On Friday, Bloomberg News reported that Phoenix Suns minority owner Justin Ishbia expressed interest in purchasing the Minnesota Twins franchise. The Athletic's Dan Hayes confirmed that Justin and his brother Mat Ishbia are interested in bidding for the Twins.
After 40 years of ownership, the Pohlad family stunned the baseball world when they announced they wanted to sell the team in October. News of the Pohlads' decision excited many Twins fans, who were frustrated with ownership the last few seasons. Those frustrations were aggravated in the previous offseason when payroll was slashed by $30 million.
The choice to remain frugal with the money ultimately proved disastrous for the Twins, who suffered a demoralizing and heartbreaking collapse in 2024 to finish 82-80 on the season. While there were many reasons for last season's failure to reach the playoffs, refraining from spending more money was considered the most significant.
Under the Pohlad family, which purchased the Twins in 1984 for $44 million, the franchise's value has skyrocketed to over one billion dollars, with Bloomberg reporting that the value topped off at $1.7 billion.
Should both brothers acquire the Twins, Justin Ishbia would be the "control owner" of the franchise. According to Bloomberg, Justin wanted to own an MLB franchise as the founder and managing partner of Shore Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Chicago with assets worth up to $11 billion.
As Hayes already mentioned, the Ishbia brothers' ownership made a splash by acquiring the Suns and landing NBA superstar Kevin Durant. Given how bold that transaction was, it represents a shift in philosophy from the Pohlads' conservative spending.
Hayes also noted that the Ishbia family's philosophy on spending is classified as "go big or go home" which would help Minnesota keep up with the big-market-fueled spending spree that has broken out across Major League Baseball.
That "go big or go home" mentality should be a breath of fresh air for Minnesota Twins fans. Under the Ishbia brothers' ownership, the Twins will start spending more money on coveted players who can help the franchise return to the World Series for the first time since 1991 and the ALCS for the first time since 2002.
Should the bidding successfully go through, this is excellent news for Twins fans who want the team to be more active in spending. The sale is not set in stone but a first step toward new ownership.