While they may not be responsible for every negative thing that’s happened over the past 45 years, there’s no doubt that the Pohlad Family, from Carl to Jim to Joe and on down, deserve far and away the most blame of anyone involved.

Thus, there are a lot of reasons why MN Twins fans and various media members are sick and tired of the Pohlad ownership group. Most are well-documented, and I’ll briefly get into a few examples below. But when it comes to Pohlad critics, some are louder than others.

KFAN’s Dan Barreiro loses his mind on Minnesota Twins owners

But on Thursday, former Star Tribune columnist – turned KFAN afternoon drivetime radio host – Dan Barreiro hit his Pohlad breaking point. During the first hour of his daily show on Minnesota’s lead sports talk station, longtime local media veteran neatly laid out the timeline of Twins ownership incompetency over the past two years.

From there, he proceeded to verbally undress Joe Pohlad for in what ended up being 10 minutes of absolute radio gold that, really, no angry Twins should have to miss. So, here it is. I have transcribed some of the best moments below, but the entire clip is worth listening to. If you can’t, KFAN transcribed the entire thing in the clip.

"This two year stretch in of itself will end up being in the sports economic textbooks as literally the most shining example of how to screw up your own franchise."@DanBarreiroKFAN did not hold back on the Pohlad family's announcement today that they will not be selling the… pic.twitter.com/RGLT1PDBuN

— KFAN1003 (@KFAN1003) August 13, 2025

“This two-year stretch, in and of itself, will end up being in the sports economic textbooks as literally the most shining example of how to screw up your own franchise.”

“Not only do you change your mind. You wanna talk about, God, tone deafness? Did you see what Joe Pohlad said to the Star Tribune?”

[reads Joe Pohlad’s quote on how great this outcome was for the family and excitement over new minority partners]

“Why you wouldn’t want to name [your new partners] at the time you make this announcement, who knows. But again, these are the Pohlads! If they can find a way to screw up their own chances, THEY’LL DO IT!!”

“What is [Joe Pohlad] smoking?! What is he thinking? How in God’s name can you go about, over an almost two-year period, screwing things up as often as this ownership group has and say with a straight face, ‘all is forgotten, we’re back [and] we’re going to make this work together’? What are you smoking?! It’s uncanny!”

Dan Barreiro – KFAN Radio

Related: Potential MN Twins Buyers SHOCKED by Pohlad Announcement

Joe Pohlad took control of the Twins in 2022. Following the change in leadership, Minnesota signed Carlos Correa, traded for Pablo Lopez and extended Byron Buxton. In 2023, they parlayed that offseason aggression into the organization’s deepest playoff run in two decades.

Unfortunately, after their TV partnership with Diamond Sports Group began to go sour, due to DSG’s bankruptcy, the Twins stood to lose $50 million in guaranteed yearly revenue, which was a major driving force in president Derek Falvey’s fateful announcement in November, 2023, that the Twins were dialing back payroll by $30 million.

In other words, the Pohlads were more interested in saving a pretty short term penny, over winning baseball games and making further playoff runs. From there, Minnesota’s play on the field has continually deteriorated, which ultimately led to the biggest trade deadline sell-off in team history, just a couple weeks ago.

Barreiro pleads with Twins fans to stop showing up at Target Field

And sitting in the backdrop of all these budget cuts, deadline teardowns and disappointing baseball… has been the attempted sale of the organization, which was first announced last September.

But of course, even selling the team in a 2025 market where sports franchises are being sold over asking price just about every other day, is too much to ask of the Pohalds, who pulled the rug from underneath their sale on Wednesday.

Revealed: Why Pohlads Cancelled MN Twins Sale + Details on New Investors

And that brings us back to Dan Barreiro’s KFAN rant, which he ended by urging fans to stay as far away from Target Field as possible. His argument: Do not give this family any sense of fiscal satisfaction for what they have done to you.

“I’ve gotta be honest, I don’t understand why anyone would want to send any kind of message that [says] ‘this is the team I want to embrace, with an ownership group that continues, every several months, to find a way to get things to an even worse place than their previous decision [did].”

