The Latest on Minnesota Twins' Evolving Ownership Situation

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, Peter said:

Twins will be just fine!!! We must must must support our twins no matter what win or lose especially now!!! Pohlads do want to win and twins are headed in right direction-perfect buy low candidate!!! Remember we are a small town team that aren’t supposed to beat the big city teams!!! We have lots of kids on team that have never played in big cities let alone MLB!!! It’s going to be exciting intense action packed upcoming season!!! Go twins!!! 

Statistically MSP and surrounding area is not small town/market.  They have had the highest payroll in the division for several years.  The problem is the foolish way they spent on has been/ never were veteran players that were terrible then compounded that mistake by continuing to play them.

[Parfigliano]

4 hours ago, USAFChief said:

I'll believe there's 2 groups willing to dump ~$200M each into the Twins for only a 10% stake when it happens.

 

They lie.  There is nobody lining up to go into business as a silent investor with the Pohlad family.  

[Vanimal46]

This whole situation doesn’t pass the smell test. If there really was a local group interested, I find it extremely hard to believe they haven’t been identified by the beat reporters. Sid Hartman would have bullied every local business owner until he got a name. 

[Dave Borton]

Inexcusable. 

Market told him he wasn't going to get $1.7BB; plan B should have been greased like a slick hog. It wasn't.

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, old nurse said:

Jim Pohlad controls the money. 

And he holds it tight.  

Here is my thought question for the day - which owners are the worst in MLB?

Of course I think the Pohlads are high on the list, but Arte Moreno and the Angels, Bruce Sherman and the Marlins, John Fisher and the A's, and Robert Nutting with the Pirates all seem to be vying for the crown or dunce cap (your choice).  Did I miss anyone?  How would you list them - I think there are hard choices here.

From worst to best of the worse I would go:

1. Fisher
2. Nutting
3. Pohlad
4. Moreno
5. Sherman

But I accept any order for them.

[old nurse]

2 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

And he holds it tight.  

Here is my thought question for the day - which owners are the worst in MLB?

Of course I think the Pohlads are high on the list, but Arte Moreno and the Angels, Bruce Sherman and the Marlins, John Fisher and the A's, and Robert Nutting with the Pirates all seem to be vying for the crown or dunce cap (your choice).  Did I miss anyone?  How would you list them - I think there are hard choices here.

From worst to best of the worse I would go:

1. Fisher
2. Nutting
3. Pohlad
4. Moreno
5. Sherman

But I accept any order for them.

There are fans of 13-14 clubs who say their owner is the worst. Miami, the Athletics and Pittsburgh are run for the owner’s profit. Nobody other than the Mets operate to lose money.  Rating them is a nonsensical thing 

[mikelink45]

19 minutes ago, old nurse said:

There are fans of 13-14 clubs who say their owner is the worst. Miami, the Athletics and Pittsburgh are run for the owner’s profit. Nobody other than the Mets operate to lose money.  Rating them is a nonsensical thing 

why

[old nurse]

27 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

why

There is nothing objective about any rating. It is an emotional argument 

[tony&rodney]

3 hours ago, mikelink45 said:

Here is my thought question for the day - which owners are the worst in MLB?

 

If you are talking about payroll, the Twins are consistently around #16-18 which puts 12-14 owner ahead of them. The owners collect the money coming in and pay the bills. Seldom do owners have influence in roster construction much less who is drafted. 

If anyone has any concerns whatsoever about rosters or players or even style of play, your questions, thoughts, and concerns need to be directed to the front office. They are solely responsible for the product on the field given the market boundaries of where a team plays their games. 

[mikelink45]

2 hours ago, old nurse said:

There is nothing objective about any rating. It is an emotional argument 

Of course it is and what's wrong with that there are emotional judgments made all the time.

[mikelink45]

1 hour ago, tony&rodney said:

If you are talking about payroll, the Twins are consistently around #16-18 which puts 12-14 owner ahead of them. The owners collect the money coming in and pay the bills. Seldom do owners have influence in roster construction much less who is drafted. 

If anyone has any concerns whatsoever about rosters or players or even style of play, your questions, thoughts, and concerns need to be directed to the front office. They are solely responsible for the product on the field given the market boundaries of where a team plays their games. 

Q based on the articles I'm reading on this site falvey is waiting on marching orders and a budget. It can't be all on the front office. And I don't think the argument about the best front office and leadership is all based on dollars. The fact that the Yankees and the dodgers have so much money to spend doesn't necessarily make ownership better. But ownership is responsible for creating the atmosphere around a team that engages the fans and the community

[old nurse]

4 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Of course it is and what's wrong with that there are emotional judgments made all the time.

