Not long after, we found out that, instead, the Pohlads were bringing on two mystery investors that were reportedly purchasing ~20% of the team and paying down their mounting $450-$500 million in debt.

In the months since, all has been quiet behind the scenes at Target Field — not just regarding the Minnesota Twins’ immediate future on the field — but surrounding who exactly these new investors are and when/if they will be onboarded.

More details finally come out on new Minnesota Twins minority owners

Finally, on Tuesday, we got a few more pieces of the puzzle. Let’s start with the new minority owners. It turns out there are two main groups, as originally reported, but the Twins also have a third group that has come together and been approved by Major League Baseball, according to team insider Dan Hayes (The Athletic).

In total, the Pohlads are selling over 20% of the team to these various limited partners, all of which are buying in at a valuation of $1.75 Billion — far more than the $1.4 Billion Forbes has them valued at. As previously reported, these minority partners are coming in to pay down a debt that has now reached $500 million.

Selling more than 20 percent of the franchise to three minority partnership groups at a $1.75 billion valuation, the Pohlad family is expected to announce this week they’ve finalized a transaction that helps a club $500 million in debt return to a sound financial footing while also requiring the addition of three seats to the team’s ownership advisory board, league sources told The Athletic.

repeated delays in the process are due to additional, smaller ownership groups emerging and purchasing shares of the franchise, add-ons that required MLB’s approval…“It’s a big series of checks,” said one source with knowledge of the transaction. “Once it was out that we were doing a minority sale, a number of people stepped forward.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

Just 1.5 weeks ago, the Twins’ 2026 payroll was projected at $95 million and we were all bracing for it to decrease even further. Had the Pohlads ordered Falvey to continue the 2025 trade deadline deconstruction project — which likely would’ve meant dealing Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez — it could’ve realistically dropped to $70-$75 million.

Sudden shift in Twins’ offseason plans explained

At the MLB Winter Meetings, however, Falvey switched gears and started notifying teams that the MN Twins were keeping all three of their stars. On top of that, the front office was looking to MODERATELY add to the roster, in hopes of contending in a weak AL Central this summer.

Since, the Minnesota Twins made their first free agent move as 2025-26 offseason buyers on Monday, signing first baseman Josh Bell to what is essentially a one-year deal worth less than $7 million.

It’s a bargain contract at a position of need, for a team still very much shopping in the “deals” aisle. Not only can he play first and present a legitimate DH option, but Bell hits from both sides of the plate, so platooning him isn’t a real concern either.

Thanks to this story from The Athletic, we now know why the Twins shifted offseason gears during the Winter meetings. They were waiting on their new minority investors to be ratified by the MLB.

Because without the new investors, the plan for 2026 would’ve been completely different than what we are seeing this week. On Wednesday at 1:00 PM, we will learn even more about these new minority ownership groups, one of which includes Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold.

As a result of the agreement between the Pohlads and their new limited partnership groups, the cash infusion will significantly reduce the club’s debt, which multiple sources say has ballooned over the past five seasons.

“It’s baked into the deal that there’ll be a meaningful, significant pay down of the debt,” one source said.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

According to multiple sources, #mnwild owner Craig Leipold is part of one of three limited partner groups https://t.co/XaD6DDHhiq

— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) December 17, 2025

MN Twins blaming debt on COVID, George Floyd?

Not only that, but the Pohlads have officially listed the reasoning behind how they racked up a confirmed $500 million in debt. Today’s report points to the 2020 COVID season, where the Twins and most of the league took huge financial hits.

As reported back then, the Pohlads did NOT lay off employees, shouldering the lost cost themselves. According to Hayes, that decision ballooned a debt, that was already over $200 million, to an unmanageable number that eventually forced them to sell off nearly a quarter of their Major League Baseball team.

At one point, the Twins clearly believed they’d be able to pull out of the financial funk supposedly placed on them by the pandemic. That’s why they invested in Carlos Correa and pushed payroll to levels never seen before.

Unfortunately, the fans never really returned to Target Field. Why? The Twins have more than one reason they are trying to make public, through Hayes, including fallout from Derek Chauvin vs George Floyd.

Expecting to draw at least 2.3 million fans to Target Field in 2020, the Twins’ plans were waylaid by COVID-19, like every other pro sports franchise.

