Minnesota Twins Sale Suddenly on an Expedited Timeline
The Minnesota Twins ownership has had a contentious relationship with its fan base for a long time. Sure, there have been honeymoon periods. Like when Carl Pohlad first saved the organization from being relocated in 1984. Then, there was the near decade-long immunity Target Field brought them.
But any good PR gained by the Pohlads over the near fifteen years since Target Field was built — whether it was the Joe Mauer extension right before, the Carlos Correa free agent signing more recently or the deepest playoff run since 2004, in 2023 — it all evaporated with one offseason of $30 million in payroll cuts between the 2023 and 2024 seasons.
Combine those budget cuts with one of the worst 2nd half collapses in franchise history, this last fall, and a fanbase growing more and more apathetic with every season they can’t watch, thanks to a TV broadcast partnership that went bankrupt… let’s just say relations between fans and ownership was at a breaking point, entering this offseason.
Pohlads, Minnesota Twins mutually agree to part ways
It got so bad, at the end of the season, that fans were being detained and kicked out of Target Field for bringing “Fire the Pohlads” signs to home games. That was yet another PR disaster, for a team that had negative trust built up with a fed up fanbase.
This is insane! My new hero @bailbino proudly displayed these signs at Target Field on Friday night, where he was subsequently ARRESTED and BANNED from the stadium for a year.
— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 28, 2024
I'm probably not tweeting this for an article that's about to get 1 million pageviews. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/nUQ7MP5yJo
In October, the Pohlads finally threw up their hands. They put a “For Sale” sign on the MLB franchise that it has owned for 40 years. And the fans cheered. Since then, multiple reports have surfaced with rumored interest coming from mostly local rich people.
This week, however, another wave of insider reports hit the rumor mill suggesting the Pohlads were not getting offers in the price range of what they were asking, which is believed to be $1.7 million. As recently as Thursday, Derek Falvey told reporters at the MLB Winter Meetings that the sale of the Minnesota Twins was not expected to happen imminently.
Related: Minnesota Twins Select Pitcher in 2024 Rule 5 Draft
The Twins’ new president went as far as to say that the Twins were still on phase one of the selling process, which is gathering all the information needed to move to phase two, which is exploring interested buyers. not yet to the phase where they were taking offers.
“There is a phase one of the process, which is gathering a ton of information. Our lawyers and our finance people, and everyone else who needs to get everything into order, they’ve been working like crazy to get it that way. Then there’s the next phase to the process when potential buyers are starting to look into this. We’re not in that phase yet.”
Derek Falvey at the MLB Winter Meetings this week
Again, just to be clear, these quotes came out of Derek Falvey’s mouth within the past couple of days and hit the news cycle in the last 36 hours. Why is that noteworthy? Because it turns out Falvey was lying.
On Friday, news broke that a new interested party was exploring a purchase of the Minnesota Twin. And it isn’t just any parth. It’s the Ishbia brothers, current owners of the Phoenix Suns. We aren’t talking about mild interest, either.
According to The Athletic, Justin Ishbia has already been in town. Why? He has “held several meetings with local leaders” to investigate the business viability of the Twins and the Twin Cities baseball market.
Minnesota Twins sale timeline has been expedited
Not only have talks evolved far enough to where the Ishbias are in town, ingratiating themselves with people that matter locally. But the timeline of the sale, itself, seems to have been expedited exponentially. We’ve gone from struggling through “phase one”, just a day or two ago, to an expected resolution within six months, per The Athletic’s latest reporting.
Earlier this year, Forbes and Sportico estimated the Twins to be worth $1.46 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively. The most recent Major League Baseball team to sell is the Baltimore Orioles, who fetched $1.725 billion in March.
Several parties briefed on the matter expect the Twins’ sale process to take six months, which means a new ownership group is unlikely to be in place before Opening Day.
Dan Hayes, Sam Amick and Dennis Lin – The Athletic
To recap: One day after we were told to prepare ourselves for a long, drawn-out sales process, MLB insiders now believe it’s possible the Minnesota Twins have new owners by Opening Day. Even if it’s still “unlikely”, that’s a lot different than what Falvey propagated earlier this week.
Think about it. Six months from today, which is the new reported timeline, would land us on June 13. That’s more than a month before the 2025 All-Star break… and a month and half before the trade deadline. Of note: The Phoenix Suns traded for Kevin Durant just three days later. Talk about a fun deadline…
Related: Minnesota Twins Still Near Top of 2025 AL Central Odds
So, what did we learn today? We learned that the grass may very well be greener on the other side. More importantly, we once again learned that any words falling out of Derek Falvey’s mouth cannot be trusted. That man will say anything to anyone, depending on the situation.
Either our team president was in the dark (doubtful) or he was lying (most likely). I wouldn’t shed a tear if Falvey was not in the Ishbia brothers’ long-term plan, either. That has very much been confirmed for me this week, too.
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