Walters: "...the [Minnesota] Twins Have A Deal On The Table" In Sale Of Team

[Matthew Lenz]

In the latest update of the sale of the Minnesota Twins, Charley Walters is citing industry sources who say "the [Minnesota] Twins have an offer on the table."

He goes on to say that "Major League Baseball is expected to guarantee the Twins' debt reportedly more than $400 million."

So, why isn't this bigger news? Well, it's not been confirmed outside of an "industry source" and it's in the "Don't print that" section of the article linked in the tweet above. At this point, it's just a rumor.

What does it mean that MLB is "expected to guarantee the Twins' debt?" Well, that answer is also a bit unclear, but our own @Peter Labuza did some speculating and digging saying "If I had to guess, MLB would "buy" the debt and then have the team pay MLB rather than the Pohlad's...?" He goes on to cite the Debt Service Rule from the Atlanta Braves public filings:

"Each MLB Club is subject to certain MLB imposed restrictions on its ability to incur indebtedness in amounts that exceed specified thresholds. In particular, each MLB Club is generally required to keep outstanding indebtedness minus a certain amount of excludable indebtedness at or below 8.0x available cash flow (or in the case of MLB Clubs which have a new stadium, at or below 12.0x available cash flow), with the amount of excludable indebtedness for fiscal year 2023 set at $125 million and for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2026 set at $100 million. This is referred to as the Debt Service Rule. MLB Clubs must certify compliance with the Debt Service Rule annually and the failure of an MLB Club to comply during two consecutive fiscal years may lead to certain remedial measures being imposed by the Commissioner of Baseball, including, but not limited to, prohibitions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness and repayment of outstanding indebtedness."

Moreover, using the NFL as an example, Labuza says "[NFL] owners can "borrow" from the league at a cheaper interest rates than banks, etc."

On the other hand, @John Bonnes speculates at a more simple explanation,  asking "rather than come up 1.5B cash, [maybe prospective owners] can come up with 1.1B cash and take on the $400M loan gradually?"

While it's our speculation and educated guesses on our end, it helps provide a little bit of clarity on a somewhat vague and unclear statement from Walters piece.

Do you have any insight on the matter? Please share in the comments!

View full rumor

[farmerguychris]

Financial stuff that I simply don't have the brain power to understand.  Once we get talking about hundreds of millions of dollars - I kind of get fuzzy...🤔

With that said - whatever it takes to get the team sold to someone who actually wants to invest in the team, keep in in MN, and WIN, I'm all for it.  

[Linus]

I wouldn’t pay any attention to this. When the Pohlads are moving their personal belongings out of Target Field then we can get excited 

[Vanimal46]

I’ll wait until it’s confirmed or denied by a more trustworthy source. Charley Walters is the biggest hack sports writer in town 

[raindog]

“On the other hand, @John Bonnes speculates at a more simple explanation,  asking "rather than come up 1.5B cash, [maybe prospective owners] can come up with 1.1B cash and take on the $400M loan gradually?"

For the love of God, why can no one get this right. The Pohlads want the buyer to cover the value of the team PLUS the buyer covering the debt. So it would be at least 1.5 billion to the Pohlads, not 1.1. The only change now so that MLB would be handling the 400 million in debt some how. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

1 hour ago, raindog said:

“On the other hand, @John Bonnes speculates at a more simple explanation,  asking "rather than come up 1.5B cash, [maybe prospective owners] can come up with 1.1B cash and take on the $400M loan gradually?"

For the love of God, why can no one get this right. The Pohlads want the buyer to cover the value of the team PLUS the buyer covering the debt. So it would be at least 1.5 billion to the Pohlads, not 1.1. The only change now so that MLB would be handling the 400 million in debt some how. 

Correct, today the mn Twins LLC owe somebody (maybe the Pohlad company) $400m. The asking price is $1.5b and include the debt in the sale. In other words the Pohlad company are selling The Minnesota Twins LLC, not just the assets/brand.

edit to add, the new owner of The Minnesota Twins LLC would take over the debt. If the debt were to the Pohlad Company, this would be a sticking point, especially because it exceeds the MLB rules on how much debt to equity a team can have. It would make sense that the MlB would buy the debt like a mortgage being bought from a bank by Fannie Mae.

