The Pohlad family has been at the helm of the Minnesota Twins for generations, guiding the club through both high points and lengthy rebuilds. Throughout that tenure, ownership has leaned on familiar talking points to explain their approach to spending, roster construction, and long-term planning. Yet over time, many of those narratives have worn thin with fans, creating frustration when actions don’t seem to match the words.
“We need a new stadium to compete.”
The campaign for Target Field leaned heavily on the argument that the Metrodome’s revenue limitations made it impossible for the Twins to retain star players or raise payroll. In fairness, the Dome was outdated, and Target Field has since provided one of the best fan experiences in baseball.
But when the gates opened in 2010, many expected payrolls to take a permanent leap forward. Instead, the team’s spending rose only modestly, and it rarely kept pace with other mid- to large-market teams. While Target Field did improve financial flexibility, the promise of a new spending tier hasn’t been fully realized.
Fan Perspective: “We gave you a ballpark. Where’s the payroll we were promised?”
“We can’t afford to keep our stars.”
The Pohlad family has consistently leaned on the “small-market team” label. This has been used to explain trades and departures of beloved players like Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, and even José Berríos. Now, Minnesota is paying Houston $10 million per year to keep Carlos Correa off its payroll. It’s been a challenging dynamic as the team tries to stay competitive with a relatively low payroll compared to the rest of the league.
Fans, however, see the broader picture. National TV deals, revenue sharing, and new streams of MLB income mean all 30 franchises enjoy unprecedented financial stability. Even if Minnesota doesn’t have Dodgers-level resources, ownership wealth and modern MLB economics have undermined the notion that the Twins can’t retain their cornerstone players. The Pohlads choose not to at specific price points.
Fan Perspective: “Small-market? Maybe in population, but not in revenue anymore.”
“We’ll be aggressive when the time is right.”
Perhaps no refrain has been repeated more often than this one. Whenever the team is building through a youth movement or retooling, front office and ownership figures stress that aggression will come once the roster is in position to contend.
Yet Twins fans can point to multiple contention windows where “aggression” translated into mid-tier free agent signings or modest trade deadline additions, rather than transformative moves. Following the success of 2023, the ownership group should have invested in the team. Instead, they cut payroll by $30 million, and the results on the field have matched that cut. While some of this can be attributed to baseball’s inherent unpredictability, the pattern has left many to wonder if the franchise’s definition of “going for it” differs from the fans’ perception.
Fan Perspective: “Every window ends with bargain shopping and hoping it works out.”
“Payroll will reflect attendance.”
This narrative gained particular prominence after Target Field opened. Ownership suggested that as fans showed up in larger numbers, payroll would rise accordingly. And to some degree, it did. Minnesota’s payroll ranked in the top 10 during Target Field’s first two seasons. From there, things deteriorated as the team ranked in the 20s from 2013 to 2017. In 2023, the Twins reached a payroll of nearly $167 million, ranking 16th in MLB.
Still, compared to the dramatic attendance spike in those early years, payroll increases felt incremental. The connection between fan support and player spending hasn’t always been as direct as ownership implied. Now, the Twins are in a no-win situation. Attendance dropped in 2025, and the season ticket base is likely going to be at a Target Field low point in 2026. However, if ownership continues to keep payroll stagnant (or even drops further), the team’s attendance problem will persist.
Fan Perspective: “Why would we fill the seats when ownership doesn’t follow through?”
“We’re committed to championships.”
Every owner in professional sports insists their ultimate goal is a championship, and the Pohlads are no different. Press conferences, radio appearances, and team statements often highlight the World Series as the standard they’re chasing.
The reality, however, is more complicated. Since the Pohlads took over, the Twins have enjoyed pockets of success, including the Gardenhire-led division titles of the 2000s, the Bomba Squad’s record-setting offense in 2019, and the recent streak-snapping playoff win in 2023. But in each of those moments, the team stopped short of making the kind of bold, high-risk moves that can elevate a contender into a true favorite.
Fan Perspective: “Committed to championships? More like committed to staying in the middle.”
The Pohlads aren’t unique among MLB ownership groups, with many franchises deploying similar talking points. However, for Twins fans, these recurring narratives have become a source of frustration, especially when actions fail to align with the rhetoric. While the family has ensured the franchise’s stability in Minnesota, the gap between promises and outcomes remains one of the defining aspects of their tenure.
The Twins’ fan base has proven its loyalty time and again, through the lean years of the Dome, the excitement of Target Field’s opening, and the rollercoaster of recent seasons. What fans want now is more than words: real, tangible action that backs up the narratives ownership has leaned on for decades. If the Pohlads want to rebuild trust, they’ll need to show that competing for championships is more than a slogan.
Do you agree with the fan perspectives above? What are some of the other narratives from the ownership group? Leave a comment and start the discussion.