Have the Pohlads Earned Back Twins Fans’ Trust?

[Cody Christie]

There was a time when showing up to Target Field was simply part of being a Twins fan. That relationship has changed. 

The 2025 trade deadline fire sale damaged whatever goodwill remained between the Pohlad family and a frustrated fan base. Minnesota traded 11 players in roughly 96 hours, cutting approximately $26 million from the payroll while ownership was simultaneously exploring a potential sale of the franchise. The result was a baseball operation that looked less interested in winning in 2025 than preparing for an uncertain future.

Then the Pohlads decided to keep the team. Tom Pohlad eventually stepped into a more prominent leadership role, replacing Joe Pohlad as the club's primary owner, and one of his central messages was that the organization needed to rebuild its relationship with fans.

But here we are at the end of another season, and an important question remains: Have the Pohlads actually earned back that trust? There is a case to be made that they have started the process. There is also plenty of evidence that the job is far from finished.

Attendance Tells the Story

The most obvious place to look is the turnstiles. The Twins entered 2026 with attendance already in a difficult position. The 2025 season drew 1.769 million fans, the lowest total at Target Field since the stadium opened in 2010. In 2026, those totals dropped further to 1.74 million, down roughly 350 per game. However, the Twins were using a variety of tactics to keep those numbers as high as possible.

The numbers improved during the summer, but they never became anything close to a ringing endorsement from the fan base. By season’s end, the Twins were averaging 21,486 fans per home game, still ranking in the bottom six in baseball. Minnesota did its best to provide cheaper concessions, promotions and ticket incentives designed to get more people through the gates.

Those numbers matter because attendance is not just an accounting figure. It is feedback. Fans can complain on social media. They can boo. They can stop buying jerseys. They can stop renewing season tickets. Or they can simply stay home. The Twins have been seeing plenty of the latter.

The 2026 Trade Deadline Changed the Conversation

The strongest argument in the Pohlads' favor came in August. After years of payroll criticism and the previous summer's roster teardown, the Twins became legitimate buyers at the trade deadline. Minnesota added Tommy Nance, A.J. Minter, Dean Kremer and Jeff Hoffman, addressing obvious weaknesses without trading away the organization's elite prospects. That was a significant departure from what fans had seen one year earlier. 

Tom Pohlad also backed up his words with money. The Twins took on more than $8 million in prorated salary for the remainder of 2026 through those additions, while also assuming significant future commitments. Hoffman has an $11 million salary for 2027, with Toronto covering $3.75 million, and Kremer is expected to receive a raise through arbitration.

Pohlad did not stop there. He said the Twins' 2027 payroll will be higher, not that ownership merely hoped it would be higher. He also said Minnesota needs to invest in the roster if the organization wants to consistently compete in the postseason.

Fans had spent years hearing about sustainability, flexibility and staying competitive. Now the owner was directly saying the organization needed to spend more. After the deadline, Pohlad even suggested the organization had "earned some credibility." That may be true. But credibility is not the same thing as trust.

Then the Season Fell Apart

The problem is what happened next. Minnesota held the AL’s final Wild Card spot as recently as the middle of August with over 30% odds of making the playoffs. The organization had just gone out and bought at the deadline because it believed the club could make a postseason push.

Six weeks later, the Twins were out of the playoff race. The team went through a prolonged collapse marked by injuries, pitching problems and costly mistakes. That does not mean the deadline moves were mistakes. In fact, several of the acquisitions performed well. Kremer gave Minnesota rotation innings beyond 2026. Hoffman provided another late-inning option. Minter and Nance strengthened a bullpen that had become a major weakness.

The bigger issue is that the deadline did not magically repair the relationship with the fan base. It bought the organization another opportunity. The offseason will determine whether Minnesota takes advantage of it.

This Is Where Ownership Still Has Work to Do

Trust is not rebuilt with one good month. It is rebuilt through consistency. That means the 2027 payroll cannot simply move from roughly $100 million to a number that technically qualifies as an increase. It means ownership has to demonstrate that the Twins are willing to spend enough to address multiple areas of the roster.

