Game-Changer: Pohlad Family Announces They Will Explore Selling Twins

[tony&rodney]

When the Twins were sold to Carl Pohlad, MLB made the call on who would be approved to buy the team. The other groups went home disappointed. Mark Cuban tried to buy into MLB at one point but was rejected. Time has passed and the valuations have risen substantially. Now, MLB is likely to approve an individual, group, or consortium that has the financial means to buy and run a franchise. There just aren't that many people willing to drop $1.5B to own a baseball team. Time will tell us who emerges to bring the Twins their third ownership group.

Hopefully this all turns out ok. I have never spoken with any of the Pohlads, although I was introduced to Carl and Eloise in 1987. I have no ill will toward these people. MLB is big business and we see how that works pretty much every day. The biggest change for the Twins will be to field a roster that can pitch, hit, run the bases, and defend. A return of the 2024 roster and that style of play cannot happen. I would suggest that the roster payroll is way less important than the personnel. Sure, money always helps but as we can see from watching Detroit, Kansas City, and Cleveland it isn't the final say in winning baseball games.  I do think a new group or individual owner is a good idea at this time. Make it quick.

[Blyleven2011]

Though this is good news and a step in the right direction  for the organization and twins fans ...

The key word is EXPLORE , so patience  is necessary  ...

The pohlads  are looking to cash in for 2 billion plus , the wolves sold for over value ( 1.2 billion ) , sold for  1.6 billion , the twins are valued at 1.6 billion , last I heard  ...

The pohlads could slap us in the face again as they head out the door if the  team is sold  , they most definitely will go after the highest buck and that owner may not like baseball either ( i rather doubt it though , you should like what you are buying , the pohlad boys inherited a team they didn't want ) , the pohlads didn't give  a rats arse  about it's fan base , just the big bucks  ...

Right-sizing the team , they may do more of that this off season  , they may now reduce the payroll  further  now that they have announce the EXPLORE WORD  , forget what Joe announced earlier about payroll  , they  can do what they want  since they know how the fans feel about them and to help out a prospective new buyer by having a lower payroll ...

A buyer like the wilds owner who wants to win and spends to the cap is what we need ...

Even if we are a mid market team  , we can draw 3 million fans if the new owners promote the team right , that's the name of the business game to profit , promote a team and make them perennial winners  ...

 I mentioned above  about the pohlads  , we should becareful what we wish for , because the pohlads could milk out what ever money they can and tear down the twins just to piss us off more ...

But it will be worth it , if we get rid of the pohlads and  if we get a new owner that cares about winning and cares about it's fans base  ...

[Musk21]

41 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

You forget the articles saying the first thing ARod and Lore are going to do is cut payroll...

Riiiiight, leaked by the Glen Taylor camp ( who by the way, just "cut payroll" by trading KAT). 

The salary cap and payroll for the NBA is far more nuanced than MLB is.  There are restrictions and penalties for having your payroll above the 2nd apron. Any owner or executive would be silly to not have numerous prospective scenarios detailing what would the roster and cap look like if we do this or do that. But of course Taylor released the 1 scenario or "ARod/Lore plan" of how to get back under the 2nd apron.

[Craig Arko]

25 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

True or not, living in constant fear that every change is bad must be just awful for people. Makes me sad

Yes, well, the reasons these are scary times is what makes me sad. Which has little to do with professional sports.

[strumdatjag]

2 hours ago, CRF said:

Get Bezos or Cuban in here. 

Jensen Huang from Nvidia would be my pick.  

[tarheeltwinsfan]

2 hours ago, ashbury said:

"Be careful what you wish for."  People have been saying we'll be better off under different ownership.  What if new ownership resides in Nashville, Tennessee, for instance?  Or consists of a consortium of investors who find themselves with cash-flow problems next time there is an economic downturn?

Exactly. Charlotte has been wanting a major league franchise for years. Don Beaver from North Carolina was a ready, willing and able potential buyer of the Twins 25 years ago. He now owns the Charlotte Knights, the Hickory Crawdads, the New Orleans Zephyrs and is a minority owner of the Pittsburg Pirates.  Don pitched in the Little League World Series when he was a boy. He lives in Hickory, NC, 30 minutes from my home. 

