Sales of the cufflinks could be achieved by opening day

In October, Twins owner Joe Pohlad announced that his family was exploring a sale of the franchise. The Pohlad family has owned the Twins for 40 years, so the sale process set the stage for a sea change for the organization. This could apparently move quickly.

Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports that there is strong interest from potential buyers. Hayes suggests a sales agreement could be made as early as Opening Day. Note that MLB has already begun reviewing interested parties and will analyze some candidates as the process nears a conclusion.

The identity of most of these suitors is unknown. Bloomberg reported last month that Justin and Mat Ishbia, owners of the Phoenix franchises in the NBA and WNBA, were interested in the Twins. While Mat Ishbia is the majority owner of the basketball teams, Justin Ishbia would get the majority of the Twins’ ownership stake if the family submits the winning bid.

They are clearly facing some level of competition. One family that doesn’t appear to be in the mix: the Wilfs, owners of the NFL’s Vikings. Mark Wilf tells Ben Goessling of the Minnesota Star-Tribune that they “have their hands full with the Vikings, in a good way.” Wilf acknowledged that he “always discussed these things” when an opportunity like the Twins’ came up, but downplayed the idea of ​​getting involved in the offers.

In any case, Hayes reports that the Pohlads are planning to sell the entire franchise to whoever is the buyer. A new ownership group would take control as soon as the sale is approved by Major League Baseball, which requires a 75% vote from the league’s other ownership groups. This should ultimately impact the spending power available to the front office, but is not likely to impact this offseason. Minnesota has done nothing in terms of free agency and has signaled that they are working with little financial leeway unless they splash the cash in the trade.

The most recent franchise to be sold was the Orioles, which a group led by David Rubenstein purchased from the Angelos family for $1.725 billion last January. Last year, Forbes valued the Twins at $1.46 billion. The Pohlad family paid $44 million to purchase the franchise in 1984.