CHICAGO — They had slogged through a 3-hour, 35-minute rain delay as the trade market intensified Wednesday afternoon, and now, inside Suite 420 at Rate Field, it was the top of the third inning. Everything stopped. Dave Dombrowski, the veteran executive known for his aggressiveness, had news to share. He gathered the 15 or so members of his front office in the back of the suite as the Phillies played the White Sox below.
They had a deal for hard-throwing closer Jhoan Duran. Dombrowski had authored his signature deadline transaction while running the Phillies.
“I really didn’t think this one was possible,” Dombrowski said, “a couple days ago.”
The Phillies acquired, perhaps, the best reliever available in a trade and did not surrender their best prospects. The cost was significant — Eduardo Tait is one of the finer prospects to be included in any trade deadline deal in recent years, and Mick Abel is a potential mid-rotation starter. But Abel was blocked in the Phillies’ current (and future) rotation picture while Tait is years from being ready.
It was a win-now move that has benefits beyond 2025. In that regard, Dombrowski satisfied several goals. The Phillies, through a lackluster offseason and the suspension of José Alvarado, were backed into a corner. Dombrowski had to act. Selling teams knew that. And the Phillies emerged with a deal that rival evaluators either viewed as fair or even favorable to the Phillies.
“This guy’s one of the best closers in baseball,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “and we’ve turned the bullpen into a really good bullpen, as far as I’m concerned now.”
Duran will be Thomson’s closer, a label the manager has not often bestowed during his tenure. Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm will be the primary setup men. David Robertson, who is expected to join the Phillies next week, can pitch in the middle of the game. So will Tanner Banks and Max Lazar in certain matchups. Alvarado will return in mid-August and could pitch in important spots during the final six weeks of the season. (He is not eligible for the postseason.) Later in September, the Phillies could move a starter (Jesús Luzardo?) to the bullpen.
It’s not a perfect bullpen. But it is an improved one.
“Personally, I remember in ’16 when (the Chicago Cubs) traded for Aroldis Chapman and it just kind of lifted the spirits of everyone,” Kyle Schwarber said. “And I feel like that’s going to be the same thing, especially when we get him in here, get to meet him, and then let him roll out there for his first inning.”
The message sent by the front office was received.
“We have a really good chance to win a World Series this year,” Bryce Harper said. “And I think some of the things we’ve run into the last couple of years were the bullpen. Everybody knows that. I don’t think that it’s a secret.”
Dave Dombrowski on Jhoan Duran pic.twitter.com/zlxT0bFhRu
— cam ! (@aokstott) July 31, 2025
The Phillies had signaled to clubs earlier this month that they were willing to shop in a more expensive aisle. They have a top-heavy farm system and, after numerous summers of flipping decent prospects for rental players, a desire to break that pattern. But the front office needed a significant transaction in July to atone for an unproductive offseason. The Phillies had the same needs at this deadline as they did a year ago: a late-inning reliever and a right-handed bat. They could use their best competitive advantage — money — to fill those holes. So, again, they dipped into the farm system.
Dombrowski, the club’s president of baseball operations, cited a deeper system for his willingness to think bigger at the deadline. “Even though we traded two really good prospects, we have four more that are in the top 100 prospects in baseball. We just drafted a guy (Gage Wood) who I think probably fits into that category.” The fit with Duran, in Dombrowski’s mind, was too good to overlook.
That said, the Minnesota Twins began the week asking for Andrew Painter as the return. The Phillies held firm on not including Painter in a potential deadline deal last summer for Garrett Crochet, one of the game’s aces. They were not going to budge on that stance this summer while pursuing a closer.
Painter, the organization’s best pitching prospect in decades, drew significant interest. If the Phillies wanted A’s closer Mason Miller, the package had to start with Painter, major-league sources told The Athletic.
The Phillies kept Justin Crawford, a prospect perhaps cherished more by the Phillies than the rest of the industry, from trade talks. Same with shortstop Aidan Miller, who could factor into the club’s 2026 plans. It is rare to see anyone trade a consensus top-100 prospect at the deadline; Tait is considered one, and Abel has reclaimed that status in some organizations’ minds.
