Joe Pohlad

The Pohlad family’s efforts to sell the Twins hit a major stumbling block when presumed front-runner Justin Ishbia dropped out of the process to increase his minority share of the White Sox. The Pohlads continue to evaluate the market, but there’s no longer a clear timetable for when a sale could be reached — nor is it a guarantee that they’ll sell at all.

According to a report from Dan Hayes, Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli at The Athletic, the Pohlads are “believed” to have an asking price of at least $1.7 billion. The Athletic writes that the Pohlads viewed a $1.5 billion purchase price that was floated by one potential buyer to be “a non-starter” in discussions.

Last year, Forbes estimated the club’s value around $1.46 billion. Sportico’s 2024 valuation was more in line with the apparent asking price, as that publication valued it at approximately $1.7 billion. The Orioles, the most recent franchise sold, went for a $1.725 billion purchase price in January 2024.

Interestingly, The Athletic writes that Twins executive vice president Joe Pohlad prefers to keep control of the organization. The 42-year-old Pohlad only took over daily operations in November 2022. His grandfather Carl Pohlad purchased the team for $44MM back in 1984. After Carl Pohlad died in 2009, his son Jim (Joe’s uncle) took control. Jim Pohlad turned over operations to his nephew 13 years later. It seems there’s varying levels of interest within the family about selling the team.

It’d hardly be unprecedented if the Pohlads eventually reversed course and took the team off the market. Angels owner Arte Moreno announced in August 2022 that he was exploring a sale; he pulled the team back five months later. The Lerner family had considered selling the Nationals between 2022-23 before abandoning that process in February of last year. Twins fans are encouraged to read The Athletic column in full, as they explore the challenges (e.g. the collapse of the Twins’ previous TV deal, declining attendance figures, and the team’s higher than average debt that reportedly exceeds $425MM) in greater detail.

In October, Twins owner Joe Pohlad announced that his family was exploring a sale of the franchise. The Pohlad family has owned the Twins for 40 years, so the sale process set the stage for a monumental change for the organization. That could seemingly move quickly.

Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that there’s robust interest from potential buyers. Hayes suggests that a sale agreement could be in place as soon as Opening Day. He notes that MLB has already begun vetting interested parties and will drill down on certain candidates as the process nears its conclusion.

The identities of most of those suitors are unknown. Bloomberg reported last month that Justin and Mat Ishbia, owners of the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA, were interested in the Twins. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would get the bulk of the ownership stake in the Twins if the family submits the winning bid.

They’re clearly facing some level of competition. One family that does not seem to be in the mix: the Wilfs, owners of the NFL’s Vikings. Mark Wilf tells Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star-Tribune that they “have (their) hands full with the Vikings, in a good way.” Wilf acknowledged that he’d “always discuss those things” when an opportunity like the Twins presented itself but downplayed the idea of getting involved in the bidding.

In any case, Hayes reports that the Pohlads are planning to sell the franchise in full to whomever ends up as the purchaser. A new ownership group would assume control as soon as the sale is approved by Major League Baseball, which requires a 75% vote from the league’s other ownership groups. That should eventually impact the spending capacity available to the front office, but it’s not likely to affect this offseason. Minnesota has done nothing in free agency and has signaled that they’re working with little financial margin unless they shed money in trade.

The most recent franchise to be sold was the Orioles, which a David Rubenstein-led group bought from the Angelos family for $1.725 billion last January. Forbes valued the Twins at $1.46 billion last year. The Pohlad family paid $44 million to purchase the franchise in 1984.

Twins chairman Jim Pohlad stepped aside as the franchise’s executive chair yesterday, turning day-to-day ownership responsibilities over to his nephew Joe Pohlad (relayed by Aaron Gleeman of the Athletic). President of baseball operations Derek Falvey and president Dave St. Peter will report to Joe Pohlad moving forward.

