins, he was consistently 93-95 mph with his fastball, touching 96, in line with how he was dealing during his senior season. His low-80s sweeper is his best pitch, thrown with high spin rates and the ability to backfoot right-handed hitters. His upper-70s curve is a distinct breaking pitch with more depth and his changeup flashes average or more movement and should be a weapon, especially against right-handed hitters.

The Twins will be conservative with Hill’s usage out of the gate as a high schooler who still could add a ton of strength to his long frame. They’ll want to see how his stuff plays against pro hitters before trying to change much in terms of pitch design, and it's more about getting innings under his belt while he refines his secondary offerings and focuses on repeating his delivery to land all of his stuff in the strike zone.
 

Breakin' The Plane said:
Three years ago, the Twins #4 prospect was Joe Ryan. Worked out OK.
Four years ago, it was Jordan Balazovic...
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It’s a total crap shoot, but that’s part of the fun for me, he’s also only 19 and should be at Double A, next year at some point.

Would love to have a good young catcher in his early 20s about ten years.
 


GophersInIowa said:
After 6 innings the Twins will be leading a lot of games 3-1 but then end up losing 8-3 because we have no bullpen left.
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So you would not have made those trades and just stood firm?

Why do you think next year would be any different than this year?
 
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Here’s Tait and Able’s MLB scouting reports-

Scouting grades: Hit: 50 | Power: 60 | Run: 40 | Arm: 60 | Field: 45 | Overall: 55

The Phillies have had some success in finding catchers in Panama at bargain prices. They got Carlos Ruiz for $8,000 back in 1999, and he helped them win a World Series less than a decade later. In January 2023, they spent $90,000 to sign Tait out of Panama, and the early returns have been very encouraging. The young catcher raked in the Dominican Summer League after signing, then played his way from the Florida Complex League to full-season ball before he turned 18 during his first trip to the United States in 2024. He went to the All-Star Futures Game in 2025 and had recently been bumped from Single-A Clearwater to High-A Jersey Shore when he was sent along with Mick Abel to the Twins in the Jhoan Duran Trade Deadline deal.

A left-handed-hitting backstop, Tait has already displayed some impressive hitting traits. He finds the barrel consistently and makes a lot of hard contact. He’s capable of driving the ball to all fields and can hit the ball out everywhere, showing good power for such a young age. Like many young hitters with pop, he can get a little pull happy at times but should be able to learn to trust his natural strength and bat speed as he progresses.

While Tait’s overall defensive game is a work in progress, there's reason to believe he’s headed in the right direction after showing a lot of improvement behind the dish last year. He sets up well and his receiving has gotten better to the point where they think he could be an average defender in the future, pairing nicely with his plus arm. If that keeps trending in that direction, Tait should have no problem being a big league regular catcher in the future.

—————————-

Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 55

Taken in the middle of the first round of the shortened 2020 Draft, Abel brought size, outstanding stuff and what seemed to be a good feel for pitching for a high schooler to the Phillies organization. Despite struggling more with his command than anticipated, he climbed the organizational ladder and reached Triple-A in 2023, pitching in the Futures Game that summer. His control regressed even more with a return to Triple-A in 2024, though the Phillies still added him to the 40-man roster during the offseason. He had rewarded their faith in him by putting up the most consistent numbers of his career in Triple-A in 2025, earning six starts in the big leagues. He wasn’t faring quite as well in June and July and then was dealt to the Twins along with Eduardo Tait in return for Jhoan Duran at the Trade Deadline.

Abel still possesses many of the qualities that made him a top Draft prospect, with four or five quality pitches coming from his 6-foot-5 frame. After dipping a little bit in 2024, he was back up to averaging nearly 96 mph on his fastball at the time of the trade in '25, topping out at 99 with his four-seamer, while missing a decent amount of bats with it. He also added a two-seamer that generated more contact on the ground. In 2023, his curve, now thrown in the 81-84 mph range, was the better of his two breaking balls, but last year his mid-80s slider was a more consistent option, especially in terms of landing it for strikes, though the curve missed more bats in 2025. He can sell his upper-80s changeup with sink well.

While he hasn’t taken the steps forward he would have liked, it should be noted that Abel was one of the youngest pitchers in the International League and has been pitching most of this season at age 23. He’s worked on his arm swing and delivery so he can be more on time, which had allowed him to find the strike zone more consistently, at least earlier in the season, giving hope he can still reach his ceiling as a big league starter.
 



Gopher_In_NYC said:
Per this report from MLB, Bader fetched two prospects, including their #12 prospect, an OF

www.mlb.com

Phillies add Bader to OF mix in 2nd trade with Twins (source)

The Phillies are acquiring veteran outfielder Harrison Bader in a trade with the Twins, a source told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki on Thursday. The teams have not confirmed the deal. Philadelphia is sending outfielder Hendry Mendez (Phillies' No. 12 prospect) and righty Geremy Villoria to Minnesota in...
www.mlb.com www.mlb.com
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The OF probably was #14 before the Duran trade.
 


Gopher_In_NYC said:
So you would not have made those trades and just stood firm?

Why do you think next year would be any different than this year?
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Bader absolutely makes sense. No I don't like getting rid of good players under cheap contracts for several more years.
 

GophersInIowa said:
Bader absolutely makes sense. No I don't like getting rid of good players under cheap contracts for several more years.
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I understand your comment, but my post was really regarding relievers, as the inference in your post was we would have copious amounts of blown leads from the bullpen, due to the trades culminated thus far.

My second question was this -

Why do you think next year would be any different than this year

Bader had a nice bounce back year, but $10M (next year’s number) @32, doesn’t seem like it will have a significant impact, as we should be able to find a cheaper 4 OF option🤷‍♂️
 

TNGophfan said:
Entirely possible but it seems you can add some decent bullpen arms in off season at reasonable prices.
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Yep maybe it works out. But IMO, you only trade away good, controllable, cheap players for 3 main reasons:
1. Clubhouse cancer, wants to be traded, etc
2. The offer/return is just too good to pass up
3. You're going into a major multi-year rebuilding phase

I don't think 1. applies to Duran or Stewart. Haven't seen the details of the Stewart trade but I wouldn't say 2. applied to Duran. I think many thought this team was more talented than the results showed this year so I don't think 3. needs to happen UNLESS that includes a major rehaul of the organizational strategy.

I hope I'm completely wrong and I'm sure I'm being a bit dramatic, but I don't like it.
 

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