Tom Pohlad is clearly more comfortable in front of microphones and cameras than Joe Pohlad ever was during his time as the Twins’ front-facing owner. Tom comes off as confident, whereas Joe seemed to detest the thought of being quoted.
But just because the Pohlads have put a better public speaker at the dais doesn’t mean the level of trust in those running the franchise should increase one iota. In fact, there might be more reason to be wary of what’s going on at Target Field.
The latest red flag regarding Tom Pohlad came on Friday as he spoke to the media after the Twins announced they had mutually agreed to part ways with team president Derek Falvey. This happened two weeks before spring training — an incredibly late date for a top executive to jump ship.
While neither side provided play-by-play of exactly what had happened, the Twins’ lack of payroll entering the 2026 season was a topic and certainly could have played a role in Tom and Derek not seeing eye-to-eye.
“Yes, our payroll is down from last year,” Tom Pohlad told reporters. “I think there are still some investments to be made between now and Opening Day. I’d also say, at some point, I’d love to get off this payroll thing for a second. Let’s judge the success of this year on wins and losses, and on whether we’re playing meaningful baseball in September.”
Tom, Tom, Tom. You don’t get to dictate the terms here or tell people where to put their focus.
The Twins’ fan base largely has checked out because of the payroll issue — their estimated payroll for Opening Day is currently around $103 million, the franchise’s lowest since 2017 — and fans remain upset the Pohlad family didn’t follow through on their intention of selling the team in October 2024.
No one is going to back away from this issue anytime soon, and the entire Pohlad family should thank anyone focused on the topic because at least they are talking about the team.
The real question is why did Falvey leave with spring training right around the corner? It was made clear that Falvey and Tom Pohlad didn’t see eye-to-eye on matters that Falvey and Joe Pohlad had agreed upon, but what are the issues?
For instance, if Tom Pohlad was looking to strip Falvey of his duties running business operations, that would have been a wise move. Falvey is a baseball guy and there have been times he’s struggled with that. His promotion to replace team president Dave St. Peter on the business side last year looked like nothing more than a cost-cutting move. But if that was a decision to which Falvey objected, it should have been made right after Tom assumed control in December.
Another possibility is that Falvey finally got pushed too far when it came to being asked to trim payroll. The Twins won the AL Central — and their first playoff series in 19 years — in 2023 with an Opening Day payroll of $153.7 million. That dropped to $127.3 million the following season and right now is projected to be $24.3 million below that figure.
The Twins’ financial struggles have been well documented. The team made $54.8 million from their Regional Sports Network deal as recently as 2023, but that number declined in 2024, and the Twins partnered with MLB on a television/streaming product in 2025 that relied on income from subscriptions. That meant a drastic reduction in revenue.
The Twins also drew 1.769 million fans at Target Field — their lowest attendance figure since 2000 when the team played in the Metrodome. A poor season got even worse when Falvey was forced to jettison 10 players off the Twins’ Major League roster near the trade deadline in order to cut more costs. Manager Rocco Baldelli was then fired after the season and replaced by Derek Shelton.