“Few things at this point leave me gobsmacked, when it comes to the way the Pohlads run this thing. And I can honestly say, I could not with a good conscience — again, it’s your money — but I could not spend another dime on any aspect [of this team].

I don’t care how good the weather is, I don’t care how coole the ballpark is. The degree to which they have squandered — blown — this responsibility. Then multiply out, exponentially, the screw ups, to this being the latest and obviously the biggest, I wouldn’t give them a buck.”

Dan Barreiro – KFAN Radio

Owner incompetence runs in Pohlad Family

It was Carl Pohlad who repeatedly threatened (and attempted) to move, then contract, the Twins out of Minnesota, all the while serially lowballing just about every talented player who ever stepped foot on the Metrodome turf.

After Jim Pohlad took control, he helped ownership finally get the new stadium it desired for so long. But still,, operations changed very little

And now, after the next generation of Pohalds tried and failed to make the MN Twins into a bigger market competitor, our lot in the baseball world doesn’t appear as if it will change anytime soon.

Barreiro vs Falvey

The seasoned KFAN radio host, formerly sports columnist, started the interview off (05:40 mark above) by lobbing some friendly softballs to the Twins’ PoBO. First, about Luis Arraez’ success and then the league plunging itself into the new dead ball era. But after that, Barreiro turned to the Donaldson locker room dynamic and if that was part of why he was traded. Falvey, handled it like a pro and wiggled out pretty easily.

So Dan, always up for a challenge, decided to pick at the biggest scabs currently bothering Minnesota Twins fans.

• Buxton’s ever-decreasing workload and his “100 game” goal
• Rocco’s in-game (rigid) bullpen/starting pitching management

Falvey may have dodged the Donaldson question like a pro. But Barreiro wasn’t going to let him get off that easy in other areas. When the KFAN host didn’t like the answer he got about the team’s cautiousness with Byron Buxton, something about ‘well Carlos Correa already told you what’s up with Byron Buxton‘, Barreiro doubled down and asked Falvey to answer again. And by golly, the answer he got the 2nd time through was much more satisfactory.

Barreiro wanted answers on Buxton’s availability and wasn’t going to stop until Falvey gave him something worthwhile. Love this. #MNTwins (via @KFAN1003) pic.twitter.com/ZcEMMfMQm7

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) June 9, 2022

[18:34 mark of original KFAN – Barreiro Show Podcast]

Barreiro: “It strikes, I think some as a bit of an indictment That the process, you know, he’s not 42 years old. We understand he’s got a history with this. That process is so elaborate. that in the course of a game, even if you intended at the start of the night to not use him because that’s part of the plan, you have an opportunity to plug them in. That in effect, you’re saying you can’t because that’s too great a risk. That’s quite a concession, isn’t it?”

Falvey: “Well, it’s part of the calculus, no question. And as you said, these are, these are challenging conversations to have. And sometimes there aren’t perfect answers. But for Byron, we’re certainly working with him. Nothing’s as rigid as ‘this guy will never show up in the game late in the game. Certainly he’s done that already for us at different junctures and ultimately hopefully he will as the as the year wears on some of its dependent upon how he’s feeling and where he’s at and how the last number of days have gone.”

“So we work and partner with him you know, obviously with the medical staff with the coaches and otherwise to figure out what’s the best path. For that and ultimately every night he’ll make that he’ll have that conversation with Rocco and the staff and figure out. If that’s the right night to use him. There have been times where I know he talked about getting himself ready later in the game to come into a game and that’s something we’ll deploy when the time’s right”

What about the pitcher management?

Somehow, the management of Byron Buxton isn’t even the biggest question mark facing the way Rocco Baldelli and the Minnesota Twins manage their roster on game days. Many questions have risen regarding the pitching staff. Pulling starting pitchers too early, often in favor for Tyler Duffey, has cost the team multiple victories already this season.

Falvey’s answer was damn good. He mentioned innings oftentimes being a bigger factor than someone’s pitch count, in when they come out of the game. That cooling down and ramping back up over and over again might mean more to the Twins thought process, when pulling a pitcher, than the cumulative number of times they’ve thrown to the catcher.

