Great post Ben. This spiral to irrelevancy has been years in the making. IMO it began when the RSN channel which was renamed several times over the years, I'll just call it Fox Sports North, didn't adapt and agree to deals with cord cutting services like YouTube TV, Hulu+, etc. Once you become out of sight, out of mind, it's easy to forget they exist. 

I have friends who have sworn off spending a penny on the Twins until the Pohlads sell the team. That was a silent minority years ago, but it's grown louder in recent years. Especially after the 2023 "Right size the business" debacle. There's nothing Tom Pohlad can do to reverse that decision. So we're just spinning our wheels until they finally sell the team. That's where we're at... Just biding our time until someone takes over this team that knows what the hell they're doing. 

The good news is turnarounds happen quickly in sports. Glen Taylor ran the Timberwolves into the ground for 15 years. Once he sold to a group that knew what they were doing, the team became a perennial playoff team. 

Maybe they can get a new taxpayer funded stadium 

14 hours ago, DJL44 said:

Maybe they can get a new taxpayer funded stadium 

I chuckled at this comment. 

I look at the picture of Target Field and just think about what a cool stadium it is. I sat in the first row directly behind home plate when the Gophers played that first game. One can roam the entire stadium and watch from a rail; it's great.

One has to wonder whether something that opens all the way up but can be closed is even possible and if that guarantee makes a difference for folks coming from outside the Twin Cities. That was never going to happen as the cost would have been prohibitive, but I was at Game #163 versus the Tigers when it was sleeting outside and cold. 

As far as attendance goes, those things are relative. Baseball isn't as popular as it once was but young people will go to games as a social event. I don't see the Twin Cities as too different than Kansas City, so the markets are difficult. 

The Pohlads haven't changed too much since 1984. Their interests are largely outside of baseball. Carl bought the Twins because his wife loved baseball. He had zero interest once she passed away. The sons have had varying interests. One, Bill Pohlad, has made a name for himself as a film producer and director. He has been very successful in his endeavors, including being nominated for an Oscar. I guess people like to scream at the Pohlads because it allows free venting and it seems en vogue to hate someone. It makes sense that baseball fans of small to mid market teams dream of a world where some big dollar benefactor rescues their team. I think the front offices, scouts, and development people are more important to a winning culture and outcome. 

Baseball may be irrelevant to some, just not for me.

I think the mishandling of the TV situation is a very underrated aspect of decline in fan interest. I watched several members of my family and my wife’s family slowly drift away from the Twins once they couldn’t watch them on TV any longer. Out of sight, out of mind. The Pohlads have generally operated the team with very short term vision; the TV mess is just one example. 

On 10/24/2026 at 1:43 PM, Linus said:

I think the mishandling of the TV situation is a very underrated aspect of decline in fan interest. I watched several members of my family and my wife’s family slowly drift away from the Twins once they couldn’t watch them on TV any longer. Out of sight, out of mind. The Pohlads have generally operated the team with very short term vision; the TV mess is just one example. 

I would agree with your comment. To add  it is likely that MLB itself, led by the silly Manfred fellow, is a partner in having a short term vision. 

Now, the thinking goes .... a lockout will help fix everything. Yikes.

On 10/25/2026 at 3:03 PM, tony&rodney said:

Now, the thinking goes .... a lockout will help fix everything. Yikes.

I really wish the fans would realize this. The impending lockout is ONLY because the Pohlads (and their fellow owners) don't think they're rich enough and need to reduce their payroll liabilities to make that happen. 

It's quite literally: 

The Pohlads 
vs
The Twins Players 

...and yet a majority of fans come away thinking the players are spoiled entitled brats that need to be grateful. 

45 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I really wish the fans would realize this. The impending lockout is ONLY because the Pohlads (and their fellow owners) don't think they're rich enough and need to reduce their payroll liabilities to make that happen. 

It's quite literally: 

The Pohlads 
vs
The Twins Players 

...and yet a majority of fans come away thinking the players are spoiled entitled brats that need to be grateful. 

Minnesota is a microcosm of the change that has happened in the past few decades. across the country. Labor unions have had their issues and the public seemingly has turned against them. Those who fought for safety and human working conditions suffered quite a bit more than most realized. Tens of thousands died, were injured, and driven from their homes in the war to bring about labor change yet it is not common knowledge. The public relations wars are won by the billionaire class. The accepted rough estimate of $30 trillion has been shifted from the middle and lower classes to the uber elite in the last 3-4 decades is stunning. Elon Musk spent over $600 million on the 2024 and 2026 elections and saw his wealth grow from roughly $200 billion in 2023 to over $1 trillion now. 