Unlike many other teams, the Twins kept all of their employees and paid their minor-league players in 2020. That drove up the debt, which multiple sources said was in the $200 million range after the 2019 season.

In 2021, a combination of attendance restrictions, poor play and perceived security concerns during the trial of Derek Chauvin following George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis the year before led to the Twins drawing only 1.3 million fans.

Dan Hayes – The Athletic

But even with the new minority investors, the Minnesota Twins are stuck shopping at K-Mart this offseason, something that likely will not change as long as the Pohlads remain majority owners.

Since their last postseason run in 2023, the Pohlad ownership group has been cutting back on spending across the board, in a massive way. Obviously, where it’s been felt most is on the baseball field, with tens of millions being removed from the player budget between the end of 2023 and the start of 2025.

Then, after the MN Twins got off to a slow start last spring, the Pohlads instructed team president Derek Falvey to trade Carlos Correa, Willi Castro and just about every pitcher in the bullpen who was worth a damn, before the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

Minnesota Twins trying to make more salary cuts…

Fast forward to today, Tuesday, December 2, and the Twins news is not getting any better. The latest in the run of horror came this morning, when it was reported that Byron Buxton is opening up the list of teams he’d be willing to waive his no trade clause for, beyond Atlanta.

In the piece, written by trusted MLB insider Jeff Passan, all three of the Minnesota Twins’ best players — (5) Buxton, (6) Joe Ryan and (8) Pablo Lopez — were listed as top ten trade candidates, entering this offseason.

If the paucity of front-line free agent outfielders prompts a team to make an offer for Buxton, how seriously would Minnesota take it? And if Buxton goes, does that mean the Twins would be open to dealing some of their pitching, too?

Jeff Passan – ESPN

For anyone holding out hope that the new minority investors were going to stop the Pohlads from fully derailing the immediate future of this franchise, that’s not the news you wanted to open your week with.

After slowly deconstructing the first team to win a playoff series in two decades for this organization, the Pohlads have “successfully” pushed their projected player salary for 2026 down below $100 million. When adjusted for inflation, that’s below Metrodome Era Pohlad spending.

Pohlads need to trade players just to slow mounting debt problems

To rub salt on the wound, another highly-respected league insider, Bob Nightengale (USA Today), published an article suggesting that the roster cuts made to the Minnesota Twins roster, to this point, may not be enough to keep the Pohlad family’s financial problems from getting out of hand.

Thus, it appears they’re officially shopping both Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, in hopes that trading one will help reduce payroll costs enough to prevent whatever impending disaster is currently hanging over this organization.

Nightengale notes that dealing Ryan could save the Pohlads newarly $6 million, while trading Lopez could save up to $21.5 million next season alone.

The Red Sox nearly pulled off a deal for Ryan at last year’s deadline, only for them to run out of time. He’s one of the premier starters on the market with three years of control and projected to earn just $5.8 million in his first year of salary arbitration.

The biggest question is whether Ryan really is available this winter. The Twins, trying to reduce their debt, are trying to decide whether to move Ryan or starter Pablo Lopez, who has two years left at $21.5 million a season.

Bob Nightengale – USA Today

See, these two minority investor groups that the MN Twins continue to claim are real, have yet to be approved by the league, something the organization was hoping would happen by this week, during the winter meetings. So far, there has been zero chatter of that actually happening.

How can MN Twins financial problems be this bad?

And if it doesn’t, the Pohlads are going to enter panic mode. Because until the deal gets finalized, these new investors — which will reportedly own a total of 20% stake in the Minnesota Twins once the deal is finalized — cannot physically help the Pohlads with their financial woes.

Within this last year, the Twins’ mountain of debt has ballooned from a reported $400 million, all the way to what has now been estimated as high as $500 million, according to those who would know. Here is John Bonnes (Twins Daily) and Aaron Gleeman (The Athletic), back in August, estimating the Pohlad debt being as high as $450 million.

If nothing else, the MN Twins’ impending death by interest payments gives fans and media some insight into how much the Pohlads’ mounting financial woes are, not just handcuffing the day-to-day operations of a billion-dollar corporation, but legitimately threatening the business’s wellbeing.

In some ways, the Twins are no different. They’ve made some pretty monumental changes since the offseason started back on September 28, in a season finale loss to the Philadelphia Phillies that put a 70-92 cap on their disastrous 2025 season.

