MINNEAPOLIS — Wednesday morning, the Minnesota Twins and the Pohlad family made a twofold announcement of significant changes to the team’s ownership structure.
First, they revealed the identities of incoming minority owners, also known as limited partners, completing a transaction process four months in the making. There are two groups of principal minority investors, each acquiring non-controlling stakes in the Twins from the Pohlads.
There is a Minnesota-based group led by George G. Hicks, along with a New York-based group led by Glick Family Investments. In addition, Minnesota Wild majority owner Craig Leipold also purchased a lesser minority stake independently.
Second, the Twins announced that Joe Pohlad has stepped down from his day-to-day role as the ownership group’s executive chair, with Tom Pohlad, his older brother, replacing him.
Pohlad Family welcomes limited partners to Minnesota Twins Ownership Group pic.twitter.com/wyIBBzCVPN
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) December 17, 2025
About three hours later, Tom Pohlad held his first news conference inside the home clubhouse at Target Field. Here are my biggest takeaways from his Q&A with reporters.
Pohlads still in charge
Asked to characterize the family’s commitment to owning the Twins long-term, Pohlad said, “We’re in it for the long haul.”
He also emphasized the Pohlad family is retaining majority ownership and plans to continue being in charge of the team: “Don’t get me wrong,” Pohlad said. “We’re still in control.”
Pohlad indicated he’s been part of the sales process for 14 months, since the team was initially put on the market, but said the decision for him to take over his younger brother’s leadership role was made only a month ago.
“Joe was not on board with this at first,” Tom Pohlad said. “He’s on board now. He understands. He was the leader of this organization. He’s been here for 19 years. And as difficult as this is for me to say, 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.”
Tom Pohlad repeatedly described how difficult this has been on the family, and particularly on the brothers’ relationship.
“This is not the type of thing we envisioned as we started to go from one generation to the next and continue on our family business and continue on the stewardship of the Twins,” Pohlad said. “But ultimately it was what we think was in the best interest of this organization, of our fan base and of our new partners.”
Details on new minority owners
Pohlad called the Minnesota-based, Hicks-led ownership group “a collection of really experienced businesspeople with a great track record of success and strong community ties.” He added that “many of them are lifelong Twins fans,” who “care passionately about this team, and they believe in what we can build going forward.”
Of note: No former Twins players are part of either group.
Pohlad said Leipold’s undisclosed investment was not made on behalf of the Wild, but rather as an individual. Leipold joined the process later than the two groups and is purchasing a smaller stake.
“I don’t want to overstate the (Leipold) investment,” Pohlad said. “Particularly out of respect for others in the group that played definitely central roles. But Craig is going to be a great adviser. He and I have developed a relationship. He’s become a friend.”
Pohlad declined to discuss what percentage of the team has been sold, to whom, and didn’t reveal the total amount of capital raised.
“I would say it was an amount we were happy with and an amount aimed to achieve our primary objective, which is to put this organization onto better financial footing,” Pohlad said. “With these proceeds, we’re able to pay off a significant amount of debt. And that will allow us to reinvest in this team when the time is right.”
As for when the time will be right …
Payroll questions
Pohlad pointed to “the last couple weeks” as evidence the Twins are “looking to improve this team and to fill roster holes that we have.”
However, with the Twins’ payroll around $100 million — about $40 million under last year’s Opening Day mark and $60 million below the division-winning 2023 team’s payroll — there were lots of questions about future spending.
In particular, I asked how Pohlad’s statements using the phrases “relentless pursuit of a championship” and “relentless focus on winning” could be squared with dramatically reduced payrolls.
Pablo López will be among the Twins’ highest earners in 2026. (Benny Sieu / Imagn Images)
“I don’t think that as the landscape, what I see right now, that we should put a significant investment into the team of (an additional) $50 (million) or $60 million,” Pohlad said. “But I don’t think we’re far off from that. I think the hard work in front of us is getting people and fans to buy into, to believe, we are committed to a championship-caliber investment and team. I would tell you that Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
I later asked whether he’s worried the Twins are taking a half-measure by keeping star players Byron Buxton, Joe Ryan and Pablo López without supporting them by increasing the payroll to add impact talent to a roster that went 70-92 last season.
“I worry about it,” Pohlad said. “Half-measures are not good. And you’ll probably get to know me over time: I’m not a half-measure guy. I’m a ‘go big or go home’ guy. But again, to your point, how do we thread the needle here, and do what’s in the best interest of the fan base?
“Every decision, you’ve got to look at through a couple of lenses. What’s the short-term return you get and what’s the long-term return you get? You try to make a good balance of long-term and short-term decisions that equal something great. And that’s what we’re trying to do here. I don’t think this is going to be, as you said, a half-measure. I don’t think this is a half-measure.”
Competing in 2026
Despite indicating payroll will likely be below even the reduced 2025 and 2024 levels, and perhaps not much higher than the current $100 million mark, Pohlad made it clear he believes the Twins can contend for a playoff spot in 2026.
“I think we are certainly within reach of winning a division title this season,” Pohlad said. “And I think we’ll continue to look at moves we can make that will help us accomplish that.”
He also acknowledged that leaning into a rebuild that likely would have meant trading Ryan, López and perhaps Buxton was something the team considered.
“I’m speaking a little bit out of turn here,” Pohlad said. “But there was probably an argument to tear the whole thing down, get as much value as you can for our players and really kind of put an emphasis on two years from now or three years from now. And on paper, yeah, maybe that makes sense. But you can’t just look at things on paper.
“We owe the fan base something. We owe our veteran and star players something. And we owe this organization something. And that something is hope. And I think that’s the needle we’re trying to thread.”
Winning back fans
Pohlad didn’t shy away from the Twins’ facing an uphill climb to win back a rightfully frustrated and disillusioned fan base, on and off the field.
“When we took a hard look at things, it’s undeniable 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,” Pohlad said. “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.”
He repeatedly emphasized the need for better communication from the team to its fans.
“We’ve got to do a better job of telling fans where we’re going, how we’re going to get there and why we’re doing the things we’re doing,” Pohlad said.
But ultimately, it boils down to winning more games, something the Twins have struggled with for much of the past decade.
“We’ve got to figure out what’s keeping us from having more consistent success,” Pohlad said. “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, hoping for a different result. The accountability factor is, 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.”
However, for the 2026 season, at least, it sounds like that “do something differently” will involve yet another reduction in payroll, perhaps to Metrodome-era spending levels relative to the league as a whole. Yet as Pohlad tells it, the Twins have been overspending in recent years.
“Our revenues don’t support the expenses we have, particularly when you talk about the level of investment we’ve been making over the last couple years in player payroll,” Pohlad said. “We have chosen, for some time now, to continue to invest beyond what the revenues support. People like to say we’re not committed to investing in this team, but $500 million of debt would tell you exactly the opposite. That’s how the debt got to where it is.”