5 Ramifications of Justin Ishbia Dropping His Twins Ownership Bid

[arby58]

I've always found it interesting that the Wilfs are generally considered great owners by Minnesota sports fans and the Pohlads are considered the opposite. It's not as if the Vikings have had all that much more success than the Twins. I think the answer is two words: salary cap. You can't complain about the Vikings spending, because of the cap. Not so for the Twins.

[Parfigliano]

I'm not a Pohlad or a fan of them but I don't get why people constantly bitch about them.  The Twins have always had tight pocket owners.  Always.  It's not a new development.

[ashbury]

23 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

I'm not a Pohlad or a fan of them but I don't get why people constantly bitch about them.  The Twins have always had tight pocket owners.  Always.  It's not a new development.

I enjoyed reading this in Dave St Peter's voice, however.

[Fatbat]

Rule #1 in sales. “Buyers are Liars”  Owning a professional sports franchise is one of the ultimate luxury items.  Every penny not spent on the purchase can go towards running the shiny new toy. 
The purchase price is only one facet of the sale.  The ongoing expenses and tight profit margin is the most important facet. Buying the best team to run the whole organization seems to be the hardest thing to ever achieve.

 
At this point, I would bet that the Pohlads don’t like any offer they have gotten.  Like a luxury home that doesn’t sell or at least generate heavy interest and offers in a timely manner, it will get pulled off the market until the market dynamics change. 
 

[dxpavelka]

7 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

I have understood this from the very beginning and stated such. MAYBE use Rube Nation for our national politics but it isn't fair or accurate to lump the many differences found among us on Twins Daily into one piece.

If you understood this from the very beginning you were probably one of less than a dozen on here. 

[darin617]

13 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

It might be interesting why they backed out, maybe the Twins were too creative. With what the Twins did this offseason, I doubt the new owners would have money to go out & get a high-profile rental at the deadline IF the Twins are still in it. The Pohlads are on the hot seat if they back out they'd be tarred & feathered by the fans. If they have to take a discount they better do it.

I don't think they really had interest in the Twins. I think they were using MN to try to get more leverage in Chicago. 

[darin617]

10 hours ago, bean5302 said:

To the best of my knowledge, it hasn't been reported on why the Ishbia's stopped pursuing the purchase of the Twins. What was reported was:
1) The Ishbia's were no longer pursuing the purchase of the Twins.
2) The Ishbia's were approached by Jerry Reinsdorf about buying out some minority White Sox owner shares which would not give the Ishbia's a majority stake or team control.
3) The Ishbia's intend to accept Reinsdorf's proposal.

If the Ishbia's were outbid, they might have decided to stop the pursuit. If that is the case, the high bidder can't just drop their bid because the Ishbia's are out based on price, not interest. A bidder can't play bidding games like that, either. Offers are offers and gaming the offer to scare off other bidders would have consequences.

If there is a higher bidder there's nothing stopping them from backing out.

[gil4]

11 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

Sentence 3.  Knowing Minnesotans, if the Pohlads decide not to sell the Twins, I would expect the reaction to more like "well gosh darn it all" than tar and feathers.

For some reason I attached my brother-in-law's voice to that comment.  It was eerily accurate.  
(He has lived his whole life in the Twin Cities area.  I lived there for 9 months.  The first 9 months.)

[dxpavelka]

22 hours ago, Doctor Gast said:

It might be interesting why they backed out, maybe the Twins were too creative. With what the Twins did this offseason, I doubt the new owners would have money to go out & get a high-profile rental at the deadline IF the Twins are still in it. The Pohlads are on the hot seat if they back out they'd be tarred & feathered by the fans. If they have to take a discount they better do it.

WAIT a minute.  NOW you're trying to tell me that whoever buys the team is NOT going to come in and outspend the Dodgers?  Stop.

[Beast]

I’ve said from the beginning that they aren’t selling the team.  Similar to the Glen Taylor situation, any reason they can find to keep it while seemingly intentionally throwing up arbitrary road blocks.

It’s a professional sports franchise.  I don’t care where it is or what sport, if someone really want to find a buyer and get out, it’ll be there.  Probing for a buyer at a price they know won’t be met isn’t an earnest attempt.