The biggest change is at manager. Rocco Baldelli is out, after six seasons and three postseasons as Twins skipper (527-505). His former bench coach, Derek Shelton, is replacing his good friend as head of the MN Twins clubhouse.

Joining him will be former Twins reliever, LaTroy Hawkins, who will make his debut as bullpen coach in 2026. Meanwhile multiple members of Baldelli’s staff are now gone. That includes third base coach Tommy Watkins, who’s on his way to Atlanta after 25+ years as a player/coach in Minnesota.

What about the Minnesota Twins 2026 roster plans?

But while all of this shuffling has been taking place on the managerial staff, we know next to nothing on the MN Twins’ roster plans for next season. And that is a problem being the rest of the league has already been moving and grooving in that department for weeks now.

The last time reporters attempted to get answers on how much money the front office will have to work with this offseason was during Derek Shelton’s introductory press conference.

There, everyone from Shelton to Falvey to Joe Pohlad refused to give any sort of insight on what president Derek Falvey will have or not have at his disposal this offseason to rebuild a Twins’ roster that was half-deconstructed at the 2025 trade deadline.

Since that day, even the most historically devout Twins media members have shown some frustration, on the lack of direction of this franchise. How could they not have a sense of direction this late into the process? Hell, the general manager meetings take place THIS WEEKEND.

Either those in charge are lying to us OR they really do not know what the plan is. Either way, it’s not a good look. Thankfully, top MLB insider Ken Rosenthal did some digging behind the scenes and FINALLY pulled out some answers for the rest of a very confused baseball world.

MN Twins offseason mystery revealed

According to a story Rosenthal posted at The Athletic on Tuesday morning, Derek Falvey, his GM Jeremy Zoll and new manager Derek Shelton are not answering questions on the MN Twins’ 2026 player budget because the Pohlad ownership group has yet to give it to them.

Ownership has yet to give the front office a clear direction on the 2026 payroll, according to sources briefed on the Twins’ situation.

Ken Rosenthal – The Athletic

To no shock at all, the latest issue plaguing the Minnesota Twins stems back to ownership and their inability to give the front office a number they can work with while trying to rebuild, or continue their teardown, of this roster.

So is this more Pohlad incompetence on display in real time? Well, for as long as that family owns our favorite baseball team, there will always be an element of that at play. In this case, the delay likely stems back to an announcement that clearly broke way too soon.

Back in mid-August, after 10 months of shopping the organization to billionaires who might be interested in owning an MLB team based out of the Twin Cities, the Pohlads pulled the Twins off the market and announced the addition of two mystery minority ownership groups, one local and one based out East.

Since then, we have found out that these new investment groups are set to take approximately 20% of the franchise, when the deal is done. But not only is the deal incomplete, we have yet to even hear about who is involved in either group.

Is there any hope on the horizon?

Best case scenario, the minority sale is finalized by the league’s 29 other owners next month, during the MLB winter (owners) meetings. Other than that, we know very little about these new entities, other than they’re expected to pay off most, if not all of the $450 million in debt currently haunting the organization.

Notice, I wrote about the debt in a present tense. That’s because, until these new ownership groups are finalized, that enormous debt remains, which means the Pohlads are still making massive interest payments that are coming out of whatever fund would be feeding baseball operations.

If you are looking for a bright spot to all of this Minnesota Twins depression, I’d focus on what Ken Rosenthal wrote at The Athletic right before revealing the latest chapter in the franchise’s money problems.

Pohlad and sources familiar with the sale said the investment would be used to pay down more than $425 million in debt. Putting some of that money back into the team would be a show of faith not to Shelton, but also the fans. Twins home attendance dropped from 1.95 million in 2024 to 1.77 million in 2025, the sixth-largest decline in the sport.

Ken Rosenthal – The Athletic

Rosenthal seems to believe that, should this deal still go through, the Twins could still end their deconstruction, keep Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, and maybe even spend some money on talent, in an effort to compete for an AL Central title in 2026, even if it is on a budget, compared to recent seasons.

The MN Twins roster is currently set at $96 million or less next season, depending on where you look. Last year, before shipping off Carlos Correa, that number was closer to $150 million. In 2023, it peaked at $153.7 million.

