Latest Update Suggests New Twins Owner Will Be Identified By Opening Day; Many Bidders Involved

[Matthew Trueblood]

Minnesota Star-Tribune sports columnist LaVelle E. Neal III delivered a meaty update on the progress of the team's impending sale Thursday morning, including some details that elucidate the timeline for this momentous change.

Image courtesy of © Matt Blewett-Imagn Images

It was surprising to read a few of the items in Neal's piece, even though other facts he noted were already reported elsewhere. There are, apparently, more bidders than we would have guessed—a "double-digit" number of inquiries, as Neal termed it. Not every inquiring party will ultimately submit a bid in cases like these, but as Neal described the likelihood of a multi-round bidding process, it was hard not to imagine a bit of a bidding war developing.

While he didn't name any new potential buyers (beyond the Ishbias, with whom we've all become acquainted by now), Neal's description of the situation makes it sound like the team will have no trouble being sold for a high price. We'd already heard from Dan Hayes that there was a chance that a new owner would be identified by Opening Day, but the way Neal lays things out, that feels almost inevitable. He's quick to caution that any new owner would have to go through the league approval process, and it sounds like Memorial Day or Flag Day will be the targets for an official transfer of ownership. Once we know who the person is, though, historically, ownership changes tend to feel complete—even before they really are.

Steadily, throughout this winter, the reasons for optimism about the likely shape and timeline of this process have piled up. Everything depends on whether the owner who ends up winning this bidding will take an active interest and be willing to invest money to rebuild the fan base, if only by putting more talent on the field than they could superficially afford. We can't know that yet, so analysis is folly. Neal's report gives us ample reason to expect a fast-moving process and an encouraging resolution, though. 

A couple of final notes from Neal were so unsurprising as to be obvious, but they're still valuable. Firstly, he alluded to the fact that Target Field is a major asset (literally and conceptually) in this process. The park is modern, well-maintained, and has a chance to be a 100-year facility, so that's how we'd expect new owners to view it, but it's nice to have affirmation of it. One of our main criteria for judging the acceptability of a new owner, as fans, should be their commitment to ensuring that the team plays at the park for several more decades.

Neal also reported that it's likely a former Twins player will be part of an ownership group. That, too, is unsurprising, and he almost sounds like he's speculating, rather than reporting anything rooted in sources' insights. He's probably right, though. Any non-Minnesotan owners (and, while Neal also mentioned that there is local interest, the balance of probability is that the new owners will be from somewhere else) will want a local face as a minority partner. Major business owners from the area who aren't positioned to buy the team themselves but have enough on hand to invest in them are nice, but a person like Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter or Nelson Cruz could have a special appeal. Fans would be more likely to warm to new owners with that kind of person at their shoulder than to do the same for some otherwise anonymous wealthy businessperson.

Impatience will get us nowhere, but it's increasingly difficult not to get excited about these proceedings. The Twins are likely to change hands quite soon, in the grand scheme of things, and it sounds like that transition will be a fruitful and happy one for Twins fans.

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[Doctor Gast]

I understood from the initial announcement that the new owners could take over by Opening Day. This new announcement seems like a delay & the Pohlads are trying to squeeze more money out of the deal. Hurry up & announce the Ishbia bros. as the new owners & get out of the way, Pohlads.

[LambchoP]

As long as these new owners prioritize winning over profit margins, it will be a major plus in my book. Something needs to be done to get MN fans back after we've been completely abandoned last year.

[CRF]

Encouraging, but I'll believe it when I see it. 

[jmlease1]

It's always important to remember that when a former player or other local celebrity is introduced as part of the "ownership group" their actual stake in the enterprise is almost always rather tiny. they won't be decision-makers.

[Brandon27]

I don't think it's going be the Ishbia brothers. I think it's going be ownership group made up of A-rod and marc lore few other people to  buy the team I have feeling those two going back out sell the minority stake in the wolves back to taylor and go buy the twins 

[Jocko87]

51 minutes ago, Doctor Gast said:

I understood from the initial announcement that the new owners would take over by Opening Day. This new announcement seems like a delay & the Pohlads are trying to squeeze more money out of the deal. Hurry up & announce the Ishbia bros. as the new owners & get out of the way, Pohlads.

Small distinction but very important for these things.  These are not announcements, they are articles with the best info a reporter can put together. 

Every one of these items could still be incorrect.

[Squirrel]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I understood from the initial announcement that the new owners would take over by Opening Day. This new announcement seems like a delay & the Pohlads are trying to squeeze more money out of the deal. Hurry up & announce the Ishbia bros. as the new owners & get out of the way, Pohlads.

