Tom Pohlad Is Fighting An Uphill Battle To Restore Twins Optimism

Minneapolis – Opening Day always brings a sense of hope and renewal, and plenty of optimism for the baseball season ahead. Minnesota Twins chairperson Tom Pohlad has experienced those feelings as he enters his first home opener in his new role with the team.

“It's been amazing,” said Pohlad pre-game Friday. “Opening Days are magical to begin with. But to be sitting in this stadium for the last five months and seeing it empty to now, to driving in this morning and seeing the lights on as I came down through 94, and the caravan, if you will, on the plaza, pretty special day.”

But many fans don’t share ownership’s optimism. An Athletic poll earlier in the week that measured each fan base’s Hope-O Meter showed Twins fans dead-last in the league, with their optimism at 4.3%.

The optimism within the fan base has been on a sharp decline since the start of the 2023-24 offseason, when the President of Baseball Ops announced the team would not be adding payroll after ending the 18-game postseason losing streak. A late-season collapse in 2024 and last season’s fire sale at the trade deadline only brought the fan base's optimism down further.

Tensions reached a crescendo when the Pohlad family announced on August 13 that they were withdrawing their sale of the team and would instead pursue adding minority owners. Given all recent events surrounding the Twins and the direction the team has fallen, it’s no surprise to Pohlad that this is the situation his ownership group finds itself with on Opening Day.

“Surprising? No. Jarring? Nobody likes to read that kind of stuff, but I'm not surprised by it,” he said. “I've been very clear about what we've been through as an organization, and I think this, particularly inside these walls, there's a palpable buzz and energy about what we're building here. I know there's skepticism outside these walls. But I can tell you the feeling in this stadium is very positive and hopeful about where we're going.”

While Twins fans aren’t feeling the optimism the organization is, the vibes and culture are still internally strong; 30,000 still turned out for the home opener. But some fans didn’t waste the opportunity to let their displeasure be known. There were a few ‘Sell the team’ chants scattered throughout Friday’s game crowd.

Pohlad knows winning back the fans’ trust and hope is not an easy task. Fans’ patience has cracked through the thin ice it was standing on, and, treading through the frozen water, it's trying to swim out.

There are plenty of avenues for the Pohlads and their ownership group to take to rebuild that trust within the fan base and throw them a lifeline of hope. They could have increased payroll after Tom Pohlad took control of the team's controlling interest, or made a trade to increase the depth of their bullpen, while the team was on the field. They could have also taken a stronger stance against the tyranny that the federal government brought into the Twin Cities after ICE killed two people and detained many legal citizens.

But for now, the Pohlad ownership group has started with gameday deals such as $2 beers, hot dogs, and snacks on Fridays and Saturdays. They are also asking fans to place their trust in the team they’ve assembled to start the 2026 season.

“It’s nearly impossible to sell patience given where we’re at, which is why what happens on the field is the only thing that’s going to matter at the end of the day,” said Tom Pohlad. “Now I’ve spent a lot of time, by virtue of when I came in and what the opportunities we have or have not had of talking.

“The fans rightfully still want to see action, and I think now that we’re at the start of the season, you’re going to start to see action on the field, and whether things go well or not, what I’ve committed to is that the fans will continue to see action as a result of whatever happens.”

It will be a long time before Twins fans can reestablish their trust in the Pohlad family, if they can earn it back at all. Many Twins fans seem to have reached the point of no return. They will not settle until the Pohlad family sells the team. Still, that won’t stop Tom Pohlad from trying to bring them back on his family’s good side.

“In some way, shape, or form, our family has gone through the wringer for good reasons and bad reasons over the course of 40 years of ownership,” he said. “It comes with the territory. I think the new thing I’ve sensed, being in the chair I’m in, is the weight of responsibility I feel toward the people that work at the Minnesota Twins.

“They come to work every day, and they want to hold their heads high. How fans feel makes them hold their heads higher or lower. I feel a great sense of responsibility to turn this franchise around first and foremost for them.”

Pohlad to Remain Head of Twins Business Operations for 2026

In addition to his comments about the on-field product on Friday, Tom Pohlad also said he plans to remain the Twins' head of business operations for the 2026 season. It does not mean the Twins will not open the job up for a new candidate in the future. Still, Pohlad said it will help build his understanding of the business of baseball and establish ‘trust and credibility’ with Twins employees.

"If and when there is a time where we go out, whether internally or externally, hire a president of business, I’ll have a much better understanding for what we’re looking for in that role than I would today. That’s first," he said. "Second, I’ll just come back to I’ve talked about building a better business. Building a better business starts with a better product on the field. I feel great about the talent we have on the business side of the house, but my time and energy needs to be focused on how we improve this team."