In other words, the Pohlads could green-light $15-$20 million in offseason spending and still be nowhere near the cost of past rosters. Whether or not that will happen, or that this minority sale even gets finalized in the first place…

I’ll believe it when I see it.

Not only did they trade away nearly half of their roster at the trade deadline, but the Pohlad ownership group pulled the rug out on a team sale they had announced just ten months prior. And now, fans and players go into the offseason with a thicker blindfold over their eyes than any time recently.

Yet up until this weekend, the Pohlads have remained mostly silent on most of the biggest questions facing this organization. Outside of some bogus “statement” following the trade deadline teardown, they’ve been quiet on pressing topics, the most obvious being why they pulled the Twins off the market in the first place.

Pohlad finally speaks on biggest questions facing MN Twins

In two separate articles and written (by Bill Lukitsch and Reid Forgrave) at the Star Tribune over the weekend, however, Joe and Tom Pohlad made their first real attempt to address that question, among others.

Within these articles, the Pohlad grandchildren claim they never wanted to sell the Twins, and only did so because of the massive debt building up, a number they finally revealed was up to $500 million, significantly more than any what was previously reported.

Once an offer hit the table that allowed them to keep control of the team AND pay off their debts, their decision became clear.

The decision to put the Twins up for sale was one the Pohlad family says it never wanted to make.

But in 2024, the heirs of the late financier Carl Pohlad faced a reckoning: The team’s nine-figure debt was growing as revenues from ticket sales and game broadcasts dwindled. The debt, now equal to $500 million, is about a third of the team’s entire market value.

“That was really the driver,” Joe Pohlad, the Twins executive chair, said in a recent interview, revealing a debt amount well above any previously reported estimate.

Star Tribune

In the time that’s passed since the Twins were taken off the market, we were lead to believe that the Pohlads’ debt was over $400 million, but never got an exact amount, until this interview. There were also questions swirling over where the debt came from.

Where did the Minnesota Twins’ debt come from?

Behind the scenes, the Pohlads claimed it was a combination of a decade-worth of over-spending on talent, lagging attendance, FanDuel Sports North fallout and losses from the 2020 COVID season.

Other reports seemed to suggest they were using team funds or team equity to cover losses in other parts of their business portfolio. In their sit-down with the Star Tribune, however, Tom and Joe Pohlad strongly denied those accusations.

In an interview, Tom and Joe Pohlad refuted accusations the family used the Twins as a cash machine by making trades and payroll cuts. It’s quite the opposite, they said. The brothers expressed a hunger to bring another World Series title to Minnesota. The Twins’ half-billion-dollar debt, they said, was the result of their sustained investments in the team and Target Field.

“I think there’s an idea that we take money out of the team,” Joe Pohlad said. “And we’ve never taken any money out of the team. The effort has always been to have the business sustain itself in order to win.”

Star Tribune

Pohlads hint at increase in spending?

Beyond the debt, MN Twins ownership has given little direction on their baseball plan for the future, specifically how they are going to use the newfound financial flexibility created by selling 20% and paying off most of their aforementioned $500 million in debt.

That may have changed over the weekend too, though Joe and Tom were much less direct with the Pohlads’ baseball plan going forward. While they didn’t say when a deeper investment may occur, they did state repeatedly that the Twins’ new minority investment does allow them to spend, when the right time comes along.

“I’m trying to get my head out of all the negativity,” Pohlad said. “But I am overwhelmingly confident about Twins baseball. I’m confident because we have got all the right [pieces] … And we have the resources that we’re ready to invest when needed.”

“On top of all that — and this sometimes gets lost — we want to win!” he continued. “The goal is not to compete. The goal is to win a World Series. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come with some pain in the short term. Building a true winner comes with some challenge. Right?”

Star Tribune

Two as-yet unnamed minority stakeholder groups will help wipe the debt off the Twins’ books, offering a fresh opportunity for the Pohlads to invest in the team and Target Field, its Minneapolis ballpark.

“The fans are totally justified to think it’s unacceptable. You want to question the wisdom of our investment? Great. But don’t question [our] commitment to investing in the Twins.”

Star Tribune

Fast forward a few unfortunate injuries and some really bad baseball later, their postseason dreams were already dead and, instead of being buyers at the MLB trade deadline, they were the league’s most active sellers.