Nothing is wrong with it. The subject though is as useless as teats on a boar pig. 

[tony&rodney]

2 minutes ago, mikelink45 said:

Q based on the articles I'm reading on this site falvey is waiting on marching orders and a budget. It can't be all on the front office. And I don't think the argument about the best front office and leadership is all based on dollars. The fact that the Yankees and the dodgers have so much money to spend doesn't necessarily make ownership better. But ownership is responsible for creating the atmosphere around a team that engages the fans and the community

Think about it - a billion dollar corporation has a President of their organization(POBO), The MN Twins Baseball Club, who has no idea of a budget for the 2026 season in late November two weeks before the Winter Meetings?

Is it possible? Yes it is. It really is.

Is it possible that all of Mick Abel, Connor Prielipp, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodrigues, Kaelen Culpepper, and Gabriel Gonzalez finish in the Top Ten for AL 2026 Rookie of the Year? Yes it is. It really is.

I can see merit in your argument on what makes a good/best front office and how tightly that is tied to money. I can also agree that visible ownership can create atmosphere.

Duties are divided between ownership and the front office, for sure. The owners pay the bills. The front office puts the team together. I'm willing to bet that Joe Pohlad cannot name all of the baseball players within the Twins system much less all of the players in every other organization. How many high school, college, summer and independent league games does Joe Pohlad attend each year scouting baseball players? 

The owners stand aside from the team to a great extent. This does not suggest the Pohlads or any other owner don't have a critical role. They do but it isn't in putting the roster together.

Back to the first part .... How is it even possible that the POBO is clueless and waiting on a direction when his task is to choose the direction. Every POBO must make their decisions and choose their direction based on all of the available resources. So too does the POBO of the Twins. I'm not buying that he doesn't know anything.

 

[DMcQ]

13 hours ago, rv78 said:

It's pretty clear to me....... The Pohlads don't want to spend money on the team. Win with less. There is nothing wrong with that. The problem is right in front of their nose. It is named Falvey. They have loosened the purse strings at times and he's spent on players that aren't difference makers. Poor choices. Falvey wants to add. I have no faith in him adding correctly. All he's done so far is the opposite. From over-pays like Donaldson, Gallo and Correa to total flops like Garlick, Margot, an endless number of 1 year wonders for the bullpen, too many situational players that don't change anything, and injury prone players that return nothing. It takes a lot of money to cover up mistakes. The Pohlads aren't going to give Falvey enough of it for him to succeed because he makes too many mistakes. 

“The problem is right in front of their nose. It is named Falvey.” 100% correct!

DF built the bomba squad and dismantled it the next year, we had two All Star pitchers and couldn’t keep them. Let one get away to St Louis! He needs to go!

[ashbury]

[Russ]

With the roster gutted with angry fans, the best roster move is new non Pohlad ownership and front office.  Show the fans an interest in winning and get through a rebuild

[mikelink45]

12 hours ago, old nurse said:

Nothing is wrong with it. The subject though is as useless as teats on a boar pig. 

Amazing analogy considering male humans all have nipples.  So happy thanksgiving.  

[mikelink45]

12 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

Think about it - a billion dollar corporation has a President of their organization(POBO), The MN Twins Baseball Club, who has no idea of a budget for the 2026 season in late November two weeks before the Winter Meetings?

Is it possible? Yes it is. It really is.

Is it possible that all of Mick Abel, Connor Prielipp, Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodrigues, Kaelen Culpepper, and Gabriel Gonzalez finish in the Top Ten for AL 2026 Rookie of the Year? Yes it is. It really is.

I can see merit in your argument on what makes a good/best front office and how tightly that is tied to money. I can also agree that visible ownership can create atmosphere.

Duties are divided between ownership and the front office, for sure. The owners pay the bills. The front office puts the team together. I'm willing to bet that Joe Pohlad cannot name all of the baseball players within the Twins system much less all of the players in every other organization. How many high school, college, summer and independent league games does Joe Pohlad attend each year scouting baseball players? 

The owners stand aside from the team to a great extent. This does not suggest the Pohlads or any other owner don't have a critical role. They do but it isn't in putting the roster together.

Back to the first part .... How is it even possible that the POBO is clueless and waiting on a direction when his task is to choose the direction. Every POBO must make their decisions and choose their direction based on all of the available resources. So too does the POBO of the Twins. I'm not buying that he doesn't know anything.