What better way to attempt to drive some fan engagement and get in the media cycle (any engagement/press is good) after completely blowing the highest fan engagement/optimism in a decade off a playoff series victory?  Make a splashy roster move?  Shake up the coaching staff front office?  We all know those weren’t options.  Stage a search for an exciting new owner like Ishbia who would spend like a drunken sailor at a pub compared to the Pohlads would certainly get people talking.  

I might be proven wrong.  But as they “work” through this process, the more I feel my initial gut reaction of “BS” seems accurate.

It just makes no sense, if they have any real business acumen and long-term thinking/planning, to tank ticket sales and fan excitement, then try to sell the team.  I don’t buy the “they need clean books, so they can’t sign any significant contracts” trope that’s been thrown around.  You’re telling me a group of multi-billionaires clamoring to get into a professional sports franchise wouldn’t buy a team because they signed some mid-tier free agent deals?  They’re more likely to pay your price if the team stinks?  The sale price is certainly hurt much more by demonstrating zero fan engagement/excitement and bottomed out ticket sales.  

[NYCTK]

55 minutes ago, Beast said:

It just makes no sense, if they have any real business acumen and long-term thinking/planning, to tank ticket sales and fan excitement, then try to sell the team.

You're assuming the Pohalds have any real business acumen and/or long-term thinking/planning just because they're rich and "successful". The reason they allegedly are looking to sell the team is because all their other businesses are struggling. Look at their estimated net worth versus the value of the Twins and then look at that ratio towards the end of Carl's life. 

Carl was a ruthless POS, which is why he was "successful" in business. There's nothing to suggest his nepo baby failsons have any real business acumen other than the fact that they have an important job that was handed to them. 

[mluebker]

On 2/23/2025 at 7:47 AM, TopGunn#22 said:

We have heard that there was a "robust market" for the Twins.  But the only group we heard about was the Ishbia group. 

Yeah, and this is the year Buxton and Correa both play 140 games.

[mluebker]

22 hours ago, Parfigliano said:

The Twins have always had tight pocket owners.  Always.  It's not a new development.

Much as I like traditions, this is one I’d like to see wither and die.

[dxpavelka]

13 hours ago, Beast said:

I’ve said from the beginning that they aren’t selling the team.  Similar to the Glen Taylor situation, any reason they can find to keep it while seemingly intentionally throwing up arbitrary road blocks.

It’s a professional sports franchise.  I don’t care where it is or what sport, if someone really want to find a buyer and get out, it’ll be there.  Probing for a buyer at a price they know won’t be met isn’t an earnest attempt.

What better way to attempt to drive some fan engagement and get in the media cycle (any engagement/press is good) after completely blowing the highest fan engagement/optimism in a decade off a playoff series victory?  Make a splashy roster move?  Shake up the coaching staff front office?  We all know those weren’t options.  Stage a search for an exciting new owner like Ishbia who would spend like a drunken sailor at a pub compared to the Pohlads would certainly get people talking.  

I might be proven wrong.  But as they “work” through this process, the more I feel my initial gut reaction of “BS” seems accurate.

It just makes no sense, if they have any real business acumen and long-term thinking/planning, to tank ticket sales and fan excitement, then try to sell the team.  I don’t buy the “they need clean books, so they can’t sign any significant contracts” trope that’s been thrown around.  You’re telling me a group of multi-billionaires clamoring to get into a professional sports franchise wouldn’t buy a team because they signed some mid-tier free agent deals?  They’re more likely to pay your price if the team stinks?  The sale price is certainly hurt much more by demonstrating zero fan engagement/excitement and bottomed out ticket sales.  

I love how everybody assumes a new owner would spend like a drunken sailor at a pub.  Hell, I'm old enough to remember when folks thought that of the Pohlads after they bought the club from Calvin.  I'll bet anyone that when and if the team is sold, they won't win two World Series within 8 years.

[Sjoski]

Rat's...since the Pohlads literally picked my pocket in 2019...I've refused to give this tight fisted money hungry ownership another nickel.