Not only did the front office ship out 40% of the active roster roster, in the days leading up to the July 31 deadline, but the headlining departures went far beyond expiring contracts.

MN Twins president Derek Falvey and the Pohlads dealt Carlos Correa and all of their up-and-coming bullpen assets, no matter how much team control they had remaining. When it was all said and done, the only sliver of hope remaining for fans was the ongoing sale of the organization, after it was put up for sale in October, 2024.

Then, of course, the Pohlad family took the Minnesota Twins off the market, instead swindling two new minority investment partners into buying off their debt, in exchange for their small share in the flailing baseball franchise. In the weeks that have followed, fans have responded in kind.

Hatred for Pohlads loud and clear in recent fan poll

Not only has Target Field struggled to get more than 10,000 physical fans in the stands, but a recent poll ran by The Athletic allowed them another outlet to voice their frustration with the Twins, as an organization.

Of course, fans mostly used it as another way to show the Pohlads that they are more disliked in this town currently, than possibly ever before… and that is saying something.

Of nearly 6,000 respondents, 98.5% voted that the Pohlads should sell the team. That means that just 87 of 6000 voters for them to keep the team they’ve owned for over 40 years.

It’s difficult to get 98.5 percent of people to agree on pretty much anything, but the idea of the Pohlads no longer owning the Twins carries an approval rating that’s probably on par with “pizza tastes good” and “dogs are cute.” And as the responses to other questions show, it’s part of a larger theme.

Aaron Gleeman – The Athletic

It’s curious why those 87 respondents would want the Pohlad family to stick around. Then again, as Aaron points out, it’s impossible to get 6000 people to agree unanimously on anything, and 98.5% is an extremely high number, no matter what vote is taking place.

Pohlads participating in the poll…?

Also, let’s remember that Pohlad friends and family members have access to the internet, too, and there is some inconclusive evidence suggesting that there may have been some Pohlad participation within these votes.

Longtime Twins fan, reporter and analyst, Aaron Gleeman — who’s been one of the media members in town most publicly critical of the Pohlads — draws some interesting hypotheticals from the results a question further down The Athletic’s poll, asking what grade fans are currently giving the MN Twins owners .

This largely matches the results from the survey’s first question, with 98.2 percent of voters giving the Pohlads a D or F grade, compared to 98.5 percent wanting them to sell the team. And that includes 89.5 percent assigning the owners a failing grade, four times the front office and manager combined.

Since you’re probably curious: 0.2 percent assigning ownership an A grade equals a total of nine responses out of nearly 6,000. For some context, there are coincidentally also nine people with the last name “Pohlad” or “Falvey” listed on the leadership page of the family’s business website.

Aaron Gleeman – The Athletic

Related: KFAN Host Goes Nuclear on Minnesota Twins Owners

One thing we know for sure from the results from The Athletic’s poll: Minnesota Twins fans hate the Pohlads. It’s a fair take, given what one cheapskate family has done to try and destroy summer for baseball fans in the state.

Even prior to the current iteration of Pohlads, it was their grandfather — arguably the only successful business person in family history — who just 20 years ago tried to sell what is now a multibillion dollar asset back to the league for a measly $250 million.

Before then, he spent the 90s tearing down one of the greatest professional sports teams ever assembled in Minnesota sports history, after the Twins won two World Series in four years from 1987 to 1991.

Thus, it’s extremely unlikely the family will ever be forgiven, and they have done themselves no favors moving forward either. Not after Joe Pohlad & Co. decided to “right size the business,” following one of the greatest seasons in the past two decades, then tore it down to its studs at the trade deadline.

MN Twins can thrive despite Pohlad grip…?

If there is hope for the future, it is in that the on-field product has plenty of youth to supplement the big league roster. Of course that requires the front office to put the right development pieces in place. They have accomplished that on the mound to a certain extent, but the hitting development has alluded them.

Any front office would be better able to operate with more resources at their disposal. For Derek Falvey and Jeremy Zoll, that’s simply not going to happen in Minnesota. If they want to get the team back on track, it will take looking internally and winning on the fringes.

Related: Report: Minnesota Twins Owners Still Plan to Sell

There is a path forward even if the Pohlads remain head honchos. For now that’s the path Minnesota must navigate. Maybe the long term view of a sale isn’t dead either, and that’s a hope we can all dream on.

