Over the weekend, Dan Hayes and Jon Greenberg of The Athletic reported that billionaire Justin Ishbia, who was believed to be the front-runner to purchase the Twins from the Pohlad family, stopped his pursuit of the team to increase his stake in Chicago White Sox shares.
I get it, it's disappointing to all of us. We all want a change of scenery with who holds the keys to the franchise. It's a gut punch to have a well-known billionaire drop his bid to presumably buy a division rival someday.
The sky is falling to some, but I'm going to give you reasons why it isn't.
I don't think there is a lack of demand. There are only 30 baseball teams, and it isn't too often that they go on the open market. There are billionaires, even some in Minnesota, who have the capital and the desire to own a sports team.
I believe the interest is there.
According to Hayes, some of the interested parties have already been vetted. I personally don't think it's likely they go to that length just to pull a fast one on the fans. If you let other parties behind the scenes of your most prized business, it usually means there is a level of sincerity that they want to get this thing off their hands.
Fan morale is so low that it won't take much for a new owner to come in and raise the floor. The Twins made a couple of additions this offseason, maybe with the assumption that Ishbia would be taking over soon.
They aren't the flashiest moves, but if a new owner can come in and approve a raise for the payroll beyond what was done this offseason, seats can get filled easily.
Consider it extra motivation.
The business ventures for the Pohlad family have not gone according to plan lately. Since 2020, they have sold four businesses — each in a lucrative industry. It certainly seems like when you have businesses flop like they have had, an extra $1.6 billion might not hurt them.
Sure, the possibility still exists that they could pull the team off the market completely, but I think that's the least likely option.
Do they really want to keep being flat in profitability year over year (at absolute best) and have every single person scoff whenever the cursed Pohlad name gets brought up?
I'm not here to say that they will 100 percent keep the team because that would be disingenuous. What I am here to say is that I find it to be a 80/20 split that they sell the team.
It's going to take longer, sure, but that's because they had the rug pulled out from under them, but I am confident that we will be in a much better spot, or at least know the fate, in the near future.
Even if the team sells, there are no guarantees that it will be better. On the flip side, it's hard to imagine something worse than reducing payroll after your first playoff victory in 18 seasons (you probably didn't know that, but it was a long time!).
I don't see anyone in 2025, especially if they are local, throwing $1.4-$1.8 billion just to not invest in a legitimate payroll when the rest of the division is at the bottom of the payroll barrel.
To sum it all up: We have been in the Pohlad chokehold for 40 years. We can hold on just a little bit longer if it means we will be in a better spot for the long haul. Just breathe, Twins fans, we are almost there.