The talks between the Phillies and Twins were muddled, Dombrowski said, and it was not until Monday that a path emerged. Still, leading into Wednesday, the Phillies were convinced another club would outbid them. Minnesota softened on its stance with Painter but wanted Abel in the deal because he’s expected to slot into their big-league rotation soon, though he’ll begin at Triple A. The Phillies made their final offer during what became a stressful rain delay for the front office.
“Well,” Dombrowski quipped. “Did we have a rain delay?”
Members of the front office spread out on the club-level concourse during the delay to take phone calls and decompress. The Phillies had started to canvas secondary bullpen targets; St. Louis’ Ryan Helsley was atop their list in terms of rentals. He was traded to the New York Mets soon after the Phillies landed Duran. But the Phillies had solicited other clubs for non-closer-type relievers with years of control. The Duran situation was not certain.
Twins ownership had a meeting with their front office around 5 p.m. CT. They reviewed the proposals; the Seattle Mariners were believed to have a competitive package for Duran. Then, less than 20 minutes later, Dombrowski got a call.
It was done.
“I do think that having Abel close to the big leagues made a difference,” Dombrowski said. “Because I do know that they had a lot of interest in (Duran). We’ve heard from a lot of clubs that were trying to get them after we got him.”
Duran checks many of the desired boxes. He throws hard. He has postseason experience. He is equally good against righties and lefties. But there are unknowns. Duran has thrived in a smaller market with a franchise that does not harbor all-or-nothing expectations. His four-seam fastball is averaging a career-low 100.3 mph this season. Minnesota used him often; Duran is on pace to eclipse his previous high in innings (67 2/3), set in his rookie year.
So, for the first time in his career, he’s featured his “splinker,” which is a combination of a split-finger fastball and sinker, more than his traditional fastball. The splinker sits at 97 mph. It’s one of the more unusual pitches in the sport.
Duran has a 2.01 ERA in 49 outings despite the diminished velocity. His strikeout rate has steadily dropped every season; it’s 25.7 percent, which ranks 62nd among 169 qualified relievers. That, too, is a concern. But opponents have generated a career-low .546 OPS against him.
Dombrowski and Preston Mattingly, the Phillies general manager, briefly spoke to Duran after the deal was finalized. He’ll meet the team on Friday at Citizens Bank Park.
“I think the makeup’s pretty good because one of the things that he said was that he’d do anything we want him to do,” Thomson said. “But we want him to close.”
For more than two months, the current bullpen held. Somewhat. The Phillies are 51-2 when they have a lead after seven innings. Strahm, Kerkering, Banks and Lazar had combined for a 2.53 ERA in 106 2/3 innings with 101 strikeouts and 30 walks since May 9. But the Phillies have walked a tightrope without enough swing-and-miss stuff.
They were 7-14 when tied after six innings before Lazar and Seth Johnson permitted seven runs in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 9-3 loss. Now they’re 7-15.
Having more in the middle, now, helps in those situations. With Duran at the back of the bullpen, Thomson can deploy Strahm and Kerkering in earlier spots. He could have gone to one of them on Wednesday instead of Lazar, who has pitched his way into bigger roles. But regression came fast for Lazar.
Strahm, the veteran of the group, was asked how much a set closer would benefit the entire bullpen.
“A lot,” Strahm said.
Why?
“We know one of the roles,” Strahm said. “So that helps.”
Tait, who does not turn 19 until August, is the prized piece headed to Minnesota. Catching prospects are valuable. Especially ones as young as Tait with the bat speed he’s displayed in the low minors. His bat has attracted evaluators from the day he came stateside in 2024; he signed for $90,000 as a Panamanian teenager.
But evaluators have differing opinions about Tait’s future behind the plate. He needs development as a catcher. He is a big-bodied prospect who has struggled with some catching basics. But he’s an advanced hitter for his age and plays a premium position. There is huge upside for an organization that can practice patience with Tait.
The Phillies do not have patience. There is so much at stake, and it’s why they’ll continue to mine for an outfield upgrade. If there is no fit, the outfield remake could arrive in the form of a Crawford promotion.
For the last two deadlines, Dombrowski has said it was up to his star players to deliver. No one trade would put the Phillies over the top. There still isn’t. But this situation called for a bigger swing, and Duran was the target.
Now, he’s the closer on a team with championship expectations.
“The numbers don’t lie,” Harper said. “He’s one of the best in baseball. He’s in the game, the game’s usually over.”
(Top photo of Jhoan Duran: Winslow Townson / Getty Images)