This is a baseball site and I do try to always keep anything which might seem political off of my comments. The above paragraph, if read fairly, does not endorse any politician. MLB players do make an enormous amount of money. Typical corporations have disparities of income that range from 300-600 times between lowest and highest paid. Thus, if we use MLB players at $1M, the owners expect a much higher profit margin, say $300M at least. Of course it is complicated and not at all straightforward (stock, tax, etc.). MLB is making a mistake if it thinks it can coral the players. An extended lockout will have significant effects on the game, starting with the automatic extension of the poor media deals currently in place if more than XX number of games are cancelled. 

The bottom line is that fans are continually getting squeezed by all sides. It is expensive to go to the games and one needs multiple streaming services to watch games. For me the games are still in range but it is getting difficult for many, including for folks who visit Twins Daily. Everyone has a right to their thoughts and opinions but I believe a lengthy lockout will throttle MLB for at least a decade. 

From what I read, it seems like the owners, many of whom inherited their fortunes, want the players' union crushed. I found a recent statement by Hal Steinbrenner to be particularly .... rich and particularly unaware/clueless.

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

Typical corporations have disparities of income that range from 300-600 times between lowest and highest paid.

The baseball players aren’t the lowest paid employees, partly because they have strong union representation.

300 times an usher’s pay of $25000 is $7.5M. Team president makes about $5M annually.

34 minutes ago, DJL44 said:

The baseball players aren’t the lowest paid employees, partly because they have strong union representation.

300 times an usher’s pay of $25000 is $7.5M. Team president makes about $5M annually.

Yes, true. Many of the people working in and around MLB are also working for other companies, not the team. No doubt, it is complicated. Who does one side with in the battle between millionaires and billionaires is what some people have asked. I just want to watch baseball, although I do side with the players. I can still remember Andre Dawson, among many others, not receiving a single contract offer. Dawson sign a blank player contract and told the Cubs to fill in whatever amount they wished, even minimum.

This is a very good, yet concerning article. I will be one of the first people to claim that I have lost interest in watching baseball, let alone the Twins when we have teams spending $450million to put together a team when their counterpart is using $85million to put a product on the field. The disparity is crazy. Now again, different markets may mean different payrolls. But that is the beauty of baseball. This World Series is showing it. 2 low-mid market teams are proving you don't need the highest payroll to win the championship. You just need to have the right players in the right positions in the right organization at the right time. 

When the Twins/Wild/Wolves started playing media streaming rights carousel, I pretty much lost a lot of interest in watching professional sports. I tend to stick to more collegiate sports like volleyball, wrestling, soccer, baseball/softball, and hockey because those student-athletes typically have things to prove. The Twins are losing viewers whereas the Wild/Wolves/Vikings are gaining more because they have been putting more better product that is producing more wins and getting closer to winning that elusive championship title that has eluded the Minnesota Sports Fans for the last 35 seasons. The only championship I have seen in my life is the Lynx win their multiple championships (This should give people a rough estimate of how old I am) but whenever I see the 1991 WS on tv, you bet I'm stopping what I'm doing and I'm watching it. 

The Pohlads have not kept their promise of a new stadium will create a more contending team. If that were the case, we would consistently running the gauntlet in the AL Central, seeing as we have been one of the weaker divisions in the last 10 years. So I do agree that the Pohlad's need to sell the team to a person/group who actually understands that success=more money for the owners/ownership group. You have to invest in your product if you want it to sell properly. 

"To treat each losing season and early playoff exit as if it could be fixed by underwhelming offseason moves, year after year, has missed the forest for the trees; while Twins insiders debate which platoon outfielder the Twins could target, we have missed that much of Twins Territory has stopped listening."

Just a perfect post. It's terribly sad, but it is heartening that some folks here seem to understand the gravity of the situation. This is a nothing organization. There's no heart, no grit, no energy, no brain trust and no will to win here. The Twins are less exciting at this point than teams like the Pirates and the Angels.

And the reason is ownership. How you run an organization into $450M of debt while fielding below average payrolls and receiving a large share of competitive balance support is mind-boggling. And then to cut a promising run towards relevance off at the first sign of growth? Again, it's just sheer stupidity. There's no one at the wheel. There's nothing upstairs.

Minnesotans used to love baseball. Now the Twins are an afterthought in this market. Friends have asked me to join them at Saints games and town ball parks. Not a single friend or family member has even mentioned going to a Twins game in years. 

It's going to take years to get out of this mess. And that process should have started years ago, so that there could be light at the end of the tunnel after the new CBA is signed. But the real work hasn't even begun, and the team is in worse shape now than they were after last season. They have a weak infrastructure, almost no trade chips and far fewer options to improve this middling roster.