[NYCTK]

26 minutes ago, Rod Carews Birthday said:

I lived through the late 1990’s.  

QQ: Who was owner at that time? 

[Sjoski]

2 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Twins can be the Padres. Twins can be the Cardinals. Twins can be the Rockies...uh, scratch that last one. (except they're still a much better organization that the Twins). 

Twins can be the Diamondbacks! ......a team that has a great manager and has removed a lot of it debt. 

[JD-TWINS]

36 minutes ago, Andy Brodie said:

If only we could go the Green Bay Packers ownership route!

Sports Teams Should Be Owned by the Public

https://jacobin.com/2019/12/nfl-cowboys-jerry-jones-football-owners-public-ownership

Public ownership works for some of world’s best sports teams -- is there a future for the idea in America?

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/public-ownership-works-for-some-of-worlds-best-sports-teams-is-there-a-future-for-the-idea-in-america/

Packers have been very fortunate with Favre trade, Rodgers draft, & what appears to be a very solid Love via draft! Credit to them. New GM’s, granted, but same “ownership group” trade for John Hadl in a blockbuster at one point.

[jmlease1]

3 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Exactly. Charlotte has been wanting a major league franchise for years. Don Beaver from North Carolina was a ready, willing and able potential buyer of the Twins 25 years ago. He now owns the Charlotte Knights, the Hickory Crawdads, the New Orleans Zephyrs and is a minority owner of the Pittsburg Pirates.  Don pitched in the Little League World Series when he was a boy. He lives in Hickory, NC, 30 minutes from my home. 

Sure, but MLB wants a market like that to either be a) sitting vacant as potential blackmail for stadium deals, or b) an expansion target which generates a huge windfall for all the current owners. (look at what is happening with the NBA: they're creating 2 new franchises and it's going to mean a check cut to each owner for $300M that they don't have to share with the players. And it's the real reason Lore & A-Rod were finally able to get the financial backing they needed to complete the sale, since they didn't actually have the cash themselves, and why they need the sale to happen before expansion is approved). MLB doesn't want a team moving out of a substantial market like this. they were fine with it happening (finally) in Oakland because they still have a team in the Bay and they couldn't get the stadium deal done...and they'd much rather do expansion in Nashville or Charlotte than Vegas.

[Pat]

So now we understand why they "right sized " the payroll and failed to invest in the team even after the the influx of money from the one year TV deal.  They didn't invest in the team because their intention was to sell all along and any additional spending just reduced their profit margin.  Don't expect anything to change this off season as they begin to court suitors/buyers.   Pretty cynical on their part but not surprising as it is the way the organization has operated for a long time.  Even considering inflation, they are going to make a killing on the sale. Carl is probably smiling away in the hereafter.

 

[Woof Bronzer]

3 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Don Beaver from North Carolina was a ready, willing and able potential buyer of the Twins 25 years ago. 

Except he didn't buy the team because he didn't have the money, he didn't have a stadium, and NC taxpayers voted not to build one.    Other than that...

Again, Charlotte is a smaller market than MSP.   If being competitive in MLB is all about revenues, why would any owner pay good money to reduce their revenue pool?  

[strumdatjag]

I’m old enough to remember Calvin Griffith selling the team to Carl Pohlad.   Pohlad was a clear improvement.  I didn’t like the contraction threats, but he helped get Target Field built.  
The sons and grandson were willing to spend some  bucks to bring in Josh Donaldson and Carlos Correa.  They paid the price to keep Joe Mauer here.   Indeed, I don’t remember many home-grown superstars being let go due to monetary concerns 
I understand some just don’t like  billionaires and multi-millionaires.  But as the Twins hit the market, we all should hope for the most extravagantly free-spending billionaire alive to buy this team.   I hope that upcoming uber-rich owner is the type of guy or gal who buys more yachts and houses than one would  ever need  -  AND will also spend much more on this team than would ever be economically sensible. 

[Craig Arko]

2 minutes ago, JD-TWINS said:

Packers have been very fortunate with Favre trade, Rodgers draft, & what appears to be a very solid Love via draft! Credit to them. New GM’s, granted, but same “ownership group” trade for John Hadl in a blockbuster at one point.