 

How is it possible?  Because this is the Twins and I do not believe in their business model at this point.  The last three years have not been about baseball, they have been about paying off the Pohlad debt.

[TNtwins85]

It’s starting to show a split between ownership and the FO. I think Falvey is starting to show cracks that he wants to build a team to compete and is pushing the microphone over to ownership to see what they say in a very subtle way. Which is what he should do. He obviously has a vision representative of how he handled the deadline and the players he focused on. He wants a quick turnaround focused on potentially competing in ‘26 but definitely going for it in ‘27. Everyone can see his model. It’s ownership that forced his hand after ‘23. Its ownership that forced Falvey to turn the ship a different direction and try to compete in ‘24 and ‘25 with a hand tied behind his back. The last 3 years have more resembled a hostage negotiation than a cohesive ownership/FO group and I believe Falvey is starting to show signs he’s no longer willing to be played like a fiddle by a Pohlad ownership group who seems more interested with the Pohlad business empire then the Minnesota Twins.

[Major League Ready]

14 hours ago, tony&rodney said:

If you are talking about payroll, the Twins are consistently around #16-18 which puts 12-14 owner ahead of them. The owners collect the money coming in and pay the bills. Seldom do owners have influence in roster construction much less who is drafted. 

If anyone has any concerns whatsoever about rosters or players or even style of play, your questions, thoughts, and concerns need to be directed to the front office. They are solely responsible for the product on the field given the market boundaries of where a team plays their games. 

Wouldn't it make more sense in ranking "cheapness" to rank teams payroll as a percentage of revenue or revenue rank vs payroll rank?  If your brother makes 300K a year and spends 30K/year on travel and entertainment, and you make $600K and spend $40K on entertainment is your brother more frugal than you?

There is no topic talked about more on Twins Daily than the cheap Pohlads.  Yet, no Twins writer has every actually provided an actual accounting of their spending vs other teams.  You would think, given the vitriol around spending that one of the writers here would like to demonstrate the Pohlad's cheapness with a meaningful illustration of their spending.

[Chembry]

1 hour ago, Major League Ready said:

Wouldn't it make more sense in ranking "cheapness" to rank teams payroll as a percentage of revenue or revenue rank vs payroll rank?  If your brother makes 300K a year and spends 30K/year on travel and entertainment, and you make $600K and spend $40K on entertainment is your brother more frugal than you?

There is no topic talked about more on Twins Daily than the cheap Pohlads.  Yet, no Twins writer has every actually provided an actual accounting of their spending vs other teams.  You would think, given the vitriol around spending that one of the writers here would like to demonstrate the Pohlad's cheapness with a meaningful illustration of their spending.

I have seen graphics of payroll as a percentage of MLB payroll.  If I am recalling correctly, I only found 2024 data.  Over half of MLB teams spent 40-60% of revenue on payroll.  The Twins were right in the middle of the pack spending 47-48% of revenue on MLB payroll.  

That doesn’t take operating expenses into consideration.  The upper end was Dodgers and Mets who spent 70% or more of revenue on MLB payroll.  The low end was Marlins, White Sox, Rays, Pirates, Brewers who spent closer to 30% of revenue on payroll.

[Major League Ready]

46 minutes ago, Chembry said:

I have seen graphics of payroll as a percentage of MLB payroll.  If I am recalling correctly, I only found 2024 data over half of MLB teams spent 40-60% of revenue on payroll.  The Twins were right in the middle of the pack spending 47-48% of revenue on MLB payroll.  

That doesn’t take operating expenses into consideration.  The upper end was Dodgers and Mets who spent 70% or more of revenue on MLB payroll.  The low end was Marlins, White Sox, Rays, Pirates, Brewers who spent closer to 30% of revenue on payroll.

Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue are going to be considerably higher for a team with $325M in revenue vs a team with $650M in revenue.  If you consider all the other costs, the Dodgers are going to spend more on personnel and certain other operating costs but not double.  They are also not spending anywhere near double on their stadium costs, travel, equipment, office space, etc.  They spend less on draft bonuses and International drafts because they typically finish higher in the standings and are allocated less.   

The clearest way to compare would be to compare revenue rank to payroll rank,  If a team ranks 18th in revenue, ranking 18th in payroll would suggest they spend in line with their revenue.

[yeahyabetcha]

On 11/26/2025 at 10:27 AM, Linus said:

Did this article cover anything new?

No it didn’t.  It just gave the haters and experts another chance to bash the owners and GM.

