Twins swap lead owner from one Pohlad to another as new partners join push for on-field improvement

By Canadian Press on December 17, 2025.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — After a long exploration of selling the Minnesota Twins, the Pohlad family emerged with a reinforced desire to keep the team — and some uncomfortable conclusions that strained their relationships.

An already dissatisfied fan base was further disappointed to find out the only new owners coming on board would have non-controlling stakes, and improving the recent results on the field was going to require significant change.

The Twins announced Wednesday a plan to make Tom Pohlad the controlling owner in place of his younger brother, Joe Pohlad, as part of a new executive leadership structure coinciding with the purchase of portions of the franchise by three different investors.

“When we took a hard look at things. It’s undeniable that we haven’t won enough baseball games, the financial health of the club has been put in jeopardy, and we’ve got a fan base that has lost trust in us as owners and, as a result, this organization and the direction it’s headed,” Tom Pohlad said at a news conference at Target Field. “Now is the time to put new leadership in place and to have a renewed sense of energy, a renewed sense of focus, a different level of accountability, and ultimately a clear direction on where we’re taking this organization.”

Joe Pohlad, 43, served as executive chair for three years. Tom Pohlad, 45, has never had a role with the baseball club before, previously serving as executive chairman of Pohlad Companies in overseeing the family’s diverse portfolio of businesses. Their uncle, Jim Pohlad, was chairman of the Twins until 2022 and continued to serve as the primary liaison to the league. Their grandfather, Carl Pohlad, built his fortune in banking and bought the Twins in 1984 from Calvin Griffith for $44 million. He died in 2009.

For efficiency and clarity, Tom Pohlad — who must still be formally approved by MLB as the club’s control person — will be the only family member directly involved with the Twins and will no longer work with the other family businesses. His father, Bob Pohlad, will join Joe Pohlad, Jim Pohlad and members of the three new limited partners on an advisory board supporting the baseball club.

“Joe was not on board with this at first, and he’s on board now,” Tom Pohlad said. “All he’s ever wanted was to be a part of this organization and to lead it and to help this franchise win a world championship. Things change. We had to make a decision as a family. He understands.”

The Pohlad family announced last year the exploration of a sale, a declaration that largely delighted a fan base frustrated by the level of investment in the player payroll. The primary driver of the decision was a debt load that hit $500 million this year, not public opinion. The loss of crowds during the pandemic and the collapse of the team’s regional television contract weighed heavily on the financial operation.

Tom Pohlad was the point person for the sale exploration process, through which he developed an interest in and vision for taking over the Twins. Though initial conversations revolved around selling the majority interest, the investment groups will instead contribute an infusion of cash and strategy.

“I’m going to be an active owner. I’d say that’s what this organization needs right now,” Tom Pohlad said.

Neither the purchase prices or size of the stakes were disclosed. Financial analysis earlier this year by Forbes valued the franchise at $1.5 billion, ranked 23rd in MLB. Sportico ($1.7 billion) and CNBC ($1.65 billion) pegged the Twins a bit higher.

Major League Baseball has approved the acquisition of minority interests in the Twins by Glick Family Investments, a multi-generational New York venture capital firm; a group of Minnesota business leaders spearheaded by George Hicks; and Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold. Hicks is a native of Minnesota, a former executive of Cargill Financial who co-founded Varde Partners, a startup in 1993 that has grown into a global investment firm.

The new partners have expressed optimism about meaningful changes to baseball’s financial structure that could emerge from the upcoming collective bargaining with the players and potential within the Twin Cities market for the team to more fully realize from a revenue standpoint.

“They were really comfortable, convinced, and ultimately, confident that we were the right people to continue to lead this organization,” Tom Pohlad said.

The Twins won the World Series in 1987 and 1991, but have only reached the American League Championship Series once since, in 2002. In 2023, they ended an 18-game postseason losing streak, a North American professional sports record. They went 70-92 in 2025 and fired manager Rocco Baldelli, replacing him with Derek Shelton.

After cutting payroll for 2024, the front office initiated a major selloff last summer with nine trades that jettisoned 10 players from the major league roster with the Twins languishing in the standings. There’s no plan to further pare payroll, though, and the intent with a modest free agent budget is to try to take back the AL Central title the Twins won four times in seven years under Baldelli.

“I’m well aware of how upset the fan base is with our family and with this organization,” Tom Pohlad said. “I view that as an opportunity for us. They care deeply about the sport of baseball. They care deeply about this team.”

The first step, he said, will be accountability.

“I think the rub, if you will, on the organization, historically speaking, is there’s a feeling which I might share that we continue to run the same playbook over and over, thinking for a different result,” Tom Pohlad said. “The accountability factor is saying, ‘If something doesn’t go right, if we don’t meet expectations, what are we going to do differently?’ And then go out and do something differently.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Dave Campbell, The Associated Press