Twins. Reporter for The Athletic, Dan Hayes is here covering what I think is one of the most shocking headlines of the sports year. The Pollads had been looking to sell the Minnesota Twins for about a year, and Dan has been all over the case here. He put out another article this morning with Brittany Giroli and The Athletic why the Pollads stunned potential buyers and kept control of the Twins. That is a real quote from one of the next generation family members of the pole Ads, Joe
Paulad said, we are the right people. Dan, here we go. What the heck happened? And how has this shook Minneapolis?
Oh man.
I'm sitting by the Delta complaints counter here at MSP and I halfway expect a bunch of Twins fans to line up and complain about the pole Ads. It's been a rough couple of weeks. I mean, the trade deabline was shocking enough, right, but this sale was stagnant. Basically after Justinishbia left. It just felt like there was momentum times, but the thing it always lacked was big fish. You always need an anchor investor like the guy with the
big Bucks. The Twins had a ton of interest from limited partners, and we saw that play out right here, where two groups investing at least twenty percent into the club.
We're willing to.
Buy it up without having a path to control, without having anything more than a seat on the board.
And so that's two seats on the board.
We don't know how big the board is, we don't know how much voice they will actually have.
That's a very unique, unusual deal.
There was plenty of people like this that were interested, but I think after Justinishbia kind of left and abandoned has pursued of the Twins in January when the when Jerry Reinsdorf's sons reached out, they really couldn't find someone that wanted to come in.
And so this this team sat on the market.
And there's only so long that you can keep the house on an open market before the value starts to go down and bids get less. The MLB wasn't going
to let that happen. I think that you know, it sat there forever, and they had groups still spinning their wheels trying to put stuff together, and we wrote about that that there were still investors meeting yesterday trying to figure out a way to get there, and they were surprised, blindsided to see this sale happen the way it did, the partial sale, but I mean that was the Option's
been there for six months. The price hasn't changed, and like I think, just at some point the Pullouds had to kind of pull the plug, and by doing this they infuse much needed cash without giving up power. This probably positions them for a sale down the road, even though they say they're committed, and I didn't include that in the story today, but Joe pull D said, we're committed, but it probably positions them after the next CBA for selling them when franchise.
Values might be higher. The fact that they will have half the debt.
Or somewhere in that realm a significant amount less with debt, it should increase the value of the Twins and position them well later. But I mean, you know, Twins fans have been clamoring for this for probably decades since.
The contraction bid in two thousand and two. You know, I mean, if.
There are two thousand and one, the years are mixed up in my head here, but you know, like they've been clamoring for a sale for a long time. The last ten months we've seen just an overwhelming push for them to sell from fans, and I think they're very disappointed today. And I certainly would not want to be in the season ticket holder office talking to those guys.
Dan.
It's only if we would have talked about this months and years ago. I mean, it was two thousand and two, by the way, contraction because I was on the team they want to get rid of it. It was between two thousand and one and two thousand and two US and the Expos they were talking about contracting, getting rid of the the franchises for whatever reason they want to come up with. Whatever it was all bs. So here,
here's the thing, Dan about this. You just mentioned that the pole Ads didn't want to sell, and they wanted Joe Polad to be on the board, and they wanted, you know, grand grandson Polad to be on the next board and then the great grandson of that to be the president twenty five thousand years from now. I mean, there was all these stipulations, right, So they never really wanted to sell. That's what it comes across to me. Unless they got blown out of the water, it wasn't happening.
You know there's a possible workstop it's coming out. But what gets me about all this is we're the right people to run this team? Are you? Because I was there when Carl Pohlad the grandfather, would walk in the clubhouse and not know who the players were, and I'd be standing in my locker and he would go, oh, hi,
Tory Hunter, and I'm like, uh no, I'm not Tory Hunter. Right, So like things like that, it was like, wait a second, that was twenty five years ago and we're still talking about it, right, So how can they come out and say we were the right team to or the right people to write the ship.
You haven't writed it in twenty.
Since nineteen ninety one, let's be honest, since that's been since nineteen ninety.
One, right, No, Look, I mean just on recent examples alone, they're going to miss the playoffs for the fourth time in five years this season. Are in some miracle comeback that's not going to happen. They are on pace for one point eight million tickets right now.
It's going to be the lowest.
I think it's currently on pace for five thousand more tickets than the all time target field low. They're going to miss that. People are gonna not show up. They'll they'll end it probably sub one point eight million. They don't have secured a they have not secured a market media deal like significant deal there. There's lots of things to point out right now to say this isn't going well. So when I heard that, I mean, yeah, of course,
that's why it's in the headline. There's a little bit I get they're excited Joe Pollad, this really gives.