So when Pohlad says payroll will increase, the obvious follow-up question is: By how much? A $10 million increase tells one story. A $30 million increase tells another. And a much larger investment would send a very different message about what ownership believes this young roster can become.

Money alone will not guarantee a postseason berth. Baseball does not work that way. Ask Steve Cohen and the New York Mets about that. But Twins ownership has spent years asking fans to believe that the organization wants to compete. At some point, the roster has to reflect that belief.

The Young Core Gives Ownership a Chance

There is another reason this conversation is different from a year ago. The Twins have young players worth building around. Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, and Emmanuel Rodriguez have arrived. Brooks Lee continues to develop. Luke Keaschall has shown flashes. Several other young players could become important pieces of the next competitive roster.

That gives Jeremy Zoll and the Twins front office something valuable. A foundation. Now ownership has to decide how aggressively it wants to build on that foundation. The 2025 version of the Twins asked fans to accept a teardown. The 2026 version asked fans to believe the teardown was over. The 2027 version needs to show it.

So, Have They Earned It Back?

Not completely. That does not mean the Pohlads have done nothing to repair the relationship. Tom Pohlad has been more visible. Ownership changed leadership. The organization bought at the trade deadline. Payroll commitments increased. The club has introduced ticket incentives and other efforts designed to create more value for fans. Those are meaningful steps.

But the fan base did not lose trust because of one bad season. It was built up over years of decisions, including payroll reductions, the 2025 roster teardown and the uncertainty surrounding the attempted sale of the franchise.

That means rebuilding trust will also take time. And it will take action. Fans do not need another promise that the Twins want to be competitive. They need to see what that promise looks like when the offseason begins. They need to see ownership invest. They need to see the front office given the freedom to improve the roster. They need to see the organization build around its young core instead of continually asking fans to wait for the next window.

Most importantly, they need to believe that the goal is not simply to field a respectable team. The goal is to win. Tom Pohlad said as much in July, telling reporters that a $100 million payroll would not be enough to accomplish what the organization ultimately wants to accomplish.

Now comes the part where those words have to become reality. The 2026 deadline gave Twins fans a reason to reconsider their opinion of ownership. The 2027 offseason will determine how much that opinion actually changes.

The Pohlads have begun the process of rebuilding trust. They have not finished it.

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What can the Pohlads do this winter to regain the trust of fans? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

 

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[NYCTK]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

[bean5302]

If anything, I'm less inclined to trust this team is headed in the right direction today as I was when Tom Pohlad took over in December of last year.

Why? 2026 was more of the same. Same GM style. Same decisions. Low budget, team missed the playoffs, half-hearted deadline moves. 

This team is half-baked and I'm not enthusiastic about the goal of "making the playoffs." Who the **** cares? Making the playoffs means playing .500 ball now. The age old "competitive" goal from the Pohlad family.

[NYCTK]

2 minutes ago, bean5302 said:

This team is half-baked and I'm not enthusiastic about the goal of "making the playoffs." Who the **** cares? Making the playoffs means playing .500 ball now. The age old "competitive" goal from the Pohlad family.

A quarter of this year's "playoff" teams that didn't play a single inning in October. Turns out you have to actually put together a good team and not just limp into the playoffs and cross your fingers. Weird. 

[PuckettPond]

 

Polhads do not need to over spend on players as the Mets did to improve the team. Team work includes the fans. "Don't ask what the Twins can do to be better Ask what can I as a Twins fan can do to make the Twins better" John F Kennedy,  the guy on the wooden nickel. Instead of brining a kid fishing where they could be attacked by a shark or gator take a kid to a Twins game to witness a Twins pitcher attacking the strike zone.

[Patzky]

33 minutes ago, NYCTK said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

Made me look?

[jimbo92107]

Kidding, right? This organization is not inspiring, it's exhausting. There's a moral in there somewhere, like penny-pinching billionaire bankers don't have championship sports teams. 

In The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner, the rotting albatross that hung around the captain's neck symbolized his perpetual guilt, his disconnection from what was natural and good. The Pohlad family has a unique opportunity: Sell your albatross. Go back to banking; leave the boys of summer alone. You'll feel better, I promise. We all will. 