I don’t think ‘by opening day’ was ever made as a sure thing. Everything I’ve read was ‘it’s possible that’ or ‘it could be as soon as.’ I don’t think anyone is putting a delay on the process, intentionally or otherwise. Even if it’s this season some time, that’s sooner than I was expecting, and I will hopefully be happy when it’s a done deal. This is a major, major, major transaction. Most owners, unless they just want to get rid of something quickly, are going to do due diligence and go through a proper process. And part of that is getting MLB approval. Matt is correct when he says ‘impatience will get us nowhere,’ so try not to go the nefarious route when things don’t happen as you think they will. The Ishbia brothers are not the only ones out there.

[Fatbat]

1 hour ago, Doctor Gast said:

I understood from the initial announcement that the new owners would take over by Opening Day. This new announcement seems like a delay & the Pohlads are trying to squeeze more money out of the deal. Hurry up & announce the Ishbia bros. as the new owners & get out of the way, Pohlads.

The Pohlads don’t squeeze every penny out in a bidding war, buyers give it up voluntarily to win the bid. Its not surprising that the twins ate a hot commodity at all. Other than uber cheap ownership on player salary, its a classy, well run organization and a great ball park. We can only hope that the new owners will want to invest better and buy better players to get the fans a WS ring.  The Pohlads lost sight of that because thats what happens over generations of ownership. Its not just the Pohlads. It shouldn’t matter what the name of the new majority owner is. What matters is winning the world series and building a long term contending franchise. 

[tony&rodney]

The only thing I actually care about related to the Twins is that they play a good brand of baseball. I enjoy a well played game. The players are the only ones on the field. Falvey has indicated on more than one occasion that he likes the roster and is prepared to go into 2025 with the guys on the 40 person list. Along with that he states that he is looking for any opportunities that arise and that he is open to creative transactions to add to the team.

So, as a fan, I wait for the season to see what lineup develops. While a few deals would be nice, I'm not expecting anything. I also don't believe ownership has much to do with the current roster moves from 2024-2025. The Twins still are projected to have the highest payroll in their division and are still without a revenue generating media contract. Things are close to what Falvey expected.

[Fatbat]

43 minutes ago, Brandon27 said:

I don't think it's going be the Ishbia brothers. I think it's going be ownership group made up of A-rod and marc lore few other people to  buy the team I have feeling those two going back out sell the minority stake in the wolves back to taylor and go buy the twins 

That would be an interesting development.  Within 30 days the nba arbitration board will make a decision on Lore’s bid so that may play a part in when an actual announcement in the twins winning bid happens. As fans, lets just hope that new ownership gets us a WS championship. 

[NYCTK]

32 minutes ago, Fatbat said:

The Pohlads don’t squeeze every penny out in a bidding war, buyers give it up voluntarily to win the bid. Its not surprising that the twins ate a hot commodity at all. Other than uber cheap ownership on player salary, its a classy, well run organization and a great ball park.

I don't know if I agree with that...but to add to this, the Twins Cities are a very good market. The Pohlads have spread this propaganda that it's a small, undesirable market since 2000 when the patriarch was trying to kill the franchise. And propaganda works. 

 

32 minutes ago, tony&rodney said:

Falvey has indicated on more than one occasion that he likes the roster and is prepared to go into 2025 with the guys on the 40 person list.

There's a good chance the incoming owner cans him (and for good cause). 

 

[jmlease1]

1 hour ago, Brandon27 said:

I don't think it's going be the Ishbia brothers. I think it's going be ownership group made up of A-rod and marc lore few other people to  buy the team I have feeling those two going back out sell the minority stake in the wolves back to taylor and go buy the twins 

I think there's zero chance of that one happening. regardless of what you think of the Timberwolves sale mess (Neither Glen nor Lore/A-Rod have covered themselves in glory) one of the things that it has shown is that Lore/A-Rod don't have the same kind of money that guys like the Ishbias do. MLB isn't going to have any interest in bringing in new ownership that might have questions about cash flow, needs to have additional venture capital partners just to make the purchase, etc. They're going to ensure that the sale goes to people who have the money side locked down tight. the only reason the Wolves deal went down with Lore/A-Rod in the first place was because Glen was trying to sell without having to leave. no way the twins sale goes like that.

[Jocko87]

11 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

I don't know if I agree with that...but to add to this, the Twins Cities are a very good market. The Pohlads have spread this propaganda that it's a small, undesirable market since 2000 when the patriarch was trying to kill the franchise. And propaganda works. 

 

There's a good chance the incoming owner cans him (and for good cause). 

