A chance to go out on a high note
The legacy of Pohlad family ownership of the Minnesota Twins (1984-Present) will always be a checkered one.
On one hand…
- Carl Pohlad rescued the franchise from Calvin Griffith’s 1970s malaise.
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- By 1987, the team was winning two championships in the span of five years.
- The Twins were perennial contenders in the 2000s under Ron Gardenhire’s scrappy bunch.
- From 2017-2022 the Pohlads (primarily Jim & Bill) gave Twins GMs Derek Falvey & Thad Levine a payroll boost, which ultimately led to a 2023 playoff appearance and series victory.
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On the other hand…
- Carl Pohlad refused to invest a cent in the franchise from 1993-2000—and thus the team was the laughingstock of baseball.
- Carl nearly sold the franchise to Don Beaver (who would have moved it to North Carolina) in 1998, then essentially put the team up for contraction—thankfully averted—in 2001.
- Even in those fun Gardy Era years, only one truly impactful acquisition was made. So many opportunities to go from playoff competitor to playoff powerhouse were cast aside by Pohlad payroll prohibition.
- Once a solid roster was assembled and playoff potency proven, the Joe Pohlad regime immediately announced payroll stagnation—making no meaningful additions to the roster since ‘23 & putting the team up for sale right before the ‘25 campaign began.
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Though a bid from the Ishbia brothers fell through in February, the team remains on the market as far as anyone publicly knows. In other words, the Pohlads still seem sellers.
Having dug themselves out of an early-season hole, the ‘25 Twins have an intriguing roster…
- With all bats healthy (Wallner, Buxton, Lewis, & Correa) they are a scrappy offense—at best.
- The starting pitching is tremendous—Lopez, Ryan, Ober, & even Paddack have carried the club, while Woods-Richardson, Festa, & Matthews are solid 5-spot starters now and potential rotation stalwarts later.
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- After some early hiccups, the bullpen is also strong with Jax, Duran, Sands & Varland having settled into dominant late-inning roles. Coulombe has been far better than expected (when healthy) & Stewart continues to look better and better coming off injury.
When the franchise sale was first announced, one of the speculative reasons was the younger Pohlad generation not necessarily enjoying the negative fan reaction to their surname. As the points above lay bare, their legacy can be bandied back and forth—and in all likelihood cannot be totally redeemed with an 11th-hour remedy.
But in the here and now, the Pohlads have a final opportunity to “Exit: Stage Right” on a high note (division title, playoff appearance, playoff series victory, etc.) rather than being yanked offstage by shepherd’s crook. An arm to replace now-injured Pablo? A bat (or two) to supplement a lineup prone to punchless funks? They could go a long way towards short-term 2025 success and long-term legacy establishment.
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