By James Heider
With spring training underway for the upcoming 2025 Minnesota Twins season, the team’s ownership remains uncertain. On October 10, 2024, current executive chair member Joe Pohlad announced his family’s intention to sell the team. The Pohlad family has controlled the team since 1984, when Carl Pohlad purchased it from former owner Calvin Griffith for a mere $44 million. Forbes values the Minnesota Twins at about $1.5 billion today. The Twins’ ownership is technically under the Pohlad family, but Carl Pohlad’s son, Jim, is considered the controlling owner of the team.
The general attitude surrounding the Pohlads’ ownership of the team isn’t a positive one. They’ve been notoriously cheap and unwilling to spend money to create a championship-contending team after various winning seasons. The consensus of the fans is that the Pohlads view the Twins as a business and not as a sports club. The track record supports this view, with the Twins only allocating around $150 million to contracted players, ranking them 17th in the league for payroll total. During the past offseason, the Twins invested a little over $10 million in three veteran players: outfielder Harrison Bader for $6.25 million, first baseman Ty France for $1 million, and left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe for $3 million. Fans are optimistic that the eventual new owner will increase spending, enabling the team to vie for a World Series title for the first time since 1991.
The expectation is that there will be a new owner by opening day in late March, but with that being a month away, it seems unlikely. The only confirmed rumor about a potential buyer involves United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia and his brother, Justin. The Ishbia brothers are majority owners of the NBA team the Phoenix Suns and the WNBA team the Phoenix Mercury. They have been known to be willing to spend money, with the Suns spending the most amount of money on contracts in the NBA. The only issue with the Ishbia brothers buying the team is that they own a stake in the Twins division rival, the Chicago White Sox. To purchase the Twins, they would likely have to sell their stake in the White Sox.
With confusion surrounding the new owner of the Minnesota Twins, fans are excited for the team’s future. They have a renewed hope that the club will be more willing to spend money to build a World Series-contending team after a 34-year absence from the pinnacle of the MLB season.