 

Any organization that is a top half (easily) top third in its industry despite a significant lack of financial resources is by definition a well run organization.

A bidding war is not surprising. These are the situations that private equity drool and fight over.

Justin Ishbia specifically targets businesses that are well run by a good management group that need capital to grow.  The reason he does this is the management that succeeded without resources is best positioned to use resources smartly when they get them.

Falvey is a made man. 

[NYCTK]

5 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Any organization that is a top half (easily) top third in its industry despite a significant lack of financial resources is by definition a well run organization.

 

I don't know about that. Remind me, how many ALCS appearances have the Twins had since 1992? 95 win seasons?

9 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Falvey is a made man. 

Who can argue with those results? He's built...um...well...

 

 

[chpettit19]

21 minutes ago, Jocko87 said:

Any organization that is a top half (easily) top third in its industry despite a significant lack of financial resources is by definition a well run organization.

A bidding war is not surprising. These are the situations that private equity drool and fight over.

Justin Ishbia specifically targets businesses that are well run by a good management group that need capital to grow.  The reason he does this is the management that succeeded without resources is best positioned to use resources smartly when they get them.

Falvey is a made man. 

I don't know that Falvey is a made man, but I definitely agree that this idea that he's getting axed straight out of the gate is pretty misguided. And if the Ishbia brothers are the buyers then we can look at the previous team they bought and notice they didn't fire the GM/President of the Suns. They did replace the coach, though. And then fire the guy they replaced him with.

But I don't think it's an immediate buy and clear house like many seem to think. Especially for those at the top. And Rocco's job probably comes down to how strongly Falvey fights for him.

Edit: Falvey's tenure as President on the business side may be shorter lived, though.

[NYCTK]

22 minutes ago, chpettit19 said:

I don't know that Falvey is a made man, but I definitely agree that this idea that he's getting axed straight out of the gate is pretty misguided.

Yeah, I guess I should restate, I think it would be WISE for a new owner to fire him. Not that they will. 

 

[mnfireman]

2 hours ago, LambchoP said:

As long as these new owners prioritize winning over profit margins, it will be a major plus in my book. Something needs to be done to get MN fans back after we've been completely abandoned last year.

No business owner is going to knowingly operate at a loss. 

The team has about $30 MM in guaranteed $$ coming off the books after this season, a few players will get significant bumps in arbitration (Ober, Ryan, Lewis???) and only Miranda and Sands become arb eligible. 

[tony&rodney]

11 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Yeah, I guess I should restate, I think it would be WISE for a new owner to fire him. Not that they will. 

 

My haze is that Falvey is an unknown as far as what he seeks in a roster. Is it a .500 team? Seems like the goal is 80-85 wins and then if everything goes near perfect .... 90 wins. I'm in the dark on Falvey.

[Trov]

3 hours ago, LambchoP said:

As long as these new owners prioritize winning over profit margins, it will be a major plus in my book. Something needs to be done to get MN fans back after we've been completely abandoned last year.

You will be hard pressed to find too many owners that will have no problem losing millions of dollars year in and year out, some will if they are making a ton from other businesses.  From my understanding most owners hope to break even over the seasons if not a small profit, but few try to make huge profits from the year to year operations. 

[TopGunn#22]

This is great news Lavelle's notes just reinforce what we've been hearing.  I have no problem with this possibly taking until Memorial Day, as long as it happens by then.  As a fan, I'm still hoping that we're in contention and that a big trade can be swung before the deadline.

By Memorial Day A LOT of questions will at least have partial answers.  Is the team healthy?  Who is playing 1B, 2B & 3B?  How are Wallner and Larnach doing so far?  How are guys like E-Rod, Eeles and Keaschall doing?  What about Julien?  Who are our #4 & #5 SP's and how are they doing? etc...

The change will happen in time for a possible blockbuster deal and the Twins will have more information from which to work from.   

[NYCTK]

15 minutes ago, mnfireman said:

No business owner is going to knowingly operate at a loss. 

The team has about $30 MM in guaranteed $$ coming off the books after this season, a few players will get significant bumps in arbitration (Ober, Ryan, Lewis???) and only Miranda and Sands become arb eligible. 

Steve Cohen is knowingly operating at a large loss. But I doubt he cares when the value of the Mets is exceeding those losses by significant margins. 

That's the dream owner for any sports fan. 

[chpettit19]

34 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

Yeah, I guess I should restate, I think it would be WISE for a new owner to fire him. Not that they will. 

 

I'm pretty neutral on him. He has his strengths and minuses. I think it'll be a lot easier to get worse than better if he's fired. But I'm happy to have new owners come in and assess him for this first year and make adjustments from there.

