Yannick Peterhans / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Minnesota Twins were the biggest sellers at the MLB trade deadline, shipping off nearly 40 percent of their roster in a complete teardown that saved the club tens of millions of dollars. What fans hoped would be a precursor to the Pohlad family selling the franchise could instead become a worst-case scenario.
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Bob Nightengale of USA Today reported Sunday that many around baseball are now suspecting that the Twins may ‘continue to dump payroll’ this winter by trading pitchers Joe Ryan, Pablo Lopez and Bailey Ober.
Related: Buyer Interested in Minnesota Twins was ‘Blindsided’ by Pohlad’s Decision
Minnesota Twins franchise value (Forbes): $1.5 billion
The Twins’ franchise was put up for sale this spring, with the Pohlad family setting a $1.7 billion valuation on the Major League Baseball club. Multiple groups expressed interest in buying the team at a slightly lower cost, even with the team saddled with more than $400 million in debt.
Following the trade-deadline firesale, there was even reportedly momentum towards the franchise being sold. All of that changed on August 13 when the Pohlad family announced it would retain ownership, with plans to bring on two limited partnership groups.
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Related: Worst MLB owners, including Twins’ ownership
Minnesota Twins payroll 2025 (Spotrac): $39.846 million active payroll (27th in MLB)
Many around baseball understood the rationale for dumping the Carlos Correa contract, which saved the club $70 million. There was also a clear rationale for moving All-Star closer Jhoan Duran and trading the likes of Chris Paddack, Harrison Bader, Ty France, and Willi Castro.
What made less sense, even from a financial perspective, was trading reliever Louis Varland, who is under team control through 2030 on team-friendly terms, especially considering he is a Minnesota native.
Given the interest Ryan received ahead of the MLB trade deadline and the likely market for Lopez if he’s healthy, it shouldn’t be a surprise if both starters are traded this winter. If that happens, there’s a good chance the Twins will have the lowest payroll in baseball next season.
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