[Patzky]

9 minutes ago, PuckettPond said:

 

Polhads do not need to over spend on players as the Mets did to improve the team. Team work includes the fans. "Don't ask what the Twins can do to be better Ask what can I as a Twins fan can do to make the Twins better" John F Kennedy,  the guy on the wooden nickel. Instead of brining a kid fishing where they could be attacked by a shark or gator take a kid to a Twins game to witness a Twins pitcher attacking the strike zone.

What's a strike zone dad?  Gooooooall!

[CRF]

I can't, and won't, speak for anyone by myself. No one in the Pohlad family...Tom, Dick, Harry, Joe, Jim, Shemp, Joe Besser, Curly Joe, etc...have earned my trust. I'd LOVE to see them sell this franchise. A few deadline moves, that really didn't do much to help things, didn't change my opinion. Let's see what happens over the winter, and what the "family" lets Zoll do. I don't see a light at the end of this tunnel yet. 

[rdehring]

I don't really care how much the Twins payroll increases.  I care that they improve the team with good off-season decisions.  Unfortunately, this off-season will likely be a total mess with the CBA challenges.

What I want them to accomplish is: 1) trade several players to clear their roster, including Larnach, Wallner, Ryan and probably Ober; 2) get several young players from those trades who will be close to playing for the Twins early next year; 3) Sign a starting catcher for at least two years, hopefully Jeffers; and 4) sign at least two relievers with one being a top late inning closer.  

There are other questions that must be addressed, including Lewis and first base.  Seems the payroll will increase, but the above would make me happy regardless of whether the payroll is up $10M or $40M.

As for Zoll, seems like a capable young man who has ten months under his belt and the opportunity to prove he is the man for the Twins going forward.  Personally, would love to see him succeed.

[jmlease1]

Short answer: no.

They're on a better path I guess, but actions speak louder than words. The trade deadline was a start, but only a start. Long ways to go.

[TheLeviathan]

Tom has so far achieved whatever good will he has through words and failed tactics.  Let's just recap some facts for everyone:

1) If Tom was committed to 2026 being better he could've greenlit any number of investments this offseason that would've drastically improved the team.  2 years and 34M was all it took for the White Sox to get a 1B.  Could've fished in the deep end for Pete Alonso.  Could've signed Michael King.  There was a whole list of guys he could've gone after with his front office.  He did none of those.  He spoke some words.  Right before the season basically.  That's it.  Hiding in the closet or not, he was part of the family and the ownership group.  He could've done more than speak some words.

2) He pushed the front office to be aggressive at the deadline.  That tactic failed and has both short and long term ramifications.

3) He said more words just recently.  

4) Joe Pohlad - well earned pirayah around these parts - has said the same words and actually done more to match those words than Tom has.  This wasn't prior to spoken language or written word.  It was prior to the Dawn of AI, lo these many years ago......a whole five years ago when he greenlit Carlos Correa and the largest payrolls in the Twins' history.  Somehow, Tom's achievements that fall far below this have "rebuilt" trust.  Joe, forgotten in the sands of time apparently.  

Along with the lessons we should've long learned by now.

[D.C Twins]

1 hour ago, NYCTK said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

Don't forget about Cody's_Law_of_Clickbait

[Hawkeye Bean Counter]

This year was always going to be a non competitive year,  that was going to be more about bring some of the young kids along and rebuilding the bullpen - after they put zero significant financial resources into the bullpen in the offseason.  They spend a grand total of $2 million on Taylor Rogers.  We had some minor trades for Banda and Orze.    

Tom's fantasy of this of being a competitive year,  wasting trade chips in Jeffers and Ryan for short term ticket sales and then refusing to trade them at the deadline and buy with a 30% chance was extremely shortsighted.   Of the traded prospects,  the most likely to hurt was trading Dasan Hill to Toronto.  Hoffman is a decent pitcher,  and I guess if you wanted to trade him now for next season - he rehabilitated himself some you could in theory get more than a Dasan Hill.  

