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Details on MN Twins’ Debt Finally Revealed
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- Details on MN Twins’ Debt Finally Revealed
David Berding-Imagn Images David Berding-Imagn Images
It wasn't that long ago that we expected the Pohlad family to sell their majority ownership of the Minnesota Twins. Then in October, they pulled the rug from under the fanbase by taking the team off the market.
Not long after, we found out that, instead, the Pohlads were bringing on two mystery investors that were reportedly purchasing ~20% of the team and paying down their mounting $450-$500 million in debt.
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In the months since, all has been quiet behind the scenes at Target Field — not just regarding the Minnesota Twins' immediate future on the field — but surrounding who exactly these new investors are and when/if they will be onboarded.
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More details finally come out on new Minnesota Twins minority owners
Finally, on Tuesday, we got a few more pieces of the puzzle. Let's start with the new minority owners. It turns out there are two main groups, as originally reported , but the Twins also have a third group that has come together and been approved by Major League Baseball, according to team insider Dan Hayes (The Athletic) .
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In total, the Pohlads are selling over 20% of the team to these various limited partners, all of which are buying in at a valuation of $1.75 Billion — far more than the $1.4 Billion Forbes has them valued at. As previously reported, these minority partners are coming in to pay down a debt that has now reached $500 million.
Selling more than 20 percent of the franchise to three minority partnership groups at a $1.75 billion valuation, the Pohlad family is expected to announce this week they've finalized a transaction that helps a club $500 million in debt return to a sound financial footing while also requiring the addition of three seats to the team's ownership advisory board, league sources told The Athletic.
repeated delays in the process are due to additional, smaller ownership groups emerging and purchasing shares of the franchise, add-ons that required MLB's approval…"It's a big series of checks," said one source with knowledge of the transaction. "Once it was out that we were doing a minority sale, a number of people stepped forward.
Just 1.5 weeks ago, that's what we were all bracing for the worst this offseason. Back then, the Twins' 2026 payroll was projected at $95 million.
At the time, we were worried it could drop down to $70-$75 million, if the Pohlads ordered Falvey to continue the 2025 trade deadline deconstruction project — which likely would've meant dealing Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez .
Sudden shift in Twins' offseason plans explained
Then suddenly, at the MLB Winter Meetings, Falvey switched gears and started notifying teams that the MN Twins were keeping all three of their stars. On top of that, the front office was looking to MODERATELY add to the roster, in hopes of contending in a weak AL Central this summer.
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Since, the Minnesota Twins made their first free agent move as 2025-26 offseason buyers on Monday, signing first baseman Josh Bell to what is essentially a one-year deal worth less than $7 million.
It's a bargain contract at a position of need, for a team still very much shopping in the "deals" aisle. Not only can he play first and present a legitimate DH option, but Bell hits from both sides of the plate, so platooning him isn't a real concern either.
Thanks to this story from The Athletic, we now know why the Twins shifted offseason gears during the Winter meetings. They were waiting on their new minority investors to be ratified by the MLB.
Because without the new investors, the plan for 2026 would've been completely different than what we are seeing this week.
As a result of the agreement between the Pohlads and their new limited partnership groups, the cash infusion will significantly reduce the club's debt, which multiple sources say has ballooned over the past five seasons.
"It's baked into the deal that there'll be a meaningful, significant pay down of the debt," one source said.
MN Twins blaming debt on COVID, George Floyd?
Not only that, but the Pohlads have officially listed the reasoning behind how they racked up a confirmed $500 million in debt. Today's report points to the 2020 COVID season, where the Twins and most of the league took huge financial hits.
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As reported back then, the Pohlads did NOT lay off employees, shouldering the lost cost themselves. According to Hayes , that decision ballooned a debt, that was already over $200 million, to an unmanageable number that eventually forced them to sell off nearly a quarter of their Major League Baseball team.
At one point, the Twins clearly believed they'd be able to pull out of the financial funk supposedly placed on them by the pandemic. That's why they invested in Carlos Correa and pushed payroll to levels never seen before.
Unfortunately, the fans never really returned to Target Field. Why? The Twins have more than one reason they are trying to make public, through Hayes, including fallout from Derek Chauvin vs George Floyd.
Expecting to draw at least 2.3 million fans to Target Field in 2020, the Twins' plans were waylaid by COVID-19, like every other pro sports franchise.
Unlike many other teams, the Twins kept all of their employees and paid their minor-league players in 2020. That drove up the debt, which multiple sources said was in the $200 million range after the 2019 season.
In 2021, a combination of attendance restrictions, poor play and perceived security concerns during the trial of Derek Chauvin following George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis the year before led to the Twins drawing only 1.3 million fans.
But even with the new minority investors, the Minnesota Twins are stuck shopping at K-Mart this offseason, something that likely will not change as long as the Pohlads remain majority owners.
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