What’s one more losing season if it meant getting rid of the Pohlads, right? Wrong. Instead of moving forward with a majority sale, the Pohlads found a couple minority partners to be named later, a sweetheart deal that’s believed to have paid off most, if not all of their $400+ million in debt.

Once the minority investor deal was unofficially wrapped up, the Pohlads took the rest of their shares off the market, and announced their intentions to move forward as Twins majority owners… at least for now.

The Pohlads’ decision to keep the Major League Baseball team they have owned since June 22, 1984 has not gone over very well around Twins Territory, where fans would cheer a billionaire paper sack, if it meant they didn’t have to deal with the Pohlad family any longer.

Rob Manfred mad at Pohlads for not selling Minnesota Twins

But according to Charley Walters (Pioneer Press), fans weren’t the only ones mad at the Pohlads for being bamboozled. Interested purchasing parties were caught off-guard, too, as was the MLB commissioner himself.

In fact, “a little birdie” tells Walters that, not only was Manfred surprised when he found out the Twins were being pulled off the market, but he’s “not happy” about it either.

A little birdie says baseball commissioner Rob Manfred wasn’t happy with the Pohlad family’s announcement two weeks ago that it had decided to retain ownership of the Twins after exploring a sale for nearly 10 months.

At least one member of the prospective buyer’s group was taken by surprise at the Pohlads’ reversal to sell and immediately called Manfred’s office, seeking explanation. Manfred also was taken by surprise — he had indicated to a group in Cooperstown, N.Y., at the recent Hall of Fame inductions that a Twins sale would soon be announced.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

Related: Twins’ New Ownership Groups May Include Familiar Billionaires

We knew the Pohlads surprised a lot of people a couple of weeks ago, when they decided to keep the Minnesota Twins. Still, it is surprising to find out that Manfred was appalled by their decision-making process, just like fans were. Even more surprising was that he seemingly had no idea it was about to happen.

I figured, if there was one person Joe and Jim Pohlad would have called before voiding their sale and bringing on two minority partners would have been Manfred. But, that’s not at all what it sounds like Charley’s sources are telling him.

Instead of new majority owners, we got two new minority investor groups, both of which were brought on to pay down/off their reported $400+ million in self-inflicted debt.

The Pohlad family opted against selling their majority stake in the Minnesota Twins, but not for a lack of interest. It’s been widely reported that there was at least one group whose bid was getting increasingly competitive.

But really, Joe Pohlad — who was named the new face of ownership back in 2022 — never wanted to sell, no matter how much some of his family members wanted to cash out. In other words, nothing has changed in Twins Territory… at least for now.

The Pohlads will continue to operate as normal, as they have for going on 42 years. But according to former Minnesota Twins pitcher-turned longtime local sports columnist, Charley “Shooter” Walters (Pioneer Press), the Pohlad reign at Target Field may not make it through its 43rd year.

Pohlads still planning to sell the Minnesota Twins?

In the article he wrote for Sunday’s paper, Shooter reveals that the Pohlad family is still expected to put the MN Twins back up for sale. Their hope is to bring the team back to market next offseason, where they believe they’ll get better offers than what they did over the past year.

Unfortunately, Major League Baseball is facing an imminent lockout after 2026. Commissioner Rob Manfred and the billionaires he represents plan to make their biggest push yet for a historic league-wide salary cap and revenue sharing program between owners and players, which could put a wrench in the Pohlads’ plan.

The Pohlads are expected to wait until baseball’s labor agreement is settled after next season, then hope to get the price they want. But a lockout seems likely, because baseball’s owners are hell-bent on getting a salary cap.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

The current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on December 1, 2026. We lost part of the offseason the last time owners and players got together to negotiate what wound up being a temporary CBA fix back in 2022.

As a result of that funky offseason, Minnesota was able to land what was supposed to be a one-and-done contract with then superstar Carlos Correa. Negotiations this time around, however, are expected to lead to a lockout.

Why? Because both the owners and MLBPA are determined to fight to the death on whether or not Major League Baseball will adopt a salary cap and revenue sharing program. That means the MLB is in severe jeopardy of missing regular season games in 2027.

New minority partners may have path to majority ownership after all…

We were told a few weeks ago that neither of the new minority ownership groups have a path to majority ownership built into their minority partner agreement. While technically, that may be true. Walters reports that they may have “right to first refusal” if/when the Pohlads attempt to put their majority shares back up for sale.