Edited July 7, 2025 by Richie the Rally Goat
Clarify

[TheLeviathan]

Ok Charley.

[Vanimal46]

5 minutes ago, TheLeviathan said:

Ok Charley.

I would put Sid Hartman higher on the list of people who would break that news over Charley and he’s been dead for 5 years.

Dan Hayes is the overwhelming favorite to be the one to accurately break the news whenever it happens. 

[Mahoning]

For all those hoping for the Pohlads to sell, look around and see how many major league sports owners care about anything other than money. They want fan loyalty, but it's a one-way street. You don't get to be a billionaire by being a good  or civic-minded person. You get there by greed. 

[DocBauer]

I'm not holding my breath. But if it's true, it could be some of the best news Twins fans have received in some time.

Up until the past 2 seasons, I've never felt the Pohlads were terrible owners. Not the best, and they never seemed to ever be "all in" to produce a winner, and never seemed to really embrace the Twins with any love, but they certainly haven't been the worst owners.

Anyone with a forward thinking mind and any love of baseball would be an improvement. Here's hoping the report is real, and we have new owners before the next offseason.

[Danchat]

I can believe that there is an offer on the table... but it's probably too low for the Pohlads to accept or they would have already taken it. But as noted, Walters' rumors haven't been any more accurate than the random scuttlebutt we kick around online.

[dxpavelka]

Hell, I could put an offer on the team to buy the team.  Doesn't mean it's gonna be accepted or is a good or legitimate offer.  And too much being made about the debt.  Typically in this type of transaction the buyer only assumes the assets and not any debt.  The bigger concern is the fact that if that level of debt has been run up by current ownership, what does the future bode for a future ownership that fans will be certain will outspend current ownership by multiple degrees of magnitude?  Where is that money going to come from?  Ownership, new, old or from another planet is NOT going to be interested in operating this club at a loss.  Get ready to pay up.  6-1-2 night at the ball park?  Good bye, We hardly knew ya.  Twenty buck beer night?  Fifteen dollar dog night?  Cracker Jack for a Hamilton night?  Chip in boys and girls.  All reasonable ideas considered.

[CRF]

Ba-Lo-Nee.  Just more fake news. 

[Original_JB]

19 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Hell, I could put an offer on the team to buy the team.  Doesn't mean it's gonna be accepted or is a good or legitimate offer.  And too much being made about the debt.  Typically in this type of transaction the buyer only assumes the assets and not any debt.  The bigger concern is the fact that if that level of debt has been run up by current ownership, what does the future bode for a future ownership that fans will be certain will outspend current ownership by multiple degrees of magnitude?  Where is that money going to come from?  Ownership, new, old or from another planet is NOT going to be interested in operating this club at a loss.  Get ready to pay up.  6-1-2 night at the ball park?  Good bye, We hardly knew ya.  Twenty buck beer night?  Fifteen dollar dog night?  Cracker Jack for a Hamilton night?  Chip in boys and girls.  All reasonable ideas considered.

The Twins have lost money (in theory, wink, wink) a couple of years recently, but certainly not to the tune of $400MM; It is surmised that the Pohlads have been using the Twins as 'collateral'  to cover the losses they've had in their other (failed/failing) business ventures.

[jctwins]

48 minutes ago, dxpavelka said:

Hell, I could put an offer on the team to buy the team.  Doesn't mean it's gonna be accepted or is a good or legitimate offer.  And too much being made about the debt.  Typically in this type of transaction the buyer only assumes the assets and not any debt.  The bigger concern is the fact that if that level of debt has been run up by current ownership, what does the future bode for a future ownership that fans will be certain will outspend current ownership by multiple degrees of magnitude?  Where is that money going to come from?  Ownership, new, old or from another planet is NOT going to be interested in operating this club at a loss.  Get ready to pay up.  6-1-2 night at the ball park?  Good bye, We hardly knew ya.  Twenty buck beer night?  Fifteen dollar dog night?  Cracker Jack for a Hamilton night?  Chip in boys and girls.  All reasonable ideas considered.

Revenue could be higher with better management. Lowering concession prices could very well be a strategy to increase overall revenue. An owner that engages the fans would increase revenue.

