Phoenix Suns Owners Are Interested In Purchasing Minnesota Twins

[Cap'n Piranha]

Just now, NYCTK said:

Unless I'm mistaken, the Ishbias would instantly become as rich as the second richest owners in MLB. This is why this ownership is near best case scenario. 

Which in no way means they will be willing to spend $100M or more a year every year over revenue.  Do that for a decade, and I bet they’re not the second-richest anymore.

[Jocko87]

3 minutes ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

Which in no way means they will be willing to spend $100M or more a year every year over revenue.  Do that for a decade, and I bet they’re not the second-richest anymore.

I bet they make it up somewhere else, the tax code is a magical, mysterious thing.

[bean5302]

18 hours ago, sweetmusicviola16 said:

So Soto just equaled this guy in net worth. smh

Next time an argument about millionaires vs. billionaires in regard to owners dominating the poor pitiful players.... amirite?

Seriously, though. Soto will likely never have even close to Attanasio's money. Players actually pay taxes on their income. Just for funsies, threw this together quick. Numbers might be off a bit because I may have forgotten something. Assume Soto puts 40% of his net income into investments and those investments earn 4.00% (which is low, but not a bad rate for such huge dollar amounts and sure beats him being bankrupt like many players blowing through everything they've got). Also assumes zero endorsement deals or any other income sources, blah blah blah. He ends up at $467MM net worth at age 40.

*Nominal tax rate is just a loose guess, players pay taxes to the state where the game is played for each game, and Soto will obviously donate to charities, etc to reduce his tax burden, etc, etc etc.

[JD-TWINS]

3 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Beware the White Knight. I am old enough to remember how excited fans were that Carl Pohlad would take over for "cheapskate" Calvin Griffith. 

If the Pohlads are really serious about selling (I guess they are) the payroll reductions make sense. Selling a team with a "right sized" payroll would increase it's worth wouldn't it? Also, the new owner would be granted good will if he then increased payroll I would suppose. 

It does appear the brothers are sports enthusiasts rather than only cold-blooded investors. To me, it is a mixed blessing. They would probably be more hands on, but hands on doesn't mean effective. 

If we are looking only at payroll, the Ishbias seem likely to try to hold the line. 

If they pay the highest luxury tax in the NBA in ‘23/‘24 it seems that payroll is NOT something they would default to “hold the line” on, IMO.

For any NEW potential ownership group, seems to me that “right sizing” 2024 Twins payroll, at the sacrifice of Winning, would bring a lower vision as to how the Club’s value is perceived. The “ask” is around $1.4-$1.5B ……. $23M (or whatever) to get the Twins back closer to 14-16th in spending in MLB should be worthwhile for the Pohlad’s in ‘24. Selling a playoff bound Team v. not will add value greater than $10-$30M, IMO.

[USNMCPO]

3 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Truer words have never been spoken, Master Chief. 

I wonder how many times I'll need to learn that lesson.

It is a gift we are always reminded of.

[Carneal&Gordon]

Guys, 

This is the dream scenario, nothing else matters this off-season.

These guys treat sports as the ultimate competition and they will spend far beyond the numbers I’ve been reading in the comments. 
 

[ashbury]

19 hours ago, BH67 said:

Thank you, Senator Dirksen.

I steal all my material, but my special sauce is that I steal from the best.

[ashbury]

21 hours ago, USAFChief said:

Relax. I'm on board as a silent partner and, don't wanna brag, but I bring another 2 or 3 thousand liquid cash to the table.

Provided, of course, Mrs Chief doesn't catch wind of this. 

She's gonna find out when she decides to upgrade her MegaYacht to something nicer.

[darin617]

18 hours ago, NYCTK said:

Agreed mostly. The large uproar amongst the fans against the  Pohalds wasn't really overwhelming until they "right sized" their business right when modest investment would have paid huge dividends, showing their true colors. 

No one should really try to spend like the NY or LA franchises. Everyone's mostly aware and OK with the market discrepancies existent in the world. But as long as the owner WANTS to win and is willing to invest in it, it's evident to the fans. 

