The Minnesota Twins executed one of the most aggressive deadline teardowns in recent memory, trading eight players on deadline day and 11 total in the last week.
Behind the scenes, there continues to be “momentum” toward a sale of the franchise, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Among the 11 players dealt were star closer Jhoan Duran to the Phillies and shortstop Carlos Correa to the Astros. The Correa deal was largely a salary dump, with Houston agreeing to pay about two-thirds of the roughly $100 million owed to the shortstop. The nominal return for Correa was Matt Mikulski, a 26-year-old Single-A reliever. The trades of Duran, Harrison Bader, and Willi Castro brought back prospects.
The deadline frenzy comes as the team’s longtime owners, the Pohlad family, try to sell the franchise, which was put on the block in October with a reported $1.7 billion asking price. Allen & Company is advising on the process. The series of trades certainly shed millions of dollars in salary—which will financially benefit the Pohalds this year by lessening their salary obligations—but it is not expected to impact the sale process, a source tells Front Office Sports.
In fact, there could be news on that front in “within a matter of weeks,” the source said.
That mirrors what MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently said during the All-Star break in Atlanta. “I know some things that you don’t know,” Manfred said. “I can tell you with a lot of confidence that there will be a transaction there, and it will be consistent with the kind of pricing that has taken place. There will be a transaction. We just need to be patient while they rework.”
The trades come as the Twins sit at 51–57, second to last in the American League Central and six games out of the wild card.
Derek Falvey, president of baseball operations for the Twins, acknowledged the difficulty in seeing roughly 40% of the roster change, especially for fans, in an interview with ABC’s local Minnesota affiliate KSTP.
“It’s a totally fair question and I have a tremendous amount of empathy for it,” Falvey said.
The Pohlads bought the Twins for $44 million in 1984. The patriarch, Carl Pohlad, died in 2009, at which point his son Jim took over the team. In 2022, Jim’s nephew, Joe Pohlad, assumed primary administrative duties while Jim remained the controlling owner.
Currently, the team reportedly has more than $425 million in debt, which has led to speculation about money troubles. MLB has debt service rules on its books meant to ensure teams maintain fiscal stability, but the league has not stepped in to offer emergency financial assistance to the Twins.
It is true that the sale process hit a speed bump earlier in the year after Mat and Justin Ishbia dropped their pursuit and instead increased their stake in the White Sox, a source previously told FOS. But in the spring, several other prospective suitors traveled to Minnesota, toured Target Field, and met with the Pohlads, the source confirmed to FOS in late May.
Others who have been linked to the Twins include prominent Twins supporter Marty Davis, CEO of Minnesota-based quartz countertop company Cambria; Glen Taylor, the former Timberwolves owner; Jim Hays, founder of Minneapolis-based insurance brokerage Hays Companies; and a group that includes former Twins players Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Torii Hunter.
