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Glen Taylor Teased Again as Potential MN Twins Buyer
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- Glen Taylor Teased Again as Potential MN Twins Buyer
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News broke over the weekend that the Pohlad Family — who put the Minnesota Twins up for sale after the failed 2023 season — had extended the deadline to submit bids to purchase the baseball team purchased by the late Carl Pohlad in 1984 . The previous "best and final" date was April 1. That has been extended 45 days, to May 15, according to reports.
Just last week, the Pohlads were supposedly pushing the pause button on their pursuit of a sale. Once billionaire Phoenix Suns (and Chicago White Sox) minority owner Justin Ishbia dropped out of the race , the Pohlads haven't found any other suitors willing to pay their asking price of $1.7 billion.
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Obviously, there is one big "elephant in the room" question, after hearing about this extension. What changed the Pohlads' minds in such a short amount of time? There has to be something causing them to re-engage potential buyers. But what?
Credit: David Berding-Imagn Images
For now, we do not know. But logically, there are a couple different reasons that immediately come to mind. Either (a)someone is willing to increase their previous offer or (b)a new suitor has entered the chat. Let's focus on the latter for the purposes of this article.
If there is another billionaire interested in the Minnesota Twins, who could it be; and why wasn't this hypothetical rich person (or group) in on the initial round of bids? Billionaires don't just grow on trees in Minnesota. Is there a super rich person out there who may not have had the liquid cash or availability, but now suddenly have a large amount of both?
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Could Glen Taylor be entering the Minnesota Twins ownership fray?
Well actually… have you been paying attention to what is going on a couple blocks away from Target Center? Last week, longtime Minnesota Timberwolves owner, Glen Taylor — who joined the local pro sports ownership fraternity in 1994, exactly one decade after Carl Pohlad — finally gave up on the ownership war he had been waging against Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez.
The next time NBA owners meet, Wolves majority ownership will officially change hands. That's also the moment, Taylor will be $1.5 billion richer. Once that happens, is it at all possible Taylor and his wife Becky turn their attention to the Minnesota Twins, to fill the void left by his love for the Wolves?
Apparently, we cannot rule it out. Glen's good buddy (and longtime local sports insider) Charley Walters isn't willing to rule it out. In fact, he teased Taylor as a possible candidate on Sunday, in his most recent column at the Pioneer Press, correctly noting that Glen "could easily afford to buy the Twins."
"It remains uncertain whether the Minnesota Twins, who announced in October they would explore selling the team, will be able to find a suitable buyer. Asked recently by the Pioneer Press if there's a chance the Twins won't be sold this year after all, Twins owner Jim Pohlad said "there's always a chance."
Before pocketing $1.5 billion for selling the Timberwolves-Lynx, Glen Taylor's wealth was estimated at $3 billion, per Forbes' new valuations this month. He could easily afford to buy the Twins."
Glen Taylor, who has been working with and around the Pohlad family for decades, is about to have $1 billion dropped into his bank account, as soon as Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez get voted in as Wolves majority owners and their wire transfer clears both banks.
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On hypothetical paper, a transition from Pohlad to Taylor would be the smoothest billionaire-to-billionaire transaction in US history. Will it actually happen? Who knows, but the timing certainly is interesting and Glen has been floated as a possible owner for the MN Twins before, including by people who have direct access to him, like Walters.
Should Taylor owning the Twins scare fans?
For Wolves fans who hate Glen Taylor and can't understand why the Twins fanbase would want him as their owner, you need to first focus on the difference between the NBA and MLB. Taylor's problems have never revolved around his willingness to invest in the team.
In fact, he's most notoriously known for that time he tried to invest more in Joe Smith than what was allowed by the salary cap, and he got busted. Taylor has also been willing to pay large luxury tax payments to field a top team in the Western Conference.
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Had he come out victorious in the ownership arbitration battle he fought so hard to win, but eventually fell short in, Glen would've been on the hook for $90+ million in tax payments at the end of this season. For some context, the Minnesota Twins' entire payroll in 2024 was $130 million.
So, while there are a few things that would concern me about Glen owning the Twins — like being 83 y/o with questionable health — his willingness to spend money is not one of them.
