Sell The Team

[Jkinsma27]

As a 20-year fan of the Minnesota Twins, I am hoping to connect with other longtime fans who are disgusted and fed up with the direction of the franchise under the Pohlads. This family has done nothing but take our money and give us dog**** baseball for most of our lives. It's time for the team to be sold. Steve Cohen overnight turned the Mets into contenders by spending legitimate amounts of money geared towards on-field success, something the Pohlads have never done, even when they were gifted a brand-new ballpark paid for by us, the Minnesota taxpayer. 

To think of the Twins as "small market" is close-minded at best. The Twins make a ton of money every year. The Pohlads don't ever lose money on this ballclub. They simply don't want to spend money on the Twins because they do not care about us, the fans. All they care about is lining their own pockets. And they can do that without negatively affecting Twins fans after they sell the team and are compensated for that sale. 

The Pohlads have taken all the joy out of Twins baseball. I used to love this team, and now there is nothing in my heart but negativity and anger when I think about the Minnesota Twins. I would hope that those with season tickets consider not renewing until the team is sold. There is no reason to reward the Pohlads for the years of good baseball they kept from us with their avarice. 

I would love for anyone who writes about the Twins in local publications to float this possibility to the reading public. It seems as though keeping press passes and clubhouse access is more important than being an actual journalist who speaks truth to power. 

The Minnesota Twins are irrelevant, are an afterthought in the local sports scene, and they deserve to be until the team is sold and new ownership shows a commitment to the passionate fanbase that kept this team alive during the lean years. The Pohlads didn't save the Twins. They tried to get them contracted or moved to North Carolina. Twins players and Twins fans kept this team alive. I know that the Twins could be and should be a premier MLB franchise that contends for World Series titles. If the Padres can do it, the Twins surely can. But they need owners who give a ****. And the Pohlads never will. It's time for them to sell the team and until then, I strongly suggest Twins fans make their voices heard in 2023 by not showing up to games or showing up to games with the express intent of voicing their discontent with the ownership. 

If any other Twins fans have suggestions on how to voice our collective anger and discontent towards present ownership, I'd love to hear your ideas. 

Thank you. 

[Dave Lemke]

Absolutely wrong on too many levels to even try and respond to.

[Vanimal46]

This is elite copypasta. 

[Jkinsma27]

21 minutes ago, Dave Lemke said:

Absolutely wrong on too many levels to even try and respond to.

What did I say that was incorrect? All of what I said has been proven to be true. Did you watch the last 12 years of Twins baseball? If you can't see it for what it is, I can't help you

[Jkinsma27]

10 minutes ago, Vanimal46 said:

This is elite copypasta. 

This is elite caping for billionaires who never spend the requisite amount of money on the club for it to be competitive. I promise they're never going to invite you into their suite. 

[Vanimal46]

7 minutes ago, Jkinsma27 said:

This is elite caping for billionaires who never spend the requisite amount of money on the club for it to be competitive. I promise they're never going to invite you into their suite. 

Nah man this is just funny. You don’t want to have an actual conversation about it. Clearly you take the Common Man on KFAN’s rants way too seriously. 

[Linus]

I think the spirit of his message is correct. The Pohlads will lose on the field before they lose money. I mean it is their team but I’m often amazed when I see posts saying no to a proposed signing because it is an “overpay”. Why do we care?  Do you get a cut on what Pohlad saves?  I’ve been a Twins fan for 50+ years and i think the current antipathy towards the club is as high as Calvin’s final years. 

[Irishman]

2 hours ago, Jkinsma27 said:

As a 20-year fan of the Minnesota Twins, I am hoping to connect with other longtime fans who are disgusted and fed up with the direction of the franchise under the Pohlads. This family has done nothing but take our money and give us dogshit baseball for most of our lives. It's time for the team to be sold. Steve Cohen overnight turned the Mets into contenders by spending legitimate amounts of money geared towards on-field success, something the Pohlads have never done, even when they were gifted a brand-new ballpark paid for by us, the Minnesota taxpayer. 