Him run as a shot, and it.
Clearly was probably up in the air the last couple of years. I do think if they had gotten the right deal, they would have got out. I think that, you know, it's a big family. Started with Carl Pohlad, but he had three sons. There are now seven grandchildren, and then all of them have kids, and you're talking, you know, a huge family. Not everybody has the same interests.
One of the brothers is in.
The movie industry, like they you have diverse interests when you have a big, rich family. I don't think everybody is totally on board. I think a handful definitely are. But there's been just this air of uncertainty, and I think had they gotten that big offer, they would have taken it just because how do you pass that up? But it's been just awkward, and you know, like you said,
the statement, the phrasing. This is the same group that said they wanted to right size the business last spring training after the thirty.
Million dollar pay cut.
They make headlines from time to time that have not been flattering, to say the least, and frankly anger fans and I can understand it.
And you know, Joe pull Out as a friendly dude.
I enjoyed my interactions with them, but this is two statements like that where it's like, you know, those aren't the best statements, and they make headlines and they stick around for a while, and I think fans will definitely use that for a while, especially if the team isn't able to turn this around now.
I mean, clearly they infused a.
Lot of talent the deadline, even though they salary dumped Carlos Correa. You look at their pitching, there's some really intriguing arms along with still having a lot of starting pitching.
Intact. You saw Joe Ryant last night.
Bailey over maybe looks like he's getting back on the right track. Pablo Lopez is around the corner. Zebbie Matthews looked pretty good Monday a Yankee Stadium. And then you have TODJ. Bradley of Mike Abel and you have Kendrick Rojas. I mean you have some good starting pitching. Like there's a world where you.
Can see them maybe getting healthy.
Quicker if some young guys developed, But if they don't, like how long are people going to hold those kinds of phrases over their heads?
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I had another question, but just talking about what you're talking about. When they said we're the right people to write this ship, what does writing the ship look like? Or have started turning the runner because history shows you they've had good pitching. History shows you they've had infusion
of really good position players. Now they have Byron Bucks News healthy and you think Royce Lewis is gonna get better because he actually plays worse when he's playing all the time, and he plays better when he's hurt all the time. So you know, it's it's you have that infusion, it's the same Twins team. What does the writing of the ship actually look like? If that is true?
Yeah, it's it's hard to say.
Look, the previous plan, the plug got pulled after the
playoffs when they signed Carlos Career. I want to say the day that Christian Vosque has signed was the day Korea was going to have his press conference with the San Francisco Giants, and I sat in Joe Poulad's office that day with Dustin Morris, communications director, and we talked about what payroll could look like if the business was right, and Joe Poled said there was a world and I used the quote, there's a world in which if the business is healthy and the team is ready, I could
see us having a one eighty two hundred million dollar pay well. I floated the numbers, one eighty two hundred million, and he said, I could see.
That being a reality. That was the plan.
Then they signed Carlos Korea. Three weeks later. They had the record payroll that year was either one hundred and fifty seven million dollars or maybe one sixty But then they pulled the plug on that year. Later they cut payroll by thirty million dollars. They stopped adding around that group, so it's kind of incomplete, like you're seeing what is left of that now, which is a not an athletic team. Luke Kishaw has been a breath of fresh air because
he is athletic. Roys Lewis is starting to show some of the signs of that again because he's looking healthy. Byron Buckston clearly is one of those guys. Now we're going to see them go in this younger athletic direction. I wouldn't say they're going to go what the Rays are doing or the Milwaukee Brewers are doing, but I mean it wouldn't shock me if.
They try to go in a new direction. It's yeah, it's confusing.
If I was a fan, i'd be frustrated that July thirty one was a dark day. I mean, I've struggled to find anyone that can tell me at any point where they've seen ten players traded. And by the way, I apologize for my camera, this is not optimal, but you know, this has been a really rough stretch and what getting right looks like, I don't know. I think that's why fans wanted a fresh perspective coming in, a clean break, and clearly we're not getting that, and you have to wonder what the future holds.
Okay, I got to ask because Falve came out and said he was directed by ownership to trade everybody. But now the ownership saying we didn't say that, So who wanted to fire sale?
You brought it up.
They traded, you know what, almost half their team away in like four hours, So who was it on. Was this a fallavi decision, Was this a whole out decision, or was it the fans are going to be mad at me, so we'll just do it anyway's decision.
I think Korea was definitely something from an ownership level, the impending free agents, that was a given we were going to see them get traded anyways, you know the way they've described it is. And I asked Joe Paul specifically about the deadline yestady, and he said, I thought it was good baseball decisions for the long term, short term and long term health of our franchise.
So I know they plan on using there. I don't know how they will use it, because he phrased it if we choose to do so. But he talked about the financial flexibility.
