Justin Ishbia emerged as a source of hope for Minnesota Twins fans. He and his billionaire brother Mat Ishbia have been praised for their dealings with the Phoenix Suns. They won’t be taking over for the Pohlad’s though.

Justin Ishbia chooses more White Sox ownership over Minnesota Twins

There was no team worse in Major League Baseball last season than the Chicago White Sox. In fact, there has never been a team in history worse. Still, before the Minnesota Twins played their first spring training game, the division rival has swiped their new owner right from underneath them.

The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg is reporting that not only is Justin Ishbia out on the Minnesota Twins, but he is increasing his ownership stake in the Chicago White Sox. Ishbia reportedly began talks with current White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, after his interest in the Twins was made public.

“Chicago-area billionaire Justin Ishbia has dropped his pursuit of the Minnesota Twins, The Athletic has learned, and will instead buy more shares from other limited partners to increase his existing minority stake in the Chicago White Sox.

The development shocked the Twins, with some officials believing that their ownership situation might be resolved by Opening Day. Now, they’ve been left to scramble in their search for a new owner. The news couldn’t be worse for Twins fans, who dreamed Ishbia would bring a deep wallet and competitive fire to an organization in need, only to see him stay with a division rival.”

Greenberg on Ishbia’s White Sox decision (The Athletic)

Judging based on the reaction coming out of Minnesota Twins headquarters, Ishbia was clearly the buyer that the Pohlad family thought they had lined up to purchase the team. So much so that Twins reporters were floating a handshake deal announced before Opening Day.

That said, the Pohlad’s have reportedly sat on a lofty asking price and may have overplayed their hand. Suggestions that Ishbia, who is local to the Chicago area, could be using Minnesota for leverage were there. An announcement of the sale prior to Opening Day the hope, but that doesn’t appear to be the case any longer.

Related: Failed Minnesota Twins Outfielder Settles for Minor League Deal

“White Sox limited partners were recently informed that an investor wanted to buy their shares at a franchise valuation around $1.8 billion, according to people briefed on the discussions who were not authorized to speak publicly. While they aren’t required to sell, their stakes would be diluted by this new investor.”

On Ishbia’s pursuit of a larger stake in the White Sox (The Athletic)

This makes for one less interested billionaire in purchasing the Minnesota Twins, but how did we get here? And now what? Before we look forward, let’s look back. Should we have seen this coming when Reinsdorf first announced he was interested in selling the White Sox? After all, he did already own a minority stake in our AL Central rival.

Did Justin Ishbia use the Minnesota Twins?

Well in fact, there was some whispering around Major League Baseball insider circles, at that time, wondering whether Ishbia might be using his Twins bid as leverage to buy the White Sox. Local insider Darren “Doogie” Wolfson (KSTP) has talked about this a few times during his bi-weekly appearances on the Mackey & Judd Show (SKOR North).

Doogie’s most recent mention of this conspiracy theory-turned-reality came back on January 14, when the longtime local insider reported that Ishbia seemed focused on his bid to purchase the Minnesota Twins… but instead of pointing to what Ishbia wanted, he mentioned Reinsdorf’s seriousness about selling.

“With [Justin] Ishbia being there in Chicago, it would make logical sense to try and buy the White Sox. I do wonder deep down, is Jerry Reinsdorf truly ready to sell? Is he? If he is, Justin Ishbia purchasing the White Sox makes all sorts of sense. Talking to Twins officials, they don’t have any reason to believe that this is a leverage ploy. The interest, from everything I can gather, Ishbia buying the Twins is legit.”

Darren Wolfson (SKOR North) from January 14, 2025

It’s disappointing to think that may have been the intention. The more likely reality is that Ishbia was approached and sees a path to an eventual takeover for Reinsdorf with the White Sox. In that reality his asset is in his own backyard, and he gets to purchase the franchise in incremental amounts.

Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Maybe the Twins believed Ishbia was closing in on the dotted line. Maybe Ishbia intended to from the outset. Now it’s only Minnesota that will be seeking additional options.

Related: Brooks Lee May Not Join Twins on Opening Day

Now what for the MN Twins?

We will soon see how silly the idea that a new owner may be in process by Opening Day. Whether or not the plan was for Ishbia to be that guy or not, Minnesota not vetting additional bidders or backup plans would be catastrophic.

The Twins certainly aren’t going to comment on any business deals they may have screwed up. That said, the quickness in which the Pohlad family can both find a new owner, and generate a level of purchasing power they hoped for remains to be seen.

Glen Taylor had been initially floated as a name of interest, but he had been locked up in the arbitration case with new Timberwolves ownership. Now he will soon have nothing to call his, but a takeover there would certainly be met with disgust by Minnesota fans.

Related: Carlos Correa Not Wearing Cleats at Twins Practice?

The Twins probably still have a level of time on their side. This process was never going to be quick. The home run option resulting in a bases loaded strikeout hurts though.

The most prominent publicly named buying group is headed by Justin Ishbia. Nothing has moved forward thus far, and there is competition on the franchise ownership front.

Chicago meddling in the Minnesota Twins business

Similarly to the Detroit Lions, the Chicago White Sox are a franchise that has seen fleeting relevancy create a newfound level of importance. Jerry Reinsdorf is open to selling his American League franchise and that could cause issues for the Minnesota Twins. At least right now, they don’t seem to be attracting the same buyers.

“With [Justin] Ishbia being there in Chicago, it would make logical sense to try and buy the White Sox. I do wonder deep down, is Jerry Reinsdorf truly ready to sell? Is he? If he is, Justin Ishbia purchasing the White Sox makes all sorts of sense. Talking to Twins officials, they don’t have any reason to believe that this is a leverage ploy. The interest, from everything I can gather, Ishbia buying the Twins is legit.”

Darren Wolfson on the White Sox impacting a Twins sale (Skor North)

Of course no deal is done, and despite Spring Training and Opening Day being around the corner, nothing changes until the ink dries. That process is one that has to play out at both the team and league level.

“I still need to see it to believe it, especially at the price point the Pohlad’s have been seeking. Now if we’re talking more like $1.3 or $1.4 billion, ok different discussion. But at least at $1.6 to $1.8 billion, I’m not sure that thing gets done by Opening Day.”

Darren Wolfson on the Twins Sale price (Skor North)

It may seem like a nominal amount considering the purchase price being discussed. Ishbia himself can certainly make the difference look minimal. That said, the Pohlad’s are selling in an attempt to cash out and grab everything they can.

There’s no reason for current ownership to shortchange the valuation in an attempt to make the process move more quickly. There also isn’t reason for Ishbia to spend foolishly just so he can close the deal by an arbitrary date. Hopefully Ishbia decides to stay away from the Chicago White Sox.

Related: Minnesota Twins Steal Top-50 International Prospect From Dodgers

Ultimately the sale of the Minnesota Twins hangs in the balance. There are truly interested parties, and there is a billionaire family waiting to make their mark on the way out. Stay tuned for now, I guess.

We have heard about multiple interested parties, and the most intriguing option is the Ishbia brothers. The process continues to move forward, but resolution may soon be coming.

Minnesota Twins ownership could change soon

A sale of the Minnesota Twins was always going to take time. The expectation was that the process could draw out into the summer, but Dan Hayes of The Athletic is reporting that may not be the case.

“We’ve been pleased with the level of interest, not surprisingly. The goal is to pick a winner before Opening Day. There’s a lot of people within geographic striking distance, whether they’re from the Twin Cities or not. It’s a solid ballclub that frankly can be purchased at a price that is less than astronomical.”

Source to Dan Hayes (The Athletic)

The Pohlad family is certainly motivated. They have is little interest in owning a baseball team (as has been evident by support in recent years), and the family is looking forward to a windfall of cash.

