In case you missed it, the Minnesota Twins are for sale . If there was one move this franchise had to make this offseason, it was firing their owners . And by some divine miracle, that’s essentially what’s happening, The Pohlad family is firing themselves, and selling the team. The buyout will be in the billions.
More importantly, Twins fans will get what they’ve been waiting 30 years for. New owners, likely ones who care more about winning, than making a small amount of NET revenue, year-over-year. But we should not let them go quietly. No farewell parties, no video commemorations.
This ownership group let fans down for three decades, after the hottest start in Minnesota pro sports history (two World Series in the first 7 years. Then, they sold out for the next 33. While other mainstream sportswriters are writing odes to the Pohlads and ‘be careful what you wish for’ pieces.
Aaron Gleeman holds Minnesota Twins owners accountable
The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman has been the one consistent source of ownership criticism in Twins media circles. While others make excuses for the Pohlads, he holds them accountable. The latest Pohlad to run this organization is Joe Pohlad, who took over as the face of the family in 2022.
Rather than allow those comments to go untouched, The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman called this ownership group out for what it has been, including their final attempt to “gaslight” the fans with their phony ‘we loved you, you loved us’ statement , after news broke that they were selling.
It was hard not to read it as one final gaslighting of a fan base by a family who had 40 years to show who they really were and by a third-generation billionaire whose actions unfortunately spoke much louder than his words. Whether it was Carl or Jim or Joe, the Pohlads never ceased running their luxury item purely as a business, and claimed that business lost money…
For too long, the Pohlads acted as if they had been sentenced to owning the Twins and were crossing days off the calendar until being freed, seemingly defeating the purpose of using their unfathomable wealth to own a team to which thousands of people have an emotional attachment. They could have been beloved and rich. Instead, they chose to be loathed and slightly richer.
Aaron Gleeman on the Pohlad family (The Athletic)
After getting off to a hot start, signing Carlos Correa to the biggest contract in franchise history, Joe made a decision to “right-size the business” , saying “I have a business to run, and it comes with tough decisions and that’s what I had to do.”
It’s possible that the next group to own the Minnesota Twins won’t be better than the current situation. It’s also impractical to not be positive about the opportunity to find out. Gleeman astutely points out that we have seen this charade for far too long .
Related: 3 Rich People Who Make Sense as New Minnesota Twins Owners
Joe Pohlad said in a statement to the Star Tribune , “It’s our objective to find an ownership group who all of us can be proud of and who will take care of the Minnesota Twins.” Unfortunately, that is everything his family has failed to do.
No more Pohlad pocket protectors
It’s because of a column like this, that the fans have a voice. While it would be disingenuous to think that social media backlash is the sole driver for the decision to sell, it unquestionably has played a part. Fans decided against showing up , and the pocketbooks of ownership took that hit as well.
This market will absolutely support a winning, well-funded team. And for the next owner, the beauty of replacing four decades of Pohlads is that the bar is essentially on the floor. All they have to do is spend a slightly larger amount of their immense wealth and behave as if they actually want the team to be successful rather than just not lose money.
Aaron Gleeman on new Twins owners (The Athletic)
Gleeman rose the ranks from blogging at places like Rotoworld, Hardball Talk, and Baseball Prospectus to now being on the ground with The Athletic. His voice has never changed, and that’s not something you can say about everyone.
No fan believes it is necessary for the Twins to spend at the level of either New York team or the Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s pretty unintelligent to kill momentum and depreciate your product intentionally though. Don’t worry, Minnesota Twins fans. The grass may not always be greener, but we can all be pretty sure it will be this time.
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