To think of the Twins as "small market" is close-minded at best. The Twins make a ton of money every year. The Pohlads don't ever lose money on this ballclub. They simply don't want to spend money on the Twins because they do not care about us, the fans. All they care about is lining their own pockets. And they can do that without negatively affecting Twins fans after they sell the team and are compensated for that sale. 

The Pohlads have taken all the joy out of Twins baseball. I used to love this team, and now there is nothing in my heart but negativity and anger when I think about the Minnesota Twins. I would hope that those with season tickets consider not renewing until the team is sold. There is no reason to reward the Pohlads for the years of good baseball they kept from us with their avarice. 

I would love for anyone who writes about the Twins in local publications to float this possibility to the reading public. It seems as though keeping press passes and clubhouse access is more important than being an actual journalist who speaks truth to power. 

The Minnesota Twins are irrelevant, are an afterthought in the local sports scene, and they deserve to be until the team is sold and new ownership shows a commitment to the passionate fanbase that kept this team alive during the lean years. The Pohlads didn't save the Twins. They tried to get them contracted or moved to North Carolina. Twins players and Twins fans kept this team alive. I know that the Twins could be and should be a premier MLB franchise that contends for World Series titles. If the Padres can do it, the Twins surely can. But they need owners who give a ****. And the Pohlads never will. It's time for them to sell the team and until then, I strongly suggest Twins fans make their voices heard in 2023 by not showing up to games or showing up to games with the express intent of voicing their discontent with the ownership. 

If any other Twins fans have suggestions on how to voice our collective anger and discontent towards present ownership, I'd love to hear your ideas. 

Thank you. 

I’ve been a Twin fan for almost 55 years.  Pohlad family doesn’t care as long as they make money.  I decided not to show up.   Those owners, agents and players are greedy.   Their salaries are out of control.    Not fun watching professional games.  I only watch college games.   

[CRF]

I get it...we're all frustrated with the Pohlads, the FO, and the reluctance to spend some money. Would it be great to have someone like Steve Cohen here? Sure it would. Unfortunately, it's not going to happen. Last time I checked, the Pohlads were somewhere in the neighborhood of MLB's 8th richest owners. That's pretty high on the list. We just want to see them spend some of the money on the team, instead of pocketing it.

[sun]

Why would anyone be angry with the owners?

They went out of their way to sign Buxton and aren't responsible for his injuries.

There have been plenty of other injuries too that the owners didn't cause.

Twins fans know that there's too many to list.

If someone wants to be irate with the Twins then walk away and take a break.

Baseball isn't for the faint of heart and the team isn't a charity either.

The team profits only amount to a small percentage of the overall gross which they probably squirrel away for bad economic times like during covid.

They went ahead and signed Correa and then made him a fair long term offer considering all of the circumstances.

We'll see what happens when Lewis, Kirilloff and others return from their injuries.

And what kinds of trades and transactions can be made going forward.

If someone wants to complain that only makes them look like they have sour grapes.

Twins fans should feel lucky that the team hasn't relocated and is a source of local pride & entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

[Craig Arko]

You miss Calvin?

[Squirrel]

I’m not trying to be snide, but asking a legitimate question because I truly don’t get it. If it’s so awful for you, and you dislike the ownership and management as much as you do, and think the team is terrible, why bother with it? Why come here and spend time to discuss anything? Why even watch or listen to or follow this team at all in any capacity? I know that giving up is difficult after so many years of fandom, but why keep going? Again, not trying to snide, because I’d like to know why following something so horrible is worth your time.

Chances are if the team is sold the Twins move and would cease to be the Twins. Would that be okay?

I mean, of course I wish the team would spend more, and think they can afford to, and how nice it would be to have Steve Cohen run things, but that’s not what we have. I, too, get frustrated, but this is what we have and I have zero control over it.

[Doctor Gast]

My gripe with the ownership isn't because I think they don't spend enough. It's that they don't know enough about baseball, where they fall for everything that FO tells them. Carl probably researched some to find Andy MacPhail. Someone who could evaluate talent & needs & knew how to fill those needs through initiating shrewd trades & signings.

[farmerguychris]

If you're done with the team, and you still like baseball - then just get a new favorite team.  Lots of people have favorite teams that they follow every single day and don't live in the market they play in.