I don't know that the payrel is going to go up much from where it is right now, and next year it wouldn't shock me if we saw them around one hundred million dollars. But I mean, honestly, those aren't decisions. They're made until October November anyways. But it's going to depend on season ticket base and what that looks like. And I can't see the season ticket holders sticking around right now.
It's going to be interesting to see what that fallout looks like. But I would say it was directed.
From ownership level, even if they're saying no, they were motivated to move Carlos Corey's money absolutely the way too.
I think partly you can say it's Derek Falvey.
As far as knowing what direction they're heading and knowing that they needed a talent in fusion.
One way to do that is sell off a good bullpen.
And so I think that's why we saw Louis Varlin get traded, Griffin Jacks get traded, was hey, we can bring in this younger talent that's, you know, high upside and very attractive.
Even though Louis Varland.
Himself had very little service time. They really love the guy that got Ken Rojas. They love Alan Roaden. They think Alan Roden and I've heard a lot of people say, man, this performance has been so consistent across the miners. I think he at one hundred and sixty five walks, one hundred and sixty five strikeouts, and thirteen hundred minor league plate appearances. They want to see what he can do at the major league level they were. They were blown
away by that offer and decided to make that. So it wouldn't shock me if it was a little boats, but I would not.
I think think.
Ownership's fingerprints are all over the whole the whole scheme in general.
Can you confirm this? Maybe I got trolled on a story I read. Did the Twins up season ticket prices for next year right before the trade deadline? Or did I not read that correctly?
You know what? I honestly, I doe. There's been too much going on. I don't know. I'll look into that and get back to you guys, But the last three weeks as of bar it's just a bo kratzy.
I'll tell you what happened. I was told that they're going to up at five percent. So I could be wrong. I could be trolled. I could be been given bad information, Dan,
I don't know. It was something that I was told from people not in the organization that I know outside the organization, that said there's there was a rumor and they think it's fact that the ticket prices are going to go up five percent next year and so right, And this was right after the trade deadline when they were going to send out the season ticket list.
I mean, I've seen people online today just kind of grandstanding showing that they're canceling their accounts. I've heard from one person that it's a busy day in there, and not the fun kind of busy day.
So it's going to be very interesting.
And you know what, rarely my perspective do you cover a team from a the business side of things, But clearly that's something that we have to keep an eye on. I mean, this is a team that just went to MLB run Twins TV this year. You know there there's a lot of uncertainty going forward and you know where's where ticket sales are to be Next year is gonna be really interesting.
Now.
The one thing that's true is winning does cure all.
And if you put Luke Kishaw and Royce Lewis and Byron Bucks and that's starting staff together and get a little bit of help here or there, because they do have financial flexibility. If they do piece it together, maybe they.
Are an interesting club.
But there's just more pressure on that team to win right now to get the business side going again.
Yeah, otherwise they're taking the franchise. This is a page out of the John Fisher Book of how to move. But they're not moving and they want to move the team. This is such a mess.
It is and why you know, that's the one part is why would you want to move from Targetfield? Target Field a spectacular ballpark. I know that April sucks in the weather there. If we ever see what a late October looks like, that's could be very interesting. But they have a long lease at target Field that there. It's the same reason contraction didn't happen. There was the least the Metrodome. The judge ruled that you can't get out.
Of your lease.
This cannot happen, and that shut down contraction talks real quick. Twins have like twelve fifteen years left on their lease at target Field.
They're not going anywhere, so you know.
It really is it's just a really interesting ten months, last three weeks.
It's it's insane.
Yeah, they could not care less. They have tried to move the team, contract the team now fake sell the team for really over two point one billion dollars if you include the debt, and everyone was like that's crazy. Someone offered like one point five and they hung up the phone, like this is just an utter disaster. But at least, and I'll end this the way that we started this, at least this is the right person to take them through the storm. Declared by I don't know
the high heaven. Somebody declared it. No one knows who it is, but someone declared that Joe paulad is going to lead this franchise to glory into victory, and if he does, obviously he's going to sell it. So we know where they'll be voting, and they'll be trying to lock out the world. That's why this is a baseball problem. They're going to try and lock out the players and the fans from watching baseball next year because it would raise the franchise value if they can suppress salaries. It's
that simple. Someone can come on and tell me otherwise. There is no doubt that's where they'll be voting. Behind the scenes story for another day. We'll get to that in the off season. Wanted to get to the on field product here, Dan, we got to jump. But great stuff, man, thanks for joining us, and good luck with the complaint line over there where. It'll be all about the twins and the flights are traveling. Everything's good right now. Flights are storing Delta is great, all
Right, guys, thanks for having me.