A baseball team isn’t the only asset the Pohlad family has sold off of late. They parted ways with car dealerships last year, and the reality is their commercial real estate ventures have them bleeding funds.

Possible impact of new ownership

It’s unlikely that a sale of the Twins impacts the offseason. If there isn’t a level of transition until Opening Day, then new ownership would begin to make their presence felt once the season begins. That could manifest itself in the form of talent acquisition during the trade deadline, however.

Related: Athletics Pay Big for Former Minnesota Twins First Round Pick

While it has been a disappointing stretch in terms of talent acquisition for the Twins, few things would reinvigorate the fanbase more than moving on from the Pohlad’s. Regarded as one of the worst ownership families across the sport, the announcement that the team was for sale generated significant praise.

It remains to be seen how a new ownership party will handle the future, but the Minnesota Twins need to turn the page. There is an avenue for the current core to be immediately supplemented, and the results could be significant.

At some point the Twins hope to achieve a World Series championship once again. It’s clear that won’t happen with the Pohlad’s in control, but it could following a change of power.

Related: MLB Execs Love Minnesota Twins Top Prospects, Past and Present

The Ishbias’ interest is a big deal for a lot of reasons, but what will strike a cord with Twins fans most, is their willingness to invest into the Suns, while simultaneously saving money for Phoenix fans.

Minnesota Twins prospective buyers are for the people

Right after purchasing the Suns, at the end of December, 2022, they turned around and traded for Kevin Durant, lifting Phoenix immediately into NBA Finals conversations among league talking heads. Since then, the Suns have consistently been near the top of the NBA in roster salary and luxury tax penalties paid.

This season, Ishbia is projected (according to Spotrac.com) to pay $409 million total, between salaries and tax penalties. That’s $110 million more than the 2nd highest total, $299 million by our own Minnesota Timberwolves

Meanwhile, sick of dealing with outdated regional sports network, Bally Sports Arizona, Mat Ishbia announced in May 2023 that the Phoenix Suns were done holding their fans hostage with RSN fees. Instead, they were taking games over the air… where fans could watch them for free.

Related: Minnesota Twins Sale Suddenly on an Expedited Timeline

That’s right, if you can reach local TV towers with your bunny ears in Arizona (or if your cable/satellite package includes local news channels), you can watch Phoenix Suns basketball games. But RSNs aren’t the only anti-fan problem with professional sports today, according to the Ishbias.

Ishbia Brothers: ‘Down with absurd concession costs!’

On Wednesday, Mat Ishbia announced that you no longer have to be a billionaire to afford concession costs at Phoenix Suns games. From here on out, those attending Footprint Center in Phoenix for Suns games will be able to buy popcorn, fountain pop, bottled water, chips and hot dogs for $2 each, down 70%+ for all of those basic concession items.

Winning starts with our fans. When I walk the concourse at games there aren’t food options for families who don’t want to spend a lot of money. That needs to change, so today we’re rolling out our $2 value menu for all home @Suns games. pic.twitter.com/BsluNoKD5P

— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) December 18, 2024

This is what it looks like when an ownership group gets it. Instead of alienating your fanbase by making your team more difficult to watch, or charging them hundreds and hundreds of dollars to attend and enjoy a game, if they come to the stadium may help boost profit margins in the short-term, but it does nothing for the longevity of your business plan.

Owning a sports franchise in 2024-25 is about growing the popularity of your team. The NBA, NFL and MLB are printing money. Teams are worth 1000x more than they were three decades ago, and that is because of fan interest. Lose that, and you lose everything.

Related: Veteran Infielder Named as Realistic Free Agent Target for Minnesota Twins

So what’s more important? It’s pleasing fans. The Ishbias understand that. So let us pray they get to rain some of these good owner practices down on Minnesota Twins fans, in the near future. No fanbase deserves good ownership more.

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.

