I've documented on this site over the past two years how the Minnesota Twins have taught a master class in how to whizz away fan enthusiasm not seen since 2010, which was their debut season in Target Field.
The main target of Twins fans' disdain has been Joe Pohlad, the third generation of the family who has owned the Twins since 1984. In November 2023, literally one month after the Twins won their first postseason game in 19 years and first playoff series win in 21 seasons, Pohlad, who supplanted uncle Jim as the chief principal of the club, announced an approximate 20% slashing of payroll for 2024. Then in the midst of a12-game win streak in May of 2024, the Twins were no longer available on local television due to a dispute with its regional carrier. In July of that year, the Twins' postseason odds were north of 90%, yet the only move they made at the trade deadline was for a mediocre relief pitcher whom they would release before season's end. The team would lose 27 of its final 39 games, missing the playoffs altogether. When Pohlad made himself available to print media the final weekend of that season, he dismissed the notion that "right-sizing" his family's business had anything to do with the team's demise.
The buffoonery continued into 2025. Despite the Twins playing solid baseball in the first half of the season (including a 13-game winning streak in May), the team began to flounder in June and July, so much so that where they were in the position to be sellers at the July 31st trade deadline. However, not even the most cynical Twins can could have foreseen the club trading 40% of the players on their active roster. Sure, fans were not pleased with the decimation of the roster, but they could at least cling to the hope that a sale of the team was imminent, which the Pohlads indicated ten months prior that they were exploring. But that applecart was upset when it was announced the family would remain the principal owners while bringing in minority investors to help alleviate their enormous debt load.
With more than 98% of fans surveyed grading the Pohlad ownership group at a D or F, the family had to do something, anything to throw fans a bone. When gathering to identify the minority investors, the Pohlad family kinda buried that lede upon announcing a leadership shakeup.
Fourteen months after the Pohlad family announced it was exploring a sale of the Minnesota Twins, and four months after it instead decided to maintain control of the team and take on limited partners, the transaction is finally complete.
Glick Family Investments, which is based in New York, and Värde Partners co-founder and co-executive chair George G. Hicks, alongside other Minnesota business leaders, have joined on as principal investors, while Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold will also be a limited partner.
The reveal comes alongside even bigger news: Tom Pohlad, who has been leading the sale process on behalf of the family for the past 14 months, will succeed his brother, Joe, as the team’s executive chair. With Major League Baseball approval — expected to come early next year — Tom Pohlad will also take over as the organization’s control person, a role currently being filled by his uncle, Jim Pohlad.
“As a family, this time has caused us to do a lot of self-reflection about what’s been working and what needs to improve in the organization,” Tom Pohlad said. “When we took a hard look at things, it’s undeniable that we haven’t won enough baseball games, the financial health of the club has been put in jeopardy and we’ve got a fanbase that has lost trust in us as owners and, as a result, the organization and the direction it’s headed.”
And when asked about "right-sizing" the business at the expense of augmenting a roster that finally had some postseason success, Tom appeared to throw lil bro Joe under the bus.
"We made what we thought at the time was a responsible financial decision, and we obviously failed to consider the long-term impact of that decision, and the short-term impact of that decision, frankly," he said. "We sucked the air right out of our fan base, and it did significant damage to our brand and to our family from a confidence standpoint. Plain and simple, we got it wrong."
While that's more a confirmation than a revelation, it's refreshing to actually hear those words spoken by a Pohlad family member. So does this mean they're going to be big spenders in the offseason? That's highly unlikely. But it would appear they're (for now) going to hang on to high profile players like starting pitchers Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez as well as outfielder Byron Buxton. But if the team once again has a losing record at the July 31 trade deadline, look for one if not all those players to be dealt.
I'm not terribly optimistic for a successful 2026 season but, on paper, this Twins team as currently constructed aren't exactly the 2024 Chicago White Sox. Here's hoping this latest restructuring of leadership is a step in the right direction.
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