Twins Video
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.
Recommended Comments
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now