Tom Pohlad Hires Himself as Minnesota Twins President

By Eric Strack |

Updated: Apr 4, 2026

Tom Pohlad doing an interview with local radio - Minnesota Twins — Credit: Photo courtesy of Twins PR (Dustin Morse - @morsecode)

It may be cold outside, but the Minnesota Twins enter their matchup this evening against the Tampa Bay Rays riding a two game heater built off an offense that’s exploded for 15 total runs in those wins, 11 of which have come in the seventh inning or later.

Of course, it hasn’t been all roses and rainbows in the Twins clubhouse early on. Minnesota stumbled out of the Opening Day gates, losing its first two series and starting 1-4 on the season.

However, their recent resurgence has given the Twins an opportunity Saturday to climb back to .500, if they can grab another win at home vs the Rays.

TRISTAN GRAY GRAND SLAM AND THE TWINS BREAK IT OPEN pic.twitter.com/Y4SZ5nnB4M
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 3, 2026

Still don’t believe? Don’t worry, you aren’t the only skeptic. As long as the Pohlad family is in charge of the Minnesota Twins, it will be difficult for fans to have much hope or optimism that things will get better, especially when they continue to cut payroll by $20-$40 million with every year that goes by.

And if it’s the Pohalds who make you feel uncomfortable about your Twins fandom these days, then what you are about to watch/read might need some sort of disclaimer.

Tom Pohlad taking over Minnesota Twins business operations

On Friday, MN Twins chairman and CEO, Tom Pohlad, told reporters gathered in the home dugout at Target Field that he does not plan on hiring a new president of business operations.

Instead, the franchise’s new top dog has decided he’s taking over in that role — the same one held for 22 years by Dave St. Peter, before he handed it to Derek Falvey, who was already the team’s president of baseball operations, at the time (2025).

Twins owner Tom Pohlad, who started working in the organization when he took over the role in December, will oversee the team’s business operations throughout the 2026 season.
Star Tribune

When Falvey was let go earlier this offseason, it left the Twins suddenly void of presidents for both their baseball and business ops departments.

And since hanging around the team on a mostly daily basis over the past six months, Tom Pohlad has grown quite attached to his new MLB baby. So much so that, instead of hiring a new president of business operations, the third-generation owner is appointing himself to the position.

Learning on the job is a good thing…?

According to Tom, as he explained yesterday in the Twins’ dugout, taking the role of team president will help him garner the trust and respect of those around him, while also teaching him valuable knowledge that he can’t gain from the sidelines.

Should he ultimately hire another president of business ops down the road (to replace himself) Pohlad told reporters (like Pierre Noujaim at FOX 9) that the experience he’s gaining by taking on team president duties will allow him to make a better hire in the future, if/when that time comes.

#MNTwins owner Tom Pohlad says he believes it's best if he's more involved "right now" on the business side. Adds the team can sell all the $2 beers they want but says that putting a winner on the field is what matters most pic.twitter.com/sO7kE1Iqxk
— Pierre Noujaim (@TheNoujFOX9) April 3, 2026

“I think it’s best if I’m more involved right now. There are a couple of things that are driving that. It helps me learn the business. It helps me earn trust and credibility with our employees.

If and when there is a time where we go out, whether internally or externally, hire a president of business, I’ll have a much better understanding for what we’re looking for in that role than I would today.”
Star Tribune

Let’s hold the phone here for a minute, though. Because from the sounds of it, Tom has been involving himself in decisions that go beyond business ops.

I confirmed Saturday, doing my own digging behind the Twins scenes, that Pohlad isn’t just oversee the business side at 1 Twins Way, He is in charge of ALL Minnesota Twins operations.

Pohlad running baseball operations for MN Twins too?

So while it’s general manager Jeremy Zoll doing a lot of heavy lifting, with player personnel moves and ways of thinking, he too reports to Tom Pohlad.

Thus, I’ve become entranced by these comments during the chairman and CEO’s dugout chat from Friday, in which he explains in more detail exactly what he is currently most focused on… which is putting the best possible Minnesota Twins baseball product on the field.

“I’ve talked about building a better business. But building a better business starts with a better product on the field. So, I feel great about the talent we have on the business side of the house, but my time and energy needs to be focused on how we improve this team.”
Tom Pohlad – video above (via Pierre Noujaim)

Hmmmmmmm….

But wait, that’s not all. This morning at the Star Tribune, Twins beat writer Bobby Nightengale actually wrote that Tom has indeed taken over as Twins president of baseball operations.

However, given the context surrounding his “baseball operations”mention (see below), I question whether Bobby meant to type “business operations” in the highlighted piece of his article below. I have reached out for clarity, but have yet to hear back.

Derek Falvey had a dual role overseeing baseball and business operations before he departed the organization in January, which was framed as a mutual decision to part ways.

Initially, Pohlad planned to hire someone to replace Falvey’s role as the president of baseball operations, but he decided he wanted that responsibility. Dave St. Peter previously served in the role for 22 years before transitioning into a strategic adviser role early last year.
Bobby Nightengale – Star Tribune

If it is true, and Tom Pohlad has placed himself atop both the baseball and business side of Minnesota Twins operations… I am certainly concerned, but also intrigued. Obviously, the idea of any Pohlad taking full control of MN Twins’ day-to-day operations is guaranteed to make a lot of fan nervous, and for good reason.

However, I am all about self-accountability. And by making himself the head decision-maker within all aspects of the organization, Tom Pohlad has nobody to blame but himself if things go horribly wrong.

And let’s be honest, it’s not like he gets to skate free just because his family owns the team. We saw over the offseason, when they ousted his brother Joe Pohlad, that his family will not hesitate to throw him under the bus if he fails.