The Pioneer Press last month reported the Twins had a buyer in place who was in the process of securing financing for a purchase in the $1.7 billion range.

That abruptly changed when the Twins instead of a sale announced early in the morning that the club would take on two limited partners, who will assist in paying down a reported $400 million debt.

Speculation is that the partners will spend about $200 million apiece to be part of the deal, which could include a right of first refusal to eventually buy controlling interest.

Charley Walters – Pioneer Press

This latest generation of Pohlads do not have the same business acumen as earlier ones, a decline not that surprising for a family lacking baseball interest/knowledge, not to mention one that’s in its third generation of inherited wealth,

Selling the MN Twins may be easier in new landscape

There are multiple ways that CBA negotiations could help the Pohlads mission to sell the Minnesota Twins. The most obvious one has already been explained in this article. It be easier for the family to offload their multi-billion dollar asset without an imminent lockout looming.

On top of that, however, it’s also possible — should talks break the right way — that a salary cap and fresh revenue sharing program between owners themselves, along with the MLBPA would immediately make the business of baseball more profitable for small and mid-market teams like the Twins.

Related: MN Vikings Backup Puts on a Show to End Preseason

There’s no denying that nothing about this process has gone according to plan. So don’t hold your breath waiting for the Pohlad family to come through. If there is one thing we can depend on with these billionaires, it’s that they will almost always disappoint you.

But wouldn’t it be nice, just once, if this family collectively figured out how to keep their head out of their proverbial sphincter long enough to pull through for the first time since the early 90s? Hey, we can dream right?

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.

All we got when the news broke this morning was a bunch of word salad about how this is a turning point in the organization’s history. They did not name the new minority partners or what their specific purpose within the ownership dynamic is, nor did it state any sort of direction for the Twins’ baseball future, either in the short or long-term.

Thankfully, Phil Miller (Star Tribune) was able to get Joe Pohlad on the record for a quick question/answer interview that shed a little bit more light on the ownership’s thinking.

Pohlads reveal SOME details behind new Minnesota Twins investor group

According to what Joe told Miller, the new investor groups — one of which was formed locally, the other out East — will remain anonymous for at least a couple more weeks. It doesn’t sound like we’ll ever find out how much of the team they own or what they paid for it either.

Pohlad declined to reveal the identity of his new partners — in both cases, they are groups of investors, not a single buyer — beyond saying that one is made up of Minnesotans, the other a family based on the East Coast. He also did not disclose what percentage of the franchise those partnership groups will own, nor how much they paid for their shares of a team whose estimated worth has been valued at $1.7 billion or more.

But the Pohlads will retain a controlling interest in the team, he confirmed. The transaction does not include a path toward the new partners expanding their stakes or becoming the controlling owners…Each partnership group will have a seat on the team’s board of directors, so their “input, fresh ideas and long-term vision,” Pohlad said, will be heard there.

Phil Miller – Star Tribune

From a straight business standpoint, adding minority investors should immediately raise the valuation of the Minnesota Twins. So let’s start with that. We know the Pohlads believe their latest valuations are low. In theory, this move immediately moves that needle in the correct direction.

New investors helping to pay down Minnesota Twins debt

On top of that, Phil Miller’s interview with Pohlad revealed that the money coming in will, in part, be used to pay down the reported $400+ million the organization is currently holding in debts.

Previous reports out of The Athletic claim that the Twins’ colossal-size debt was racked up by a combination of the shortened 2020 COVID season, baseball operations, the end of their TV partnership with Bally Sports North. Joe Pohlad added “investments in the fan experience” to that list, while talking to the Star Tribune.

Pohlad acknowledged that the team has accumulated significant debt since the summer of 2020…That red ink totals as much as $400 million, according to a report published by The Athletic, through baseball operations, the expiration of their $54 million-a-year TV deal with Diamond Sports Group and “investments in the fan experience” at Target Field, Pohlad said.

“As far as I’m aware, that debt was not a hindrance in this process,” Pohlad said. “But with this transaction, we’re going to be paying that debt down.”

Star Tribune

Related: MN Twins Nearly Land Top Spot in Prospect Rankings

In a perfect world, it is logical to assume that these new minority investors will help the MN Twins push their player payroll back up, after the Pohlads slashed it by $30 million two years ago.