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

There are two types of owners.  Those like Cohen who own teams as toys and spend much more than the teams take in because they want their toy to win so they can feed their ego and pat themselves on the back at their elite parties.  Then there are the Pohlads who bought and own the team as a true business.  They are capitalists who run their businesses the way that they should be run, to make a reasonable profit for the risks taken.

I always thought of our owners as a reflection of who we are as Minnesotan's.  We are practical and work hard and I personally would be embarrassed to have free-spending owner like Cohen own the Twins.  What joy is there anyway when you "buy" a WS.  I much preferred our way of earning it in 87 and going last to first in 91.  That is much more rewarding than buying one.

Lastly, I recall the time before we had the Twins and Vikings.  It was pretty much a ghost town and we had to adopt teams from other cities to root for.  I'd rather root for MY Twins, even if they do not win, then other city's teams.

Just MHO.

[NotAboutWinning]

1 hour ago, Bigfork Twins Guy said:

There are two types of owners.  Those like Cohen who own teams as toys and spend much more than the teams take in because they want their toy to win so they can feed their ego and pat themselves on the back at their elite parties.  Then there are the Pohlads who bought and own the team as a true business.  They are capitalists who run their businesses the way that they should be run, to make a reasonable profit for the risks taken.

I always thought of our owners as a reflection of who we are as Minnesotan's.  We are practical and work hard and I personally would be embarrassed to have free-spending owner like Cohen own the Twins.  What joy is there anyway when you "buy" a WS.  I much preferred our way of earning it in 87 and going last to first in 91.  That is much more rewarding than buying one.

Lastly, I recall the time before we had the Twins and Vikings.  It was pretty much a ghost town and we had to adopt teams from other cities to root for.  I'd rather root for MY Twins, even if they do not win, then other city's teams.

Just MHO.

Agree completely! But, I don't believe that running a team as a business requires that team to be dull and non-competitive. That is where the FO comes in. Their mission should be to field a team that is fun to watch, and surprises us with a competitive run now and again. Unfortunately, I do not believe the current FO (or manager for that matter) has the skillset to accomplish that ?

[Beast]

20 hours ago, Vanimal46 said:

Nah man this is just funny. You don’t want to have an actual conversation about it. Clearly you take the Common Man on KFAN’s rants way too seriously. 

The typical response from the “ball guys.”  Condescension.  Dismissal.  Who doesn’t want to have an actual conversation?

What is the actual conversation?  Do you dispute they they haven’t won anything?  Do you dispute that they historically don’t spend as much on players as they could?

Theres a fine line between being a “ball guy” and being delusional regarding the team’s performance.  We just set the all time record for playoff ineptitude.  We’ve made it to the divisional round of the playoffs once since 2011.  We’ve made the ALCS once in 20 years.

The Pirates and Royals, widely considered the dregs of the MLB, have been more successful in terms of playoff wins in the last 20 years.  The Pirates have just as many divisional round appearances since 2011.  The Pirates also play in a much stronger division.  The Royals are blowing us out of the water in recent history in terms of playoff wins.  They’ve also made 2 World Series.

Who cares about regular season wins? If you do, we’ve won more than 90 games once since 2011.  We’ve lost more then 90 5 times (and 89 once). We’ve been under .500 8 times.  We’ve won 100 games once since 1965.  We’ve made the playoffs 11 times since 1970.  For perspective:  the Royals have lost 90+ games 5 times since 2011.  They’ve been under .500 8 times.  They’ve won 100 games once since 1965.  Track records are almost identical.

What exactly are you seeing here that makes you think this is going well?  This franchise is a train wreck.  Saying otherwise is just flat out preposterous. We might be the most inept franchise in the MLB - and you “ball guys” dispute that fact because we pop up and win 85 games occasionally and win the worst division in baseball.  To me, that’s “just funny.”