[Irishman]

Pohlad family, please sell your team.  You care more about m-o-n-e-y anything than anything else. 

My ultimatum is:  Sell your team or we won't come!

[jaimedude]

We should be so lucky the Pohlads would finally sell. Then at least all there crappy debt losses from other failed businesses like the Bring Me the News and GO radio, and Films funded that were flops,  would be off the Twins books. 

[Rhyno006]

MAKE IT HAPPEN

[Richie the Rally Goat]

14 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

too much being made about the debt.  Typically in this type of transaction the buyer only assumes the assets and not any debt.  The bigger concern is the fact that if that level of debt has been run up by current ownership, what does the future bode for a future ownership that fans will be certain will outspend current ownership by multiple degrees of magnitude? 

When I purchased my small business it was an asset only blue sky sale. Both of M&A ventures that my employers went through in the hundreds of millions and billions were equity sales. One a leveraged buy out, the other public stock.

On an enterprise sale this large with this much risk exposure and tax implication, I would not make the assumption of asset only. The remaining risk exposure without the future revenue would be untenable for the Pohlad Companies, as well as the capital gains impact.

remember, they bought the franchise for $44m, and are selling it for $1.5b. Asset sales are regular income tax up to 37% fed and 18% state. Equity is taxed at capital gains, 10% state and 10% federal, that’s $675,000,000 minus $300,000,000 equals $375,000,000 tax savings, plus another $400,000,000 in debt relief.

For $775,000,000 I’m pushing hard for equity sale

[dxpavelka]

15 hours ago, Original_JB said:

The Twins have lost money (in theory, wink, wink) a couple of years recently, but certainly not to the tune of $400MM; It is surmised that the Pohlads have been using the Twins as 'collateral'  to cover the losses they've had in their other (failed/failing) business ventures.

Which doesn't mean a new owner is going to turn a profit.

[dxpavelka]

15 hours ago, jctwins said:

Revenue could be higher with better management. Lowering concession prices could very well be a strategy to increase overall revenue. An owner that engages the fans would increase revenue.

There's no place like home.  There's no place like home.  We're not in Kansas anymore Toto.

[Patzky]

On 7/8/2025 at 8:24 AM, Original_JB said:

The Twins have lost money (in theory, wink, wink) a couple of years recently, but certainly not to the tune of $400MM; It is surmised that the Pohlads have been using the Twins as 'collateral'  to cover the losses they've had in their other (failed/failing) business ventures.

Seems like a good time to get out of (the) business.

[David HK]

On 7/8/2025 at 5:42 AM, Linus said:

I wouldn’t pay any attention to this. When the Pohlads are moving their personal belongings out of Target Field then we can get excited 

I'll bring boxes and a wheely cart! 💪😅

[Woof Bronzer]

Charley Walters once wrote that the Twins were a possible landing spot for peak-career Alex Rodriguez. 

[Richie the Rally Goat]

17 hours ago, Woof Bronzer said:

Charley Walters once wrote that the Twins were a possible landing spot for peak-career Alex Rodriguez. 

He could be buying them now, so he wasn’t “wrong” just “early” :)

[LewFordLives]

I wonder if the MLB loan guarantee has more to do with satisfying the current lenders. Presumably, whoever buys the team may take on more debt to finance the purchase. The current lenders may be concerned about being pushed down the pecking order in the event of a bankruptcy.

[Tlaker]

Just asking….. could capital gains be kicked down the road with some other kind of investment?

[SF Twins Fan]

Not sure what to make of this, but hopefully Manfred taking questions on this topic does actually mean a deal is moving forward.

[nicksaviking]

Why would MLB help out the Pohlad's by facilitating this debt scam? Isn't this just going to encourage the Pirates and Marlins and Royals to ALSO pass off other business venture debts on to their MLB clubs LLCs, knowing that the other owners already gave the Pohlad's this farewell gift?

[TheLeviathan]

10 minutes ago, nicksaviking said:

Why would MLB help out the Pohlad's by facilitating this debt scam? Isn't this just going to encourage the Pirates and Marlins and Royals to ALSO pass off other business venture debts on to their MLB clubs LLCs, knowing that the other owners already gave the Pohlad's this farewell gift?

Maybe they want them gone as much as we do?