Unfortunately, we do not know that to be the case. Certainly, we cannot assume the Pohlads will spend more money just because of this. Nothing they have done over their 40+ years of control lend us to make such assumptions.

Joe Pohlad won’t reveal how new ownership structure will impact MN Twins’ player budget

If that is their plan, they need to verbalize it. If this shift in ownership structure really is as groundbreaking as Joe Pohlad wants us to believe, and about more than just paying down organizational debt, then why wouldn’t they reveal more details behind their plan going forward?

Minnesota Twins fans need optimism, and a sense that brighter days are ahead. Instead (of course), when pressed by Phil on whether or not the payroll budget has increased, Joe refused to answer the question.

So will the payroll rise next year? Those are discussions that will take place with team President Derek Falvey and General Manager Jeremy Zoll once the current season ends, as usual, Pohlad said. But “we’ll have a new process by then with our new limited partners involved,” he added.

Not to mention, a much smaller debt load.

Phil Miller – Star Tribune

Related: MN Twins Ready to Move on From Former 1st Round Pick?

But that’s not what happened with today’s announcement. Even though the Pohlads knew pulling the Twins off the market would upset fans — something Joe admitted to Miller — they went ahead and did it anyway, without any plan to blunt the immediate blow.

Had they followed up their rug-pulling news with a commitment to spend more money during this new era of Pohlad ownership, then at least the portion of the fanbase that still holds some trust, would’ve treated Wednesday’s announcement with much less hostility hostility.

That wouldn’t be the Pohlad way, however.

But Wednesday morning, the dream Minnesota Twins fans have been sleeping on for the past year (likely much longer) officially died. In a statement sent out on their various social media accounts, the Pohlads announced that they are no longer selling the Major League Baseball team that they have owned for the past 41 years.

Pohlads take Minnesota Twins off the market

Instead, they are bringing in two new limited partners to join the ownership group. We do not know who those limited partners are yet, or what their roles within the organization will be. There was no mention of increased cash flow or improved financial security.

Instead, the Twins statement noted that these new minority partners are coming in to “strengthen the club in a rapidly evolving sports landscape” and that both will “bring a wealth of experience and share our family values”. So… does that mean these limited partners are cheap just like the Pohlads? Let’s hope not…

A letter from the Pohlad family: pic.twitter.com/s6ff66W5DU

— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 13, 2025

A LETTER FROM THE POHLAD FAMILY

“For more than four decades, our family has had the privilege of owning the Minnesota Twins. This franchise has become part of our family story, as it has for our employees, our players, this community, and Twins fans everywhere.

Over the past several months, we explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities. Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities.

After a detailed and robust process, our family will remain the principal owner of the Minnesota Twins. To strengthen the club in a rapidly evolving sports landscape – one that demands strong partnerships, fresh ideas, and long-term vision – we are in the process of adding two significant limited partnership groups, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and share our family values.

We see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans. That passion inspires us. This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for.”

What does this mean and how did we get here?

Of course, the only hope that this announcement provides is the additional minority partners. In theory, you’d have to think they are being brought in to provide an influx of cash flow and year-over-year player salary commitments that were not possible, prior to their inclusion.

The problem with that theory, however, is that the Pohlads never do much of anything that makes sense. Because of that, we cannot trust that this pivot in priorities will benefit the fanbase at all, until we actually see it with our own eyes.

Fuck the Pohlad family

Rot in hell

— Bob Netherlands (@bobnetherlands) August 13, 2025

Related: Former GM Admits MN Twins Can’t Keep Top Tier Talent

When the Pohlads first announced their intent to sell the Minnesota Twins, fans were elated, especially after news broke that mega-billionaire, Justin Ishbia, was at the front of the new ownership line and on the fastrack to purchasing the team.

That was until just a few months later, when Ishbia dropped out of the running, in favor of an increased amount of minority stock he owned in the Chicago White Sox. Since then, fans have been strung along by the Pohlads, the MLB commissioner and those who cover the team.

While a sale did not come to fruition before or during the 2025 season, all parties involved assured fans that a deal was imminent and that the Pohlads supposedly had multiple interested suiters. But yet again, this family failed to come through for MN Twins fans… and now the future is more uncertain (and depressing) than ever.