Twins’ Jhoan Duran puts MLB world on hug-watch alert with ultimate fakeout

Jhoan Duran put the baseball world on notice — and made everyone refresh their social media feeds — with one moment of embrace on Tuesday night.

The hard-throwing Twins reliever has been at the center of trade deadline rumors and appeared to confirm those suspicions when he was spotted by TV cameras hugging the team’s bullpen catcher, Frank Nigro, at Target Field during Minnesota’s game against the Red Sox.

It quickly sent folks into a frenzy, with people thinking Duran was in a trade to be announced.

But this hug watch was a bust — at least for now.

Jhoan Duran shared a hug with his Twins bullpen.

Not long after the clip went viral, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that Duran had not in fact been traded and that “he was just hugging his bullpen catcher because that’s what friends do sometimes.”

With less than 48 hours to go until the deadline arrives, Duran is still a Twin.

But with Minnesota at 51-55, they’re likely full-on sellers, meaning a reliever such as Duran — who has two more years of team control — is a big prize in this year’s market that could fetch the Twins a solid return.

Jhoan Duran delivers a pitch during the ninth inning of the Twins’ home win over the Red Sox on July 28, 2025. Getty Images

One National League scout told The Post’s Jon Heyman this week that out of the available relievers on the market, they would rank Duran first on a list of 10 other relievers, which also included the righty’s teammate, Griffin Jax.

The 27-year-old has been one of the best relievers in baseball since getting called up in 2022, and this year, he holds a 2.01 ERA and 211 ERA+ with 53 strikeouts in 49 1/3 innings.

He’s saved 20-plus games the past two seasons and is on pace to do so again with 16 this year.