And quite honestly, that makes some sense. Amazing what happens when you let your guard down and answer questions with thought and honesty.

[21:13 mark of original KFAN – Barreiro Show Podcast]

Barreiro: “Is the team too programmed, to the point where, is the manager allowed to make decisions on the fly, on the basis of ‘okay here’s what’s happening within the game, that seemed like a good plan before the game, but maybe we steal an extra inning with [the starter] and then maybe we don’t have to go as deep into the bullpen’. Can you help me understand that?”

Falvey: “One of the things you hear from relievers a lot is, ‘hey, if you can give me a sense of where in the game, roughly, I’m going to come in, it helps me kind of prepare and do my pre-prep routine.’ So a lot of that is a partnership with those guys.”

“The other thing I would point out is, sometimes we get fixated on that pitch count number. It’s a big part of the game of baseball. But oftentimes, in Chris [Archer]’s case, a guy who’s come off of two surgeries the last couple years. Ultimately, trying to figure out what’s the best cadence for him, to continue to get through a whole season.”

“And what we hear sometimes, is it’s the up and down as much as it is the pitch count. The between innings, the sitting down, the coming back out. So, while pitch count does become a focus, sometimes it’s about the number of innings a guy has gone. Even with those numbers of pitches.”

Pushing the Envelope Matters

This may have been the most pointed interview I’ve heard Derek Falvey do. Until now, he has always been the slimiest interview in town. That’s not to say he is a snake, in the common epithetical meaning. It’s just impossible to get a straight answer out of him or anyone in the Minnesota Twins organization.

But who is asking the question matters even more. If the interviewer, like Barreiro does regularly, is willing to push the envelope, then even guys like Falvey is capable of giving legitimate answers.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

Bill Guerin Gets Angry

Some moments will forever be etched into the brains of Minnesota sports fans forever. Things really started to get interesting around the 12:30 mark when Dan asks a question about Ryan Suter and only gets better from there. But it was the questions about Marc-Andre Fleury vs Cam Talbot and Matt Dumba vs Kevin Fiala that really set Billy off. The entire back-half is must listen. I included a few of the quotes below the video.

If I sound a little pissed off or annoyed, I am. All I hear is Matt [Dumba] getting dumped on and, you know what, it’s not easy doing what he did. Playing in the condition that he did. I like Matt Dumba. I think he’s a damn good defenseman. And people want people want to ride him out of town because Kevin [Fiala] had three good months.

Bill Guerin – Wild GM (KFAN)

“Hey listen, I know there are a lot of ‘experts’ out there. I tell people this all the time. Just be careful when you’re commenting on guys on our team, when you hear from ‘they’ or ‘somebody who told me’. Because ‘they’ don’t know what’s going on. ‘They’ don’t know the conversations we have with other teams. ‘They’ are full of crap.”

“You know what? I’m protecting my guys. I like these guys. I’m done hearing ‘this guy’s gotta go’, ‘that guy’s gotta go’. You know what? We’ll make the decisions. Nobody has to go and nobody has to stay. We have to make educated decisions.”

“Tell ‘they’ that they don’t know what the hell they’re talking about and you call me.”

Bill Guerin – Wild GM (KFAN)

Wow, what an interview…

I don’t know if Dan woke up this morning hoping to get into a verbal altercation with the Minnesota Wild’s general manager, but you could hear the happiness in his voice the longer the conversation drug on. You know it’s a good interview when half of your body desperately wants to shut it off while the other half wants to see how hostile the interaction will get.

Could we see an angry hangup from the normally well-collected Guerin? It didn’t go that far. Barreiro eventually threw him a life raft with some late jokes that helped bring Billy G out of his spiral of rage. Had the seasoned interviewer continued pushing, who knows where it would have landed.

Nonetheless, it was a memorable moment for those who caught it live, like me. Billy’s “I’m pissed off” interview will only add to Barreiro’s local (already HOF) media resume. No sweat for the Minnesota Wild GM, though. You can’t be a successful professional sports executive until you’ve put a good rant on record.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan