Rob Manfred held shop before the MLB All-Star game on Tuesday, offering updates on several topics surrounding the game. After the sale of the Tampa Bay Rays was revealed on Monday, Manfred was asked for an update on where things stand with the sale of the Minnesota Twins.
“I know some things that you don’t know,” Manfred said. “I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place. There will be a transaction. We just need to be patient while they rework.”
Throughout last offseason, it seemed that the Pohlad family was getting ready to sell the Twins to Justin Ishbia. The deal was expected to be completed before Opening Day of this season; however, things took a turn when Ishbia backed away from the deal. As it turns out, Ishbia is positioning himself to become the majority owner of the Chicago White Sox within the next decade.
Manfred touched on how Ishbia's turnabout had an impact on the progress of the Twins' sale.
"When it becomes clear that you have a leader in the clubhouse, everybody else kind of backs away, right? Because they kind of get a feel for price. And unless they’re prepared to top, they’re going to move on and do something else. So a big part of the delay in Minnesota was associated with the leader in the clubhouse made a decision to do something else.”
Rob Manfred’s Twins sale remarks suggest the wait may be almost over
The sooner the Twins are sold, the sooner the team will have a sense of direction. Over the last year, it's become clear that the Twins are essentially treading water when it comes to baseball operations while they wait for the sale of the organization to be completed.
Once the Twins have a new owner, that could bring the change that many fans have been clamoring for. Change that could see the front office overturned, and Rocco Baldelli replaced as the team's manager.