Former Phillies Top Prospect Already Making Huge Impact For Twins After Trade

The Philadelphia Phillies were one of the more active teams across baseball at the trade deadline last week including a massive splash that landed them a new closer for the next several years.

Early return wise, things between the Phillies and Jhoan Durán are looking tremendous without a single hit allowed or walk given up in his two converted save opportunities thus far.

In order to land Durán in a blockbuster with the Minnesota Twins though, Philadelphia had to give up a huge return in two top-100 prospects, right-handed pitcher Mick Abel and young catcher Eduardo Tait.

Though Durán has been phenomenal, both youngsters have a chance to be stars as well, and Tait proved that on Wednesday with his new team.

After just being promoted to High-A right before the trade and only playing seven games for Jersey Shore, the 18-year-old had not yet hit a home run.

How Has Tait Performed For Twins Since the Trade?

That changed Wednesday night as Tait blasted not only his first home run since becoming a member of the Twins organization and joining Cedar Rapids, but his first blast at this level of the minor leagues:

18-year-old Eduardo Tait goes yard for the first time as a member of the @Twins organization! ⚡️

MLB's No. 56 prospect -- acquired in the Jhoan Duran deal -- collects his first High-A homer for the @CRKernels: pic.twitter.com/OLJO3sQi23
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 7, 2025

It's only been four games, however Tait has already raised his numbers from the kind of slash line he was producing in Single-A for the Phillies organization.

Slashing .250/.294/.500 and now adding a second extra base hit as well as an RBI, Tait is outpacing his .759 OPS that he had in 75 games with Clearwater this year. In those 75 games, the young slugger did collect 11 home runs and 51 RBI with 73 total hits.

Still so young, Tait likely has a very long way to go before he even reaches Double-A, let alone any consideration of the big leagues.

Philadelphia could not afford to squander a very real World Series opportunity this season without a premium closer by holding onto a player who's still at least three if not more years away from making a Major League impact.

Make no mistake, the Phillies did not make the wrong decision by acquiring Durán, and making a deep run with him leading the charge in the bullpen would reinforce that.

That doesn't mean it won't sting if Tait turns into an absolute superstar and a prospect who rises to the very peak of the top-100 list.

Fans in Philadelphia will be keeping a close eye on whether or not Tait can continue to develop at such a rapid pace and eventually make them question the trade.