Minneapolis – Fourteen months ago, the Pohlad family announced their intentions to explore a sale of the Minnesota Twins. 10 months later, they announced they would take the team off the market after a six-month search for a new majority owner, following a potential deal with Chicago White Sox minority owner Justin Ishbia that fell through.
When the Pohlads took the team off the market in August, they had announced they intended to bring on new limited partners to help alleviate the nearly $500 million in debt the family had accumulated.
On Wednesday, the Pohlads announced their new limited partners were Glick Family Investments, George Hicks, and Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold. In addition to the new limited partners, the Twins also announced that Joe Pohlad would step down as Executive Chair after three years at the helm, and that his brother, Tom Pohlad, would succeed him.
“This is in many ways an exciting day for this organization, and for myself and for my family, and in many ways an emotionally difficult day, I’d say as well,” said Tom Pohlad during a press conference on Wednesday. “It’s been 14 months of a lot of uncertainty for this organization and, most importantly, for our family and for the fan base. And so we’re happy to bring this to a close and begin the work going forward to re-engage this community in Twins baseball.”
As Tom Pohlad takes on the role previously held by his brother and assumes the position of the franchise’s Control Person from his uncle Jim Pohlad. He acknowledged that the family’s status with the fan base and media has not been in good standing for two years, and the work begins immediately to reestablish a better relationship with the fans, media, and community going forward.
“[The fans] care deeply about this team,” said Pohlad. “I’d say they hold us to a very high standard, maybe a higher standard than other sports teams in our market, and I embrace that responsibility and view it as an opportunity for this organization. I think the work of earning back their trust comes with two things: communication and accountability.”
As for the baseball operations side, Tom Pohlad has only briefly touched base with Derek Falvey and Jeremy Zoll on what the rest of the offseason may look like. Tom Pohlad only fully assumed his role on Wednesday morning, but indicated that their plans for the team’s payroll will gradually bring it back up to around $165 million, where it was in 2023.
“I don’t think that, as the landscape — that what I see right now, that we should put a significant investment into the team of $50 or 60 million, but I don’t think we’re far off from that,” he said. “I think the hard work in front of us is getting people and fans to buy into — to believe that we are committed to a championship-caliber investment and team.”
The team has already gone out and spent some money in free agency earlier this week, signing first baseman Josh Bell to a one-year, $7 million deal. But based on what Pohlad shared, there is no indication that payroll will exceed $110-120 million in 2026.
It is a stark contrast from the rumors surrounding the team entering the off-season. Their three star players, Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, and Byron Buxton, were floated as trade candidates. With the money raised from the new limited partners, the Pohlads can pay down a significant portion of their nearly $500 million in debt (Tom Pohlad did not share exact figures) and avoid the roster teardown that had been discussed for almost two months.
“On paper, yeah, maybe that makes sense,” he said. “But you can’t just look at things on paper. We owe the fan base something; we owe our veteran and star players something; and we owe this organization something. And that something is hope.”
And the hope the Pohlads and the new limited partners hope to bring to fans, media, employees, and players is a team that can contend for a playoff spot in 2026. Tom Pohlad didn’t shy away from saying he believes the Twins could not only claim a playoff spot but also win the AL Central in 2026.
And this is not just so the Pohlads can build the team’s value and put majority ownership up for sale again. With Tom Pohlad assuming his new role and now the only family member operating with the Twins on a full-time basis, they intend to retain majority ownership of the Twins for 2026 and beyond.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” he said.
To better establish accountability within the Pohlad Family and among limited partners, Tom Pohlad shared that they will form an advisory board comprising the new partners, along with Joe, Jim, and other members of the Pohlad family.
“I view that board as an opportunity, as a place to help push us as a family on how we get to where we want to go,” he said. “I think it’ll be a healthy sense of accountability for us as owners, but I think there will be really good strategic thought partners for us.”