I'm probably not tweeting this for an article that's about to get 1 million pageviews. #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/nUQ7MP5yJo

— Minnesota Sports Fan (@realmnsportsfan) September 28, 2024

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.

That doesn’t sit well with Twins fans who are watching a now disinterested Pohlad family completely pull the financial rug from underneath the Major League Baseball organization they no longer have any interest investing into. But on Friday, we got some potentially groundbreaking news that could very well shift the narrative.

Ishbia brothers are interested in the Minnesota Twins

If you could create a major professional sports owner that combined Steve Cohen and Mark Cuban, you’d come up with something close to Mat (and Justin) Ishbia, who purchased the Phoenix Suns and Mercury (WNBA) in December, 2022.

In just two short years, the Ishbias have established themselves as one of the most competitive, spend-happy ownership groups, not just in the NBA… but in the entire professional sports world. And on Sunday, multiple MLB insiders have come out with reports that Mat and Justin Ishbia are interested in purchasing the Minnesota Twins.

A source briefed on the situation confirmed that Suns owner Mat Ishbia and his brother Justin are interested in buying the Twins from the Pohlad family, which began exploring a sale in October after 40 years of ownership. Mat Ishbia, whom Forbes estimated has a net worth of $10.1 billion, purchased the Suns in December 2022.

Dan Hayes on the interest in Minnesota from Ishbia brothers (The Athletic)

Mat is just 44 years old and has shown an affinity to be present around his teams. Justin is 47 years old and just made a $10 million NIL donation to Michigan State dedicated to baseball and basketball payments. Justin knows the Midwest well with his Shore Capital Partners investing firm, located in Chicago.

How excited should Twins fans get over this news?

How serious are the Ishbias? Serious enough that they have already been “meeting with local community leaders across the state” in order to learn more about the organization, and whether or not a massive ~$1.5 billion investment in the Northstar State would be worth it.

“The 47-year-old [Justin Ishbia] has been meeting with local community leaders across the state to learn more about the community and the opportunity to carry on the Twins legacy, one person said.”

Bloomberg report on Justin Ishbia’s interest in the Twins

From my experience covering and aggregating news stories like this, the fact that we are hearing about the Ishbias’ interest in the Twins, means their preliminary investigation is either wrapping up, or already complete.

Related: Minnesota Twins Sale Attracting Interest but Asking Price is a Problem

Just months after acquiring the NBA team, new ownership went out and landed Kevin Durant. They also have experience dealing with Diamond Sports Group, and left Bally Sports Network in order to air games on local channels. An early Suns giveaway included a free cable antenna for all fans in the stadium.

The Ishbias would immediately inject life into apathetic Minnesota Twins fanbase

Ishbia generated his wealth as the CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. Should he buy the Twins, he would be the third richest owner in the sport trailing only Steve Cohen and Edward S. Rogers. His brother Justin, who would be the controlling partner, is worth $4.9 billion.

What little I know about Mat and Justin Ishbia:

– They've made aggressive moves and spent big money on the Suns.

– They donated over $40 million to fund Michigan State's basketball and baseball programs.

– Mat played basketball for MSU's title-winning 2000 team under Tom Izzo.

— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) December 13, 2024

Related: Minnesota Twins Still Near Top of 2025 AL Central Odds; White Sox Prove Life Could Be Worse

Even at the currently inflated price point of $1.7 billion, Ishbia could cover the deal. Minnesota will seek an arrangement near the $1.725 billion Baltimore sold for. Whether they get that remains to be seen. An independently wealthy billionaire is who fans should want to take over, but someone with personal interest is important as well.

The possibility of an owner with a net worth two-and-a-half times as much as the Pohlad family is exciting. Of course no one needs to spend to the New York Mets level in Minnesota, but it would seem to remove self-imposed payroll restrictions.

No matter what, after 40 years of owning the Twins, Minnesota will feel different when out of the Pohlad’s grasp. How different depends to whose hands they move.