Personally,  my goal would have been to continue the rebuild,  know it was going to be another rough year and see if the boys could remain competitive.  Honestly I was good with everything up to trading for Hoffman,  and not trading Jeffers.  There was a significant mismatch of demand and supply for Catchers at the deadline.  This was the time to make hay and add a significant asset to the team.  They completely dropped the ball.   

There were a few positives from this year.  1. The boys continued to fight all the way til the end of the season and last years sell off did not create a losing atmosphere 2. The bullpen is in significantly better shape than where it was last year.  There are a few questions on Gomez and Morris and was their season a bit of smoke and mirrors.  3.  We have some young studs coming up - the question is can we develop them 4. I like some of our young pitchers - Bradley - hopefully a healthy Abel, and Priellip is a very nice 3 headed monster of young pitchers.  Matthews I am unsure of whether he remains a starter or goes to the bullpen.  5. We are seeing glimpses that we may have turned a corner in the scouting departing for international players

Ultimately - nothing has changed in my opinions of the Pohlads.  I feel they dropped the ball some this year to add the prospect depth and instead try to increase ticket sales to effect the near term future sales price after the new collective bargaining agreement is signed.   The continued cost cutting in analytics and scouting departing is extremely concerning and seems short sighted.   Letting go of Maki after giving him dog scraps of a bullpen seems like an extreme case of scapegoating for the front office incompetence of putting out an inferior lineup - even if they fought hard.  Pohlad at the breakfast on July 6th that the boys and the record had outperformed their collective talent.   It was the first time Tom acknowledge they had an inferior product, yet they still bought at the deadline.  I do have some hope for the future - that is the definition of being a fan - but I don't think true hope will come until we change ownership.  

[The Great Hambino]

No.  What?  This can't be a serious question.

I did enjoy the $2 pregame beers and half-priced Sunday kids meals, so I'll throw them a bone for that.  But they are much much MUCH much closer to the start of the journey of earning back trust than to the end of it

[rv78]

It is NOT..... HAVE the Pohlads earned back the Twins fans' trust but....... HOW can the Pohlads win back the Twins fans' trust. Regardless of what they do, the answer will be proven on the field, not by anything Tom says or even tries to do. Whatever he does, it must work on the field, otherwise it's just more smoke and mirrors coming from a guy at the top, wearing a different face.

[DJL44]

I don’t get the word “trust” here. The relationship I have with the Pohlads is transactional. I pay for TwinsTV and they give me access to Twins games on TV. I buy a ticket and I get a seat at a Major League Baseball game. They have never failed to give me a seat when I have bought a ticket.

[LastOnePicked]

"The 2025 trade deadline fire sale damaged whatever goodwill remained between the Pohlad family and a frustrated fan base."

I know I'm an outlier, but the deadline fire sale didn't damage my goodwill whatsoever. If anything, it increased it. When a mid-market team realizes that it has no realistic shot at winning, it absolutely has to maximize its future chances for success. It's idiotic NOT to do this. The Varland trade went too far, but by that point Falvey was addicted to making deadline trades and had to be sent to a GM rehab facility.

Here's what damaged my goodwill:

The Pohlads put the team up for sale and then we find out there's over $400M in debt that's attached to the sale. That's like telling a potential homebuyer that there's a body buried in the basement.

The Pohlads took the team off the market and then prattled on about their deep and sincere desire to be stewards of this organization because they felt there was no out there better to run it. 

The Pohlads announce a new group of investors joining the ownership group. Are those investors there to offer perspective and boost the team? Nope - they're there to buy the Pohlads out of their debt.

Tom Pohlad steps in and puts a promising rebuild to a screeching halt. Instead of restocking the minors with potentially elite future talent, the Twins get another year without a playoff berth. Just a year later, those trade chips are virtually worthless.

Cutting payroll doesn't bother me. If you don't have the money, don't spend it. I live by that motto and I'm fine with the Pohads living by that motto, too. Just don't be stupid. That's my golden rule for anyone who pulls strings with this organization. If losing kept me away I'd never be a Twins fan after 1991. It's sheer stupidity that will keep me from showing up at Target Field.

