Pohlads Want Us to Believe MN Twins Sale is 'Closer to the End'
The Minnesota Twins 2025 rollercoaster season has been on the upswing for more than a few weeks, after they ripped off a 13-game winning streak to turn to turn things around, following a dreadful start.
On Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Twins became the third American League team to reach 30 wins, behind only the AL Central leading Tigers and Yankees. Unfortunately, while fortunes have turned around on the field, the same cannot be said off of it, where the Pohlad Family has had the team up for sale since October.
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The Pohlads have sought out different avenues to provide a transition of power, but so far, they've yet to even start that process.. and last we heard, over the weekend, potential buyers were losing interest. The biggest problem has been price. Nobody has been willing to meet their $1.7 billion price tag.
Minnesota Twins sale closer to finish line…?
Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images
But a new report from Phil Miller (Star Tribune) late Tuesday suggests things may be looking up. Apparently, there have been multiple 'potential buyers have visited Minneapolis' in the last few weeks, taking tours of Target Field and even meeting with team executives.
Potential buyers of the franchise have visited Minneapolis over the past 2-3 weeks to tour Target Field and meet with the Pohlad family and the team's executives, a sign that progress is being made toward a sale, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the process.
'Business people don't take a couple days out of their schedule to fly somewhere and meet with executives if they aren't serious about their interest,' the source said. The Pohlads can indeed change their minds and decline to sell, but 'discussions about the team and the sale are happening on a daily basis.'
Phil Miller – Star Tribune
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Justin Ishbia stepped away from the table when he pivoted to the Chicago White Sox instead. That killed any hopes of a deal agreed to before Opening Day. At this point, it seems unlikely that a deal will be struck by the trade deadline, or even the end of the 2025 MLB season.
A source even told Miller, 'The sale is a lot closer to the end than to the beginning'. While that reads nice on paper, I'm not sure how it's possible, given there's nothing in Miller's report indicating how many offers or current bids are even on the table near what the Pohlads are asking for. So, how can we be that much closer to the end, when we don't even have a buyer at asking price? That feels like a pretty crucial step that has yet to take place…
Price tag still causing problems
The Pohlads aren't struggling to offload the Minnesota Twins organization because nobody wants it. The problem is the price. Nobody is willing to meet their $1.7 billion price tag, when it's only valued at $1.4-$1.5 billion. So, does Nightengale's optimistic report mean the Pohlads have decided to bring down their current asking price?
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Well, Dan Hayes (The Athletic) says no. The Pohlads are sticking to their original asking price, no matter what the independent valuations say. Why? We found out a handful of months ago that the Pohlads need the extra money to help absorb $300M-$400M in debt that they pushed onto the baseball books over the years.
It sounds like there have been multiple suitors willing to pay the ~$1.5 billion… but nobody has yet come up to what the Pohlads need. And until that happens, they'll wait. Or at least, that's what they are trying to portray publicly.
Though the Minnesota Twins are making progress in finding potential buyers, the Pohlad family remains firm in its desire for a $1.7 billion price tag, potentially extending the process…But with the Twins sticking to their asking price and concerns from interested parties about the team's future revenues, the end game remains fluid…
'There's no deadline,' the source said Tuesday. 'We're dealing with multiple parties, and whoever gets to the finish line first will be the winning party. (The Pohlads are) prepared to wait until the right deal comes along.'
Dan Hayes – The Athletic
Waiting for a Minnesota Twins sale…
Until he here's something different on his end, Dan from The Athletic isn't ready to buy the optimism his colleague Bobby, over at the Star Tribune, is selling. And neither am I. Instead, it feels more like the Pohlad propaganda machine running on overdrive.
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Until we have proof someone is willing to fill that $200 to $300 million to bring the sides together, I'm not sure how this gets resolved anytime soon. Throw in the possibility of a lockout after the 2026 season, and uncertain broadcast revenues… I'm gonna have to see it to believe it.
Related: Report: Potential Minnesota Twins Buyers are Losing Interest
But hey, even Hayes writes that 'a winning bid could materialize at any time'. Thankfully, while we all wait patiently for the Pohlads to leave, the Minnesota Twins are at least interesting on the field again.
It remains to be seen if fans will flock back to Target Field all summer, but there's no doubt crowds have been better of late. Because no matter what else is happening behind the scenes, if you win baseball games, fans will come.
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