That being said, these guys could try to spend like the big boys and honestly isn't a terrible business venture, trying to build a Midwest dynasty to turn a 1.5 B asset into the Cardinals (currently 2.5 B). There's real investment opportunity there if you actually build a winner. 

Let's compromise and say they target a payroll in the range of 150-170M. Nobody would complain about that. And "if" they are in need of a big trade or signing to put them over the top these potential owners wouldn't hesitate to spend the money. 

[darin617]

2 hours ago, JD-TWINS said:

Agreed.

Investment firm is in Chicago - no more Teams moving there………. no more Teams moving to Phoenix/Tucson area either. Nobody seems concerned A-Rod is moving the Timberwolves to his back yard - right?

Don't let the little thing about him being part owner in a soccer team in Nashville scare you? Nashville is probably the next in line if there would be expansion or any other team moving (White Sox)

[darin617]

17 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

The good news is that the Twins name does not work in very many locations.

Just how many lakes are there in Los Angeles by the way and how popular is Jazz music in Utah...

[Twins GFP]

3 hours ago, Cap'n Piranha said:

As I understand it, almost every team in the NBA pays some amount of luxury tax, so that’s not exactly the badge of honor you might think it is.  We should also consider whether or not that luxury tax payment resulted in defecit spending—if the NBA’s revenue generation and distribution models are better and flatter, then perhaps the Ishbias are simply spending to what revenues allow—which is precisely what numerous posters are vilifying the “cheap” Pohlads for.

It should also be noted that all this spending resulted in a 6 seed and first round sweep last year, and currently an 8 seed and trip to the play-in this year.

The Suns will pay about $188m in luxury tax this season. The next highest is the Wolves at $105m, followed by Boston at $65m.

Still think they aren't willing to spend money?

I can give you 2 pages on why the Suns were a 6th seed last year, but this is a baseball site.  Needless to say, money is not a problem here.

[darin617]

14 hours ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

Here is a reason to be optimistic about these two potentially coming in as owners:

Last year the Phoenix Suns paid more in luxury tax penalties than the entire Twins payroll.

They get it.  Keep your fingers crossed.

There is way more money in NBA games than MLB games. You can't compare the 2 sports. There is no NYY or LAD in the NBA. All teams are probably within 60M to the highest priced team, give or take. And that's for 14 players and not 26.

[darin617]

6 hours ago, stringer bell said:

Beware the White Knight. I am old enough to remember how excited fans were that Carl Pohlad would take over for "cheapskate" Calvin Griffith. 

If the Pohlads are really serious about selling (I guess they are) the payroll reductions make sense. Selling a team with a "right sized" payroll would increase it's worth wouldn't it? Also, the new owner would be granted good will if he then increased payroll I would suppose. 

It does appear the brothers are sports enthusiasts rather than only cold-blooded investors. To me, it is a mixed blessing. They would probably be more hands on, but hands on doesn't mean effective. 

If we are looking only at payroll, the Ishbias seem likely to try to hold the line. 

And don't forget the Pohlad's bought the team so it didn't end up in Tampa Bay.

[Twins GFP]

1 minute ago, darin617 said:

There is way more money in NBA games than MLB games. You can't compare the 2 sports. There is no NYY or LAD in the NBA. All teams are probably within 60M to the highest priced team, give or take. And that's for 14 players and not 26.

The Suns total payroll outlay this season is almost $100m more than the next team.

You can't complain about their willingness, of lack thereof, to spend money.

[darin617]

3 minutes ago, Fire Dan Gladden said:

The Suns total payroll outlay this season is almost $100m more than the next team.

You can't complain about their willingness, of lack thereof, to spend money.

Where did you get your information from? https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/

Suns 217M top team, MN 203M second team. That's 14M last I tried to do math in my head. 

Detroit has the lowest payroll at 130M, I was off by like 20M. 

Please delete your post and next time do a little work looking at the numbers before throwing out false information.