 

[LastOnePicked]

2 hours ago, TheLeviathan said:

1) If Tom was committed to 2026 being better he could've greenlit any number of investments this offseason that would've drastically improved the team.  2 years and 34M was all it took for the White Sox to get a 1B.  Could've fished in the deep end for Pete Alonso.  Could've signed Michael King.  There was a whole list of guys he could've gone after with his front office.  He did none of those.  He spoke some words.  Right before the season basically.  That's it.  Hiding in the closet or not, he was part of the family and the ownership group.  He could've done more than speak some words.

I hope the excuse that "well, he got put into the role so late this year" starts to fade away. Tom Pohlad has admitted in several interviews that he was selected to lead the ownership group in early December 2025. Plenty of time to have put even a modest free agent spending plan in place with Falvey/Zoll.

The priority for the family was to reduce their own debt, not to increase the team's chances of winning.

[Twins GFP]

4 hours ago, NYCTK said:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines

I learned something new today. This headline, of course, fits.  Thanks!

[Andy MacPhail]

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, I was a big fan of Falvine, especially when Levine was more in charge. But after '19, Falvey started to take over more & more, more & more Twins went down. Many players fell into his lap without him taking advantage of it. I started to critize him, only to get slammed by fans. I wasn't against a sell-off, but I was against Falvey in charge of it. I was for trading Ryan, Jeffers & Larnach this season. I'm for trading away Lewis & some prospects now but we have to get young impact players for them, while they can.

Tom Pohlad got my vote of confidence when he cleaned house by letting Falvey go. Zoll & Shelton were not my 1st choice, but I'm willing to give them a chance. They have to prove that they are their own men not Falvey men. To get the fans back, they need to win, picking up another Donaldson FA, won't do it.

[SteveLV]

Waste of electronic ink.

[TheLeviathan]

4 hours ago, DJL44 said:

I don’t get the word “trust” here. The relationship I have with the Pohlads is transactional. I pay for TwinsTV and they give me access to Twins games on TV. I buy a ticket and I get a seat at a Major League Baseball game. They have never failed to give me a seat when I have bought a ticket.

I s nothing a team does going to influence your willingness to buy more seats or pay a higher price for games on TV?  I think you're an outlier.  Casual fans do care about actions taken by ownership to improve their viewing experience.  That's where the "trust" comes in....do I buy that ticket in April for a game in August?  Do I buy month by month or do the full season?

Decisions like that, for many fans, are driven by their sentiments regarding the bang they'll get for their buck.

[Vanimal46]

5 hours ago, The Great Hambino said:

I did enjoy the $2 pregame beers and half-priced Sunday kids meals, so I'll throw them a bone for that.  But they are much much MUCH much closer to the start of the journey of earning back trust than to the end of it

Same here. I very much prefer the weekend day games. The Pohlads need to make Target Field an attractive destination. Extending that $2 pregame beers to any day ending in Y is a good start. Take a page out of the Rockies playbook and make Target Field an attractive party destination for folks. Then continue improving the product on the field. 

[JCT66]

Have they earned back our trust yet?  Of course not.  

Do they seem to finally be saying the right things?  Yes. 

We will know soon enough if the actions follow the words.  For me it’s not as much about the total payroll amount.  It’s whether they make some big moves to address the two or three obvious needs.  

1). Make the qualifying offer to Jeffers. I have no idea if he will take it, but if they don’t even make the offer then I don’t think they can be taken seriously.

2). Sign a big right handed bat at either 1B or 2B.

3). Spend money to get at least two back of the bullpen arms.  Not $2m or $3m or arms.  $5m or $6m arms

if they do that they would have earned back my trust. 

[SF Twins Fan]

Sign a legit backend bullpen piece in free agency, sign multiple "core players" to extensions (Jenkins and Keaschall), and make a splash trade for a legit 1b.

Those moves would certainly indicate progress and a willingness to spend.  Until that happens though, I have zero faith in any Pohlad.

[nicksaviking]

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

Stop with the politics.