It’s not a complete ownership overhaul, as Jim Pohlad will remain the Twins’ official control person and continue to work with Major League Baseball, writes Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. However, it does mark a notable step for the organization, as 40-year-old Joe Pohlad will take on a significantly more meaningful role. Jim Pohlad, who’s now 69 years old, has held the lead role since the passing of his father Carl in 2009. The Twins have been owned by the family for nearly four decades. Carl Pohlad purchased the organization from Calvin Griffith back in 1984.

Joe Pohlad, a graduate of Stonehill College, has worked for the Twins since 2007. He had held the title of executive vice president of brand strategy/growth for the past four years. Souhan notes he’s gotten some experience in baseball operations in addition to his work in the marketing department, presumably in preparation for eventually assuming control of the franchise.

In an interview with Souhan published at the Star-Tribune, Joe Pohlad downplayed the potential for any major changes relative to his uncle’s leadership. He expressed his support for the front office duo of Falvey and general manager Thad Levine, as well as for manager Rocco Baldelli. “It’s not like how we’re going to operate as a business is going to change on Day 1 because I’m in this chair,” Pohlad told Souhan. “To this point, we are having all of the same conversations. Dave, Derek and I are operating in the same way. I am certainly not one to all of a sudden blow things up because I’m the guy in this seat.”

While there may not be any immediate overhauls in the franchise’s daily operation, any ownership change is certain to lead to questions among the fanbase about the payroll outlook. Minnesota opened the 2022 season with a team-record player payroll just above $134MM, in the estimation of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. That ranked 18th in the majors, and they’ve opened each of the past 10 seasons with a payroll that sat between 16th and 21st among the game’s 30 clubs.

Predictably, Joe Pohlad didn’t delve into specifics about the franchise’s long-term payroll trajectory. He reiterated the team’s interest in re-signing Carlos Correa, to whom the club has reportedly made a number of six-plus year offers. Joe Pohlad told Souhan he “(knows) that Jim was not a big fan of long-term contracts” but didn’t elaborate as to whether he’s similarly averse to those kinds of commitments.

The Twins haven’t signed a free agent to a guarantee longer than four years ($92MM for Josh Donaldson, $54MM for Ervin Santana and $49MM for Ricky Nolasco) since Jim Pohlad took control. The organization did go beyond four years on extensions (most notably for Joe Mauer and Byron Buxton) and they handed Correa the largest per-year salary for a free agent position player in MLB history over a three-year guarantee last offseason.

Jason Martinez of Roster Resource projects the Twins’ 2023 payroll commitments around $98MM. Buxton and Randy Dobnak are the only players on guaranteed deals beyond next season, providing the franchise plenty of long-term flexibility to reload after a second straight underwhelming season. Beyond shortstop, Minnesota has some question marks in the bullpen and the corner outfield. Falvey has also noted a desire to add another catcher to somewhat evenly split duties with Ryan Jeffers after the organization watched Gary Sánchez hit free agency.

Levine recently expressed a similar sentiment, telling Dan Hayes of the Athletic the Twins “feel the best roster will include two catchers really capable of delivering about 100 games started.” Jeffers is currently the only backstop on the 40-man roster, so it’s inevitable the club will add some help from outside the organization. Hayes suggests that’s likelier to be via free agency than trade, with the Twins believing teams with trade candidates behind the dish (i.e. the A’s with Sean Murphy and the Blue Jays with Danny Jansen) may prefer to wait out the free agent market.

Free agency doesn’t offer a ton of certainty. Willson Contreras is easily the top catcher available, although he’s likely to require a four-plus year commitment the Twins seem unlikely to dole out with Jeffers in the fold. Christian Vázquez is the next-best option, followed by Omar Narváez, Tucker Barnhart and Sánchez. The lefty-swinging Narváez and switch-hitting Barnhart would make for more natural complements to the right-handed Jeffers, although Falvey has previously suggested the team doesn’t intend to relegate Jeffers solely to the lesser side of a platoon.