The surprising conclusion to the Pohlad family’s “exploration of a sale,” as Pohlad put it last October, came after Allen & Co., the private investment bank he hired to conduct the sale, identified, interviewed and investigated “several” potential buyers, he said. The Twins even conducted tours of Target Field for interested bidders.
“We explored a wide range of potential investment and ownership opportunities,” Pohlad’s statement read. “Our focus throughout has been on what’s best for the long-term future of the Twins. We have been fully open to all possibilities.”
Ultimately, though, “we chose this path instead,” Pohlad told the Star Tribune. The decision, he added, “came together pretty recently. Very recently.”
Pohlad would not comment on Justin Ishbia, the Chicago investment banker and co-owner of the NBA’s Phoenix Suns, who took steps toward buying the Twins — “the leader in the clubhouse,” as MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred described him last month — before suddenly backing away in February in order to buy a larger stake in the Chicago White Sox instead. Ishbia’s involvement, Manfred said, was the reason the team’s future took so long to settle upon.
Now, “I’m just really excited about this team and its future with this new ownership structure,” Pohlad said.
He’s aware, however, that a significant portion of the team’s fanbase will not share that excitement, not with his family’s long history of spending less on players than most teams. The Twins began this season, for instance, with a payroll of around $128 million, more than only 10 of the other 29 MLB teams — and two weeks ago, executed trades that trimmed another $26 million from this year’s salaries.
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