[JD-TWINS]

52 minutes ago, darin617 said:

Don't let the little thing about him being part owner in a soccer team in Nashville scare you? Nashville is probably the next in line if there would be expansion or any other team moving (White Sox)

Not scared - owners & MLB have to approve - unless people quit going to games after the sale it doesn’t seem very likely. Baseball is pretty traditional - Sox moving doesn’t seem very likely either.

Stadium leases or some commitments in place? I live in Cincinnati & am not in the know on either Club’s commitments to the local Cities.

[DuluthRoots]

Residing in Phoenix puts them in the middle of a lot of Minnesota snowbirds (Minne-zona).

BUT

Their signings with the Suns (Durant, Beal), did not improve the team.

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, darin617 said:

Just how many lakes are there in Los Angeles by the way and how popular is Jazz music in Utah...

There are zero lakes in Los Angeles and I do not remember a Mormon Jazz concert.

[Twins GFP]

3 hours ago, darin617 said:

Where did you get your information from? https://www.basketball-reference.com/contracts/

Suns 217M top team, MN 203M second team. That's 14M last I tried to do math in my head. 

Detroit has the lowest payroll at 130M, I was off by like 20M. 

Please delete your post and next time do a little work looking at the numbers before throwing out false information.

Payroll outlay being salary and luxury tax.  I have done my homework, you do yours.

[Twins GFP]

Haters gotta stop hating and trolling.  These brothers are the type of owners sports fans want: willing to spend money on winning.  Things are never perfect, mistakes will be made, but they put their money out there to improve their team.

[bean5302]

The Twins cannot be relocated. They're under a guaranteed lease until 2040 with no option for early termination. A Hennepin County judge struck down a move with just 1 year left on the lease at the Metrodome back in 2000. No judge is going to allow a move with 15 years left on the lease.

Furthermore, MLB owners have to approve any move, and owners would not be on board with the Twins moving any time in the near future because the Twins already have a good stadium and situation in Minneapolis. Any place the Twins could potentially get a brand new stadium deal in place with public money is currently also potential expansion location or location a team in a bad stadium position on a short term lease would potentially explore moving to. Moving the Twins to a location which would carve up an existing owner's market. So allowing the Twins to move would hurt future and/or existing MLB owners.

[tony&rodney]

20 hours ago, Carneal&Gordon said:

This is the dream scenario, nothing else matters this off-season.

 

Twins fans would love to no longer have to read or hear about money as a factor in building the roster. This seems like it might be true and a dramatic change to these new "saviors" may alleviate the annual angst.

I'm not understanding how this affects the roster being  finalized for 2025. As a Twins fan, I'm hoping the 2025 roster lines up to be competitive with the three teams that finished above the Twins in 2024. Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, and Chicago all seem to have made a few decisions to improve their rosters. We are still waiting for our Twins and while we wait a few teams have filled holes to a point where the Twins no longer are very good partners in prospective deals. 

Right now I cannot see the Twins improving on their record from 2024 unless several of their young players step forward in a strong fashion. 

Sure, a sale of the team is very important for the future, but I'm not content to wait until 2026 or 2027.

[laloesch]

On 12/14/2024 at 8:50 AM, mikelink45 said:

As someone who went to Lakers games as a boy I am still bitter about them stealing both our team and our name.

And Dallas stealing the North stars.  that one stings just about as bad.

[mikelink45]

19 hours ago, laloesch said:

And Dallas stealing the North stars.  that one stings just about as bad.

That is for sure!  All my early teams - the Braves, Lakers, North Stars disappearing to another city and what happened to the Kicks?  I loved going to those games too. Or the Muskies or the Pipers?  Of course I enjoyed the Saints and Millers when we were AAA in both cities and that was an acceptable change since we then stole the Senators from DC. 

Of course I missed the Duluth Eskimos.  

Quote

The Minneapolis Marines become the first Minnesota NFL team. A couple years later, Minny’s second NFL team, the Duluth Eskimos, signs star fullback Ernie Nevers and barnstorms the U.S. as the “Ernie Nevers’ Eskimos,” but they only play one game at home.

 

I have to recognize our changing, shifting baseball history before the Twins and recommend Stew Thomley' summary.

Things keep changing and it can be tough on a fan base.