To their credit, they never acquired Herschel Walker.

[SF Twins Fan]

It'll be interesting once names or groups start to float around the rumor mill for who will be interested. 

[tarheeltwinsfan]

11 minutes ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Except he didn't buy the team because he didn't have the money, he didn't have a stadium, and NC taxpayers voted not to build one.    Other than that...

Again, Charlotte is a smaller market than MSP.   If being competitive in MLB is all about revenues, why would any owner pay good money to reduce their revenue pool?  

I don't recall that election and I have lived in North Carolina for the last 75 years.  The Charlotte Knights stadium was built with future expansion in mind and was built downtown and is next to the Panthers' stadium for parking and restaurants and traffic flow. As far as Don not having the money, you must know more about my friend's, finances than I do. 

[nicksaviking]

50 minutes ago, shimrod said:

"The clause at the Metrodome, ruled by a judge, is why the team isn’t contracted today. Those leases are pretty iron clad. "

As I recall, the judge was perfectly willing to allow the Twins to buy out the lease. He asked them to open the books and demonstrate the team was not making money. The Twins pulled the team out of the contraction program rather than show their financials to the judge. 

 

If I recall, he also made comments about how the community had a vested interest in the Twins and it would have been too damaging to allow contraction.

Not sure that would have held up on appeal.

[Steve Lein]

1 hour ago, Musk21 said:

If they lose their arbitration case versus Glen Taylor, I see no reason why ARod & Marc Lore would not be a fantastic pair to buy the Twins. 

🤮

I like the suggestion of Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger... maybe Bill Murray would be on board, too 🤣

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, Mike Sixel said:

True or not, living in constant fear that every change is bad must be just awful for people. Makes me sad

I don't see anyone saying they are afraid, per se, unless you interpret cautious as fear, which I don't.

[Rod Carews Birthday]

52 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

QQ: Who was owner at that time? 

Same owners.  Unless you are the Dodgers, Yankees or about 4 other teams, down cycles happen.  I’m happy to not be in one.  

[nicksaviking]

13 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

I don't see anyone saying they are afraid, per se, unless you interpret cautious as fear, which I don't.

Yeah, my lack of enthusiasm isn't out of fear, it's due to the fact that we're still going to have a billionaire owner of a mid-market team either way; my franchise outlook is largely unchanged.

[DocBauer]

Anyone know if the Wilf's are baseball fans?

[Sssuperdave]

1 hour ago, strumdatjag said:

 Indeed, I don’t remember many home-grown superstars being let go due to monetary concerns 

Frank Viola and Johan Santana stand out pretty strongly in my memory.   Maybe two isn't "many" but they were both pretty painful at the time.

 

Ironically the Viola trade actually turned out pretty good for the Twins - Aguilera & Tapani were core pieces of the '91 team.  But I sure hated to see Viola go.

[1985Fan]

All the fans blaming the Pohlads for on the field problems have forgotten that Pohlads spent the money to win two World Series. That’s better than many teams, including the Padres. They spent the going rate to sign, Hrbek, Puckett, Mauer, and Correa. I blame the on- field problems on the FO, manager, and coaches. Period. 
Dream on about new owner(s) solving all on-field problems. Not going to move the needle much. I think that MLB has a shrinking fan base generally, and a revenue sharing problem, which creates disparities between teams. Until those problems are solved, I think there will be more teams right sizing payrolls. MLB is different for a buyer than coveted NBA or NFL teams. If I was a billionaire, the NFL and NBA would be first option before baseball, even though I am a baseball fan first and foremost. 

[Cap'n Piranha]

1 hour ago, Sssuperdave said:

Sooooo many thoughts!!!

