Fans of the Minnesota Twins are not happy — and rightfully so. After years of disappointment and frustration with ownership’s unwillingness to spend, there finally appeared to be hope on the horizon when the Pohlad Family announced 10 months ago that they were pursuing a sale of the team.
That all came to an abrupt end on Wednesday. The team released a statement announcing that the Pohlads would remain in principal control. After all this time, they had simply agreed to sell “undisclosed minority shares to two limited partnership groups”.
The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman (a long-suffering Twins fan who covered the team for years independently before working his way up the industry’s ladder) referred to the process as “just another cycle of the same empty promises, questionable business decisions, and a focus on spending less rather than winning more”.
Gleeman also notes that there is no planned path for these partners to increase their share in the team in the future (an increasingly common feature of such partnerships).
Frustration from the fanbase is justifiable after watching the team sell off 10 players at the trade deadline, trimming $25 million in payroll from the roster. Dating back to 2005, the franchise has won just a single postseason game (they’re 1-18 in that stretch).
The Pohlads are often blamed for not spending enough to bring in a difference-maker.
Three generations of Pohlads have owned the family since they first purchased it in 1984 for $44 million. They have not exactly been faithful to the city, as Gleeman notes. They tried to sell the team to a group that wanted to move them to North Carolina in the mid-1980s, but voters rejected the costs of a ballpark, and the deal fell apart. The Pohlads also were prepared to accept a $250 million payment from the league to contract the team in the early 2000s, before a Minnesota judge stopped it.
Gambling, the Guardians, and kids
Guardians pitchers Luis Ortiz (since 7/3) and Emmanuel Clase (since 7/28) have been sidelined on paid administrative leave (at least through 8/31) while MLB investigates their possible connection to sports betting. It seems the Ohio Casino Control Commission has now initiated its own investigation into the matter, according to Ryan Lewis at the Akron Beacon Journal.
The OCCC was notified in late June of suspicious betting activity surrounding Guardians games. That notification came, at least in part, from MLB. Among the changes being considered in the state is eliminating game-specific prop bets, per a report from Alex Schiffer at Front Office Sports.
While it remains unclear when the league and/or OCCC expect to wrap up their investigation, it’s worth noting that MLB takes these things seriously. There is precedent here, too. Five players were penalized in June 2024 for their connection to sports betting; four were suspended for a year, while a fifth (Tucupita Marcano) was placed on the permanently ineligible list.
(Ortiz and Clase will be added to the gambling section of my “baseball’s worst” list once there’s more clarity on the situation.)
Sports betting has become a significant issue across all sports since its legalization (particularly the amount of abuse players and their families are receiving via social media from gamblers, not to mention the pervasive way it has intruded into every single broadcast), with no signs that the issues will slow down anytime soon. Some outlets were even accepting bets on the Little League World Series games, prompting an official statement condemning the behavior being published on Thursday afternoon by the organization.
Meanwhile, the LLWS began this week in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The team from Japan combined to pitch a no-hitter on Thursday versus Czechia. The team from Braintree, Massachusetts (about 40-45 minutes from where I live) was shelled by the team from South Carolina (13-0) and is now facing elimination.
Conveniently timed with the LLWS getting underway, the Nationals invited former LLWS hero Mo’Ne Davis to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Thursday’s game in Washington. Nats outfielder Robert Hassell III, who famously faced Davis in the 2014 tournament (and had one of the two hits she allowed that day when she became the first female to win a game in the LLWS, highlight below), caught the ball.
Davis is expected to remain in Washington through next week to participate in tryouts for the Women’s Pro Baseball League (the six-team league is hoping to launch in Spring 2026). More than 600 players will attend the tryouts at Nationals Park to determine the 150 players who will be invited to the draft in October, according to Alanis Thames at the Associated Press.
NBC, Apple, Netflix, and ESPN negotiating for broadcasts
MLB and ESPN “mutually terminated” their partnership in February (effective at the end of this season). There hasn’t been a lot of concrete news about the league’s plans since then, but The Athletic’s Andrew Marchand provided an update on Thursday.
ESPN sought to lower the $550 million annual fee it was paying MLB for the rights to exclusively broadcast “Sunday Night Baseball”, the Home Run Derby, and the first round of the postseason. MLB declined to accept a lower fee when the league was already “frustrated with the diminishing coverage” being provided across ESPN properties.
Marchand’s sources suggest that NBC/Peacock and Apple TV+ are viewed as the favorites to land “Sunday Night Baseball” and the first-round playoff games. ESPN, which re-entered talks with the league in June about a reshaped package, could add weekday games (with an increased digital presence).
Netflix, somewhat surprisingly, is a potential home for the Home Run Derby.
Apple TV+ already pays MLB $85 million a year to exclusively broadcast a Friday night doubleheader. Roku is paying $10 million for the early Sunday game.
Elsewhere, around the sport …
In the … 16ish years that I’ve been writing/blogging and actively engaged in the online community around this sport, I’ve made a handful of “online baseball friends” that I’ve never actually met in person. Among them, and one of the ones I’ve known the longest, is now the resident international guy for MLB.com, Michael Clair. Michael and his colleagues at the dotcom put together a fun video walkthrough of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. Seeing this is high on my list if I get the chance to visit Tokyo again.
Things have already been going poorly for the Yankees since late June, but now it looks as though Paul Goldschmidt is heading to the IL with a sprained knee. The team will evaluate and decide on Friday before starting a series in St. Louis. Even a mild sprain would likely mean the 37-year-old misses a few weeks.
Gerrit Cole resumed playing catch this week, a big step in his recovery from March Tommy John surgery. The Yankees are still hoping he’ll be back in the rotation around June 2026.
Cubs prospect Owen Caissie made his debut on Thursday with the team in Toronto. It proved to be an extra cool moment considering Caissie grew up just 35 miles from the Rogers Center, rooted for the Blue Jays as a kid, and had family and friends in attendance for the game. He was Chicago’s designated hitter, going 0-for-4 at the plate.
José Ramirez continues to climb up the Guardians/Indians franchise leaderboards. Ramirez scored his 977th run on Thursday, moving past Kenny Lofton into third on the club’s all-time list behind only Ear Averill (1154) and Tris Speaker (1078). Ramirez is also just four stolen bases away from passing Omar Vizquel (279) for second on the team’s list (behind Lofton’s 452).