In October, Twins owner Joe Pohlad announced that his family was exploring a sale of the franchise. The Pohlad family has owned the Twins for 40 years, so the sale process set the stage for a monumental change for the organization. That could seemingly move quickly.
Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that there’s robust interest from potential buyers. Hayes suggests that a sale agreement could be in place as soon as Opening Day. He notes that MLB has already begun vetting interested parties and will drill down on certain candidates as the process nears its conclusion.
The identities of most of those suitors are unknown. Bloomberg reported last month that Justin and Mat Ishbia, owners of the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA, were interested in the Twins. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would get the bulk of the ownership stake in the Twins if the family submits the winning bid.
They’re clearly facing some level of competition. One family that does not seem to be in the mix: the Wilfs, owners of the NFL’s Vikings. Mark Wilf tells Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star-Tribune that they “have (their) hands full with the Vikings, in a good way.” Wilf acknowledged that he’d “always discuss those things” when an opportunity like the Twins presented itself but downplayed the idea of getting involved in the bidding.
In any case, Hayes reports that the Pohlads are planning to sell the franchise in full to whomever ends up as the purchaser. A new ownership group would assume control as soon as the sale is approved by Major League Baseball, which requires a 75% vote from the league’s other ownership groups. That should eventually impact the spending capacity available to the front office, but it’s not likely to affect this offseason. Minnesota has done nothing in free agency and has signaled that they’re working with little financial margin unless they shed money in trade.
The most recent franchise to be sold was the Orioles, which a David Rubenstein-led group bought from the Angelos family for $1.725 billion last January. Forbes valued the Twins at $1.46 billion last year. The Pohlad family paid $44 million to purchase the franchise in 1984.