The Minnesota Twins are up for sale and fans are eager to see the day that the Pohlad family no longer owns the team. But while it felt like it would be a while before anything was official, a report by Dan Hayes of The Athletic states that the team could have new owners by Opening Day.
Hayes’ report comes from an industry source briefed on the Twins sale process, who indicates a “robust market” is helping the team be sold in full. While Forbes estimates the Twins' value at $1.46 billion, this hasn’t deterred buyers, and the goal is to “pick a winner by Opening Day.”
“We’ve been pleased with the level of interest, not surprisingly,” The source told The Athletic. “The goal is to pick a winner by Opening Day.”
The Minnesota Twins sale can’t come soon enough for fans
The Pohlad family has owned the Twins since 1984 and there have been highs and lows over the past four decades. While the Twins won World Series Championships in 1987 and 1991, they haven’t been to the American League Championship Series since 2002.
There have also been unpopular business decisions along the way including Carl Pohlad’s attempt to contract the team in 2002 and below-average spending before Target Field was built in 2010.
But things reached a boiling point last season when the Twins cut $30 million in payroll coming off their first playoff win in 18 years. Current Twins chairman Joe Pohlad vowed to “right-size” his business in response to the cuts and the Twins blew a double-digit lead in the AL Wild Card standings before missing the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.
While the team has insisted on running with a similar payroll in 2025, the Pohlad family announced their intent to sell the team in October. If the sale goes through, the Twins would be the sixth Major League Baseball team since 2012 and the first since the Baltimore Orioles were sold to David Rubenstein for $1.725 billion last March.
Latest report suggests sale of Minnesota Twins could happen quickly
Hayes reports that buyers have contacted the Twins over the past six weeks but signed non-disclosure agreements to gain access to the club’s confidential financial information. MLB has already vetted potential owners and will dig deeper into those candidates as the transaction closes.
The sale will also feature an immediate takeover of the team which is different than the ownership transition of the Minnesota Timberwolves, which is currently engaged in arbitration between Glen Taylor and a group led by Alex Rodríguez and Marc Lore.
Once a purchaser is agreed upon, MLB owners would vote on whether to permit the sale with a three-quarters vote required to gain approval.
While a timeline for a potential sale is out there, it’s unclear who the front-runner is to buy the Twins. The interest of Justin Ishbia, a minority owner of the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury and Nashville Soccer Club, was confirmed by Hayes last month and he has held several meetings with local leaders to form a group to purchase the team.
The team source also said that other interested parties are “within geographic striking distance” of the Twins and would likely be purchased “at a price that is less than astronomical.”
While the sale may come too late to save this offseason, Hayes’s report suggests it may be the last under the Pohlad family. If the sale goes through, Opening Day will be more than a typical celebration and Twins fans may have the new owner they’ve been hoping for.