If it's Justin Ishbia, I'd guess he'll be a harder grader than the Pohlads since he has far more baseball knowledge than them. If he doesn't like what he sees and moves on I'll put more faith in that being an educated decision than the Pohlads just looking at ticket sales/revenue. If he keeps him around a while I'll put more faith in that being an educated decision over just Pohlad loyalty. That's all I ask from a decision like that. Make it an educated baseball decision. Don't be afraid to move on if it's needed, but don't be too hasty and move on at the first sign of struggles. The Pohlads didn't feel like they were making educated baseball decisions, they felt like they were making loyalty, financial decisions. I just want it to be about baseball.

[nicksaviking]

*******Moderator Note*******

This thread is being steered off track. This is about the transition to new owners, not an investigation into Derek Falvey's job performance.

[jmlease1]

I'll be very curious to see if a local group emerges publicly and who might head it up. It would be nice for fans to be able to put some names to some of these bidders, especially when there's clearly more than a few. I'm sure that some of the people nosing around aren't going to end up being that serious; I'll bet there's a couple who got in early hoping the price might be coming in low since it's Minnesota and not a NE or California team. But not seeing much for names other than the Ishbia Brothers.

There are some very rich people in MN or with MN ties. I'm sure at least one will be part of some kind of coalition. (Vance Opperman? But Vance is a hockey guy and already a minority owner in the Wild. Any of the Cargills? Might be too busy trying to buy up Park Point in Duluth. Hmmm...)

[NYCTK]

20 minutes ago, jmlease1 said:

I'll be very curious to see if a local group emerges publicly and who might head it up. It would be nice for fans to be able to put some names to some of these bidders, especially when there's clearly more than a few. I'm sure that some of the people nosing around aren't going to end up being that serious; I'll bet there's a couple who got in early hoping the price might be coming in low since it's Minnesota and not a NE or California team. But not seeing much for names other than the Ishbia Brothers.

There are some very rich people in MN or with MN ties. I'm sure at least one will be part of some kind of coalition. (Vance Opperman? But Vance is a hockey guy and already a minority owner in the Wild. Any of the Cargills? Might be too busy trying to buy up Park Point in Duluth. Hmmm...)

Are there? Or could it just a negotiation tactic?

'Oh, boy. We're getting so many callers on this baby. Tell you what, I can let it go for 1.6, but just because you seem like a nice guy.' 

[twinssporto]

The player he describes as the minority owner will most likely be Joe Mauer.  

[Brandon27]

5 hours ago, jmlease1 said:

I think there's zero chance of that one happening. regardless of what you think of the Timberwolves sale mess (Neither Glen nor Lore/A-Rod have covered themselves in glory) one of the things that it has shown is that Lore/A-Rod don't have the same kind of money that guys like the Ishbias do. MLB isn't going to have any interest in bringing in new ownership that might have questions about cash flow, needs to have additional venture capital partners just to make the purchase, etc. They're going to ensure that the sale goes to people who have the money side locked down tight. the only reason the Wolves deal went down with Lore/A-Rod in the first place was because Glen was trying to sell without having to leave. no way the twins sale goes like 

I still don't think it's going be the brothers there is no word if they sold their minority share of the white Sox. Plus you never know anything can happen with a-rod and marc lore 

[jmlease1]

8 minutes ago, Brandon27 said:

I still don't think it's going be the brothers there is no word if they sold their minority share of the white Sox. Plus you never know anything can happen with a-rod and marc lore 

Might not be the Ishbia Brothers (they do fit the mold for what MLB wants, though), but why on earth would MLB want to be in business with Lore & A-Rod as owners after the Timberwolves purchase has been such a debacle? The fact that well into the sale process, where dates and numbers were locked in the two of them were scrambling around at the deadline to get new investment in their ownership group in order to have the capital to complete the sale is a massive, massive red flag.

I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a group with a local rich guy type backed up by a big time venture capital group be part of the bidding (though we might not hear about it officially); a stake in a pro sports team is a fairly safe place to stash a big pile of cash with respectable returns that isn't that hard to cash out 10 years down the road.

but I expect that MLB has made it clear to the Pohlads that if they want this approved whomever they pick will need to fit MLB's profile too. And they're going to want a group with serious resources who can invest in the team, support MLB's streaming package, and not chase short term pickups for cash-flow reasons. YMMV on whether that's good for the Twins, MLB, and MN baseball fans?

[stringer bell]

25 minutes ago, twinssporto said:

The player he describes as the minority owner will most likely be Joe Mauer.  

Mauer would be ideal and it would seem like he would be able to invest a decent amount to ne an owner of the only team he ever played for.