[dex8425]

If I had to complain, the payroll and ownership wouldn't be the #1 complaint. Payroll here is higher than Cleveland, Tampa Bay, and Milwaukee, all teams that have won multiple playoff games, have similar markets, and won their divisions in recent years. As long as the Twins are around 140-160 million per year, they're "trying" to field a competitive team. Which is way more than can be said for many, many teams right now. John Fisher is literally trying to tank the team and alienate fans to move the team out of Oakland. He is greedy. 

Joe Pohlad knows he's not going to improve the value of the team by keeping payroll as low as possible or trying to alienate fans. He knows fans don't engage with an uncompetitive team. Look at the Wolves-if you win games, fans will come, even if the Vikes will always be #1 in this town. 

My complaints would be more with the front office, and Joe, the new president of the team, has no loyalty to Derek and Thad, so I suspect if the Twins finish third again they will be gone, as well as Rocco. They should have won the division last year, even with the injuries. They needed more bullpen arms and one or two good starters before the season started-that's on the FO. 

[dxpavelka]

As a soon to be 60 year old Twins fan who lived thru the Calvin era I say, pony up, buy the team.  Otherwise stay in your lane.

[Nine of twelve]

2 hours ago, Beast said:

The Pirates also play in a much stronger division.

In 2022 the AL Central had a W-L record of 382-428. The NL Central had a W-L record of 377-433.

[dxpavelka]

10 hours ago, Craig Arko said:

You miss Calvin?

He don't even know who Calvin is..

[dxpavelka]

20 hours ago, Irishman said:

I’ve been a Twin fan for almost 55 years.  Pohlad family doesn’t care as long as they make money.  I decided not to show up.   Those owners, agents and players are greedy.   Their salaries are out of control.    Not fun watching professional games.  I only watch college games.   

Gooooooood for you

[dxpavelka]

22 hours ago, Jkinsma27 said:

What did I say that was incorrect? All of what I said has been proven to be true. Did you watch the last 12 years of Twins baseball? If you can't see it for what it is, I can't help you

Actually, nothing you said is incorrect.  Nothing is correct either.  All of it is opinion or speculation.  None of which can be proven or disproven.  Your opinions are your opinions.  Doesn't make them anything but opinions.

[Unwinder]

I want the Pohlads to spend more, and there are clearly better owners than the Pohlads out there, but I think that if they sold the team we'd be just as likely to get worse owners as better owners. I'm completely ambivalent toward the idea of selling (unless it also meant relocating, in which case I would hate it).

[Craig Arko]

I miss contraction.

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

Two more points...

1. The Twins owners pony up an average size payroll for a mid-size market.  Several teams have much smaller payrolls and end up with a record just as good or better than the Twins.  So for me this comes down to how well the money is spent and how well we groom our prospects which focuses on the FO not the owner.

2. You should be thrilled that ownership spends what they do.  Calvin was the cheapest owner there ever was.  He lost Blyleven, Carew and several other of our stars for practically nothing (even in those days).  Those teams had to work much harder to win than today's team.

[Azviking101]

21 hours ago, sun said:

Why would anyone be angry with the owners?

They went out of their way to sign Buxton and aren't responsible for his injuries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The only reason they resigned buxton was because of his injuries 

if he was a healthy superstar they would not have paid him. 

[Squirrel]

49 minutes ago, Azviking101 said:

The only reason they resigned buxton was because of his injuries 

if he was a healthy superstar they would not have paid him. 

They re-signed him because Bux came to them willing to do what it took to sign a deal because he wanted to remain a Twin

[Squirrel]

4 hours ago, Beast said:

Saying otherwise is just flat out preposterous

And this isn’t condescending and dismissive? Two wrongs don’t make a right.

Everyone, please play nice and allow for divergent opinions, whatever they may be. Don’t make your posts personal toward other posters. Watch the disrespect. Agree to disagree if you can’t find legitimate discussion points. 

[Mike Sixel]

While I don't agree with a lot in this thread..... The owners will never spend like fans want. No FO ever has, that's not on the FO.

As for spending, they don't always spend near the middle, and right now I see no way they will this coming year. All that money goes into their pocket, never to be seen by players or staff again. I have little sympathy for ownership given the year to year way they run the payroll.

But, I don't expect it to ever be better. So I usually criticize decisions of the front office, because those can change.