A fresh round of Twins sale chatter has ownership back in the spotlight, but one prominent report says the family is not moving the club this offseason.
Pioneer Press columnist Charley Walters recently wrote that a sale of the Minnesota Twins to Varde Partners was heating up. Walters described Varde as a New York-based global investment firm with an office in Minneapolis that became a Twins limited partner in 2025 to help the franchise deal with $500 million in debt. He also reported that Varde manages $15 billion in assets.
That buzz did not last long. Dan Hayes of The Athletic pushed back hard on the idea that the Pohlad Family is selling the team now.
"I know the answer Twins fans want to hear. I'm going to unfortunately disappoint you," Hayes said on the Twins Cities Territory Podcast.
"No, there's no accuracy, there's no validity to this. I've heard it from a league source and...
I've heard it from multiple people. Let's just say that."
Twins fans hoping for a change in ownership may have to wait longer, even as the club’s long-term future continues to draw questions. The social post from Twin Cities Territory highlighted Hayes saying there was “no validity” to the latest sale speculation.
Walters’ article has since been deleted from the Pioneer Press website.
The sale talk is hardly coming out of nowhere. The Pohlads were reportedly looking to sell the Twins during the 2024-25 offseason, but the organization never changed hands. Instead, the family took the team off the market in August 2025 and brought in several minority investors, including Varde Partners.
That decision left a lot of fans frustrated, and the mood around the franchise has only worsened. After the 2023 season, when Minnesota won the American League Central and claimed its first playoff series in 21 years, the club cut payroll by about $30 million. Payroll rose slightly for 2025, but it still sat well below the 2023 level.
Then came the trade deadline sell-off, with nearly 40% of the active roster moved at the 2025 deadline. Combined with the limited spending that followed, the Twins opened this season with their lowest Opening Day payroll in more than a decade, and Target Field posted a historic low attendance figure in 2026.
There have also been major changes inside the organization since the team came off the market. President Derek Falvey is no longer with the club.
The Twins fired manager Rocco Baldelli and replaced him with Derek Shelton. Tom Pohlad also took over as the organization’s controlling person from his younger brother Joe.
None of that has been enough to repair the relationship with the fan base. If the Pohlads want to change the conversation, the path is obvious from here: spend more, build a better roster and get back to the postseason.
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