• First instinct - this is wonderful news.  Yes, there are all kinds of ways it might go bad, and there are way worse owners than the Pohlads (more on that below), but seriously... I'm just more hopeful about the Twins today than I have been on any day in years, and it's not blind or unwarranted hope.  Yes, the new owner could be worse, even a lot worse, but he/she/they could also be a whole lot better.
• Where the Pohlads stand is complicated.  There have been some absolutely terrible, embarrassingly terrible, pro sports team owners.  Think Donald Sterling, Marge Schott, Dan Snyder, and at least a dozen more.   But still, the Pohlads volunteered to contract the team.  I mean, they don't spew racist vitriol and they've never tanked like the A's or Marlins, but still, volunteering to contract the team?
•  Even if the Twins didn't have a lease until 2040, I just don't see them moving.  I mean, anything can happen (North Stars anyone?), but it just doesn't make logical sense.   MSP is the 16th largest metro area, and I would guess the Twins Market is even bigger than 16th when you consider all of MN and the Dakotas.  MSP is not a small market for MLB, it is a mid-sized market.  We aren't NY, Chicago, or LA, but we aren't Kansas City or Tampa Bay either.

On your last point, you are aware that Tampa Bay is a larger media market than MSP, right?  MSP is #15, but each of the top 3 has two teams, and even a split of those markets leaves them bigger than MSP, so in reality, MSP is more like the 18th biggest market.  That's closer to lower third than median.

The Dakotas have about 1.6M people combined--if that's some huge factor, there are certainly adjoining states to most other markets that at least equal that, if not exceed it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market

[Woof Bronzer]

1 hour ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

I don't recall that election and I have lived in North Carolina for the last 75 years.  The Charlotte Knights stadium was built with future expansion in mind and was built downtown and is next to the Panthers' stadium for parking and restaurants and traffic flow. As far as Don not having the money, you must know more about my friend's, finances than I do. 

There was a stadium referendum that failed badly.  And Beaver wasn't "pro sports owner" rich, he was "minor league owner" rich.  The "Golden Triad" thing was not serious, it was the Pohlads holding the state hostage until they got their government handout for a new stadium.  

Charlotte is like the 50th biggest market in the country.  The next owner of the Twins ain't moving there.    

[old nurse]

4 hours ago, ashbury said:

True. But.

I Am Not A Lawyer, as they say, but with business at this level I view all signed contracts as mere starting points for discussion when someone becomes dissatisfied.

At a smaller scale Correa has a non-trade clause and yet we're discussing trading him, for example.

People have iscussions about fantasy things all of the time. This group does it a lot 

[Sssuperdave]

21 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

On your last point, you are aware that Tampa Bay is a larger media market than MSP, right?  MSP is #15, but each of the top 3 has two teams, and even a split of those markets leaves them bigger than MSP, so in reality, MSP is more like the 18th biggest market.  That's closer to lower third than median.

The Dakotas have about 1.6M people combined--if that's some huge factor, there are certainly adjoining states to most other markets that at least equal that, if not exceed it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_North_America_by_media_market

Fair points.  I was wrong about Tampa Bay.

That said, here's a really interesting map showing favorite mlb team by county:

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-mlb-teams-by-state-county/map

To me it really shows that market size is about a lot more than population. There are things teams can do to build fan bases that reach further.  I think it's most interesting that in the 3 markets with 2 teams, one of the 2 teams is clearly the bigger dog.  The Angels have a very small smattering of counties where the Dodgers have a bunch.  The Mets have basically long island while the Yankees have the rest of the state, and the White Sox don't even show up on the map.   

 

[Doctor Gast]

I wanted to believe the best in the Pohlads but it became obvious that they didn't know what they were doing. They didn't know what they were doing because they didn't care. The only one who really cared was Carl's wife.

[NYCTK]

19 minutes ago, Sssuperdave said:

Fair points.  I was wrong about Tampa Bay.

That said, here's a really interesting map showing favorite mlb team by county:

https://www.vividseats.com/blog/most-popular-mlb-teams-by-state-county/map

To me it really shows that market size is about a lot more than population. There are things teams can do to build fan bases that reach further.  I think it's most interesting that in the 3 markets with 2 teams, one of the 2 teams is clearly the bigger dog.  The Angels have a very small smattering of counties where the Dodgers have a bunch.  The Mets have basically long island while the Yankees have the rest of the state, and the White Sox don't even show up on the map.   

 

This is a fantastic map, thank you for sharing. I wish we had more data because, lets be honest, VividSeats isn't exactly anyone's primary source for tickets. But I actually used it a lot more this year than any of the competitors.