[old nurse]

11 hours ago, Major League Ready said:

Operating expenses as a percentage of revenue are going to be considerably higher for a team with $325M in revenue vs a team with $650M in revenue.  If you consider all the other costs, the Dodgers are going to spend more on personnel and certain other operating costs but not double.  They are also not spending anywhere near double on their stadium costs, travel, equipment, office space, etc.  They spend less on draft bonuses and International drafts because they typically finish higher in the standings and are allocated less.   

The clearest way to compare would be to compare revenue rank to payroll rank,  If a team ranks 18th in revenue, ranking 18th in payroll would suggest they spend in line with their revenue.

Once again a website error. Editing done to ensure I don’t have to type a third ———- time.  

The difference high to low on draft pool money last year or the year before was 12 million. The difference in IFA money was about 2 million.  Due to trades for IFA money, competitive balance picks, picks lost or gained in compensation are big reasons for the disparity at the extremes.  Rank by Payroll (dead money included)  IFA + Draft pool might be a better way to rank.  Don’t hold your breath waiting for someone to do that math.  You might get a TBI from the fall.  

Operating costs can vary by cheapness. Pittsburg according to a longtime sportswriter in Pittsburg who is now a blogger, says that the other year was 171 million. DBSports I think was his website.  Decent, thought out writing,  Baseball America saw from public financial records Atlanta had expenses listed at 505 million,  that year their payroll was 235 or 245.  So that leaves  265 or so for operating costs and draft+IFA. A different article somewhere else once stated that all teams retry much spend the same amount of minor league operations at about 20 million., 

How do you get a cheaper front office? Less executives, less advisor to whomever positions, less sales weenies, less customer service reps and less scouting would be my guess.  Again, don’t hold your breath on that one. 

In regards to something you posted earlier, give the staff of TD credit for knowing their market as complaining about the owner does nothing but create clicks. A well thought out column on baseball appears not to.  

 

Yes there was another run error during typing 

[Blyleven2011]

On 11/26/2025 at 12:03 PM, mikelink45 said:

From contraction to confusion - the Twins have managed two WS in 38 years.  We have gotten periods of hope dashed with frustration.  Ownership has offered no solace to the Twins fans from broadcast rights to free agents.  “Without a question, the television situation is having an impact on our business. But beyond that, we’re also just trying to right-size our business.” — Joe Pohlad.

We were told that we could not play outdoor baseball in MN and needed a dome - good bye Metropolitan Stadium, then we were told that we could not win in the dome (although we did) and we needed a different outdoor stadium - good-bye Humphrey Metro Dome

The sportsbusinessjournal has this 2001 quote, Carl (pohlad) believes owning a major market sports franchise that has proven to be around a 10% increase of asset value year over year is quote “a burden for the family”

Minnpost had this quote after the firing of Terry Ryan, "“Obviously, we need a general manager willing to make tough, smart baseball decisions,” said Pohlad. “At the same time, we want him to be big and burly, like a lumberjack.” 

“You know, we’ve taken a lot of potshots over being old-school and ignoring the analytics revolution,” said Pohlad. “And I’ll be honest, some of those are warranted. But if we can find someone who uses sabermetrics, has a base of traditional baseball knowledge, and has immense forearms with wood shavings on them? We’d be very interested.”

Joe has tried to confuse us as he accepts the ownership mantle with quotes like this when we traded Correa, “Those were truly primarily baseball decisions. It certainly set us up for more [financial] flexibility, but they were primarily baseball decisions.”

And when they pulled the sale and were getting these minority angels to buy in we got this quote, “I don’t think we could have imagined a better outcome than where we landed.” 

And then I roll my eyes when I read this in Sports Illustrated:  

“And I would say to those fans: It’s my job and this new ownership group’s new job to do everything we can to set this organization up for success, hopefully in the short- and long-term both," he said.

"Our fans are passionate," Pohlad added. "Our fans want to win. We have that in common — we want to win, too. I’d rather have passionate fans than fans who are disengaged."

If that is the case Joe, quit doing and saying everything you can to get us disengaged.

 

Alot of fans that go to the games are probably not hard core baseball fans watching the game  ...

There isn't enough of us passionate fans left and the numbers decrease year by year  ...

My point , WHY HAVE WE PUT UP NETTING ALL THE WAY DOWN THE RIGHT AND LEFT FIELD LINES , BECAUSE PEOPLE AREN'T THERE TO PAY ATTENTION TO THE GAME , so we have to protect them from injury because there are other things that are distracting them , watchingthe game isnt their priority ...