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The Pohlads aren’t selling the Twins after all. What a mess.
Plus: it was a big day in Wrigleyville, some of it good, some not. And it’s the 500th edition of the Windup, so we look back to see what stories you were most interested in. I’m Levi Weaver, and Ken Rosenthal is back tomorrow — welcome to The Windup!
History: The wrong kind of “sellers” in Minnesota
I can’t know this, but I feel confident in guessing that if it were possible to time travel back to 1992, Twins fans would probably express a high approval rating for the Pohlad ownership.
Carl Pohlad had purchased the team for $44 million in 1984, and in 1987, the Twins won their first World Series since 1924 (when they had been the Washington Nationals). They won it again in 1991.
My hypothetical 1992 Minnesota Popularity Poll would probably have the Pohlad family ranked right up there with Vanilla Ice, O.J. Simpson, acid-washed jeans and “going to the mall.”
Which is probably down where they would rank now, too. It’s not just because Pohlad tried to sell the team in 1997 to an owner who would have moved them to North Carolina. And not only because a few years later — after three straight years of finishing 30th out of 30 in team payroll — Pohlad was willing to accept a $250 million buyout to have the Twins contracted from the league.
But the malaise had begun. And after that contraction plan got scuttled, it got pretty bleak. From 2004-2022, the Twins didn’t win a single playoff game. Carl passed away in 2009, handing team control over to his son Jim, who passed day-to-day control to his nephew Joe in 2022.
Joe’s tenure started off promising enough. Minnesota finally snapped that streak, winning a playoff game in 2023. Ownership rewarded their efforts by … cutting payroll by about $30 million.
Minnesota finished in fourth place in the AL Central the next year. This year, the front office gutted the big-league roster at the trade deadline. So much for that.
Two weeks later, there’s another gut-punch for good measure: after months of negotiations and at least one near-miss, the Pohlads aren’t selling the team, after all.
Sure, they’re selling a little, adding “limited partnership groups” to help offset the reported $425 million in debt they’ve accumulated over the years. But they’re not selling-selling. Unless you mean the players, I guess.
More Pohlads:
- Britt Ghiroli and Dan Hayes have a more in-depth explanation of the process, and why the Pohlads ultimately decided not to sell.
- In pulling Twins off the market, says Aaron Gleeman, the Pohlads are crushing the hopes of a fan base that deserves better.
For Better and Worse: It was a big day in Wrigleyville
Three major stories from the Cubs, and all on the same day. Let’s do the old “bad news sandwich” method.
Owen Caissie is being called up: Caissie — No. 5 prospect on Keith Law’s pre-season Cubs list — is hitting .289/.389/.566 (.955) with 22 home runs in 93 games at Triple-A Iowa.
Caissie, the Padres’ second-round pick in 2020, was the big return in that December’s trade that sent Yu Darvish to San Diego. The outfielder was 18 at the time, and had yet to play in a professional game.
Now 23, he’ll make his big-league debut in the team’s series finale against the Blue Jays.
Miguel Amaya is injured (again): When the Cubs catcher injured his oblique in late May, he was hitting .298 (.819 OPS), and Chicago led the league in runs scored. When he returned last night, the Cubs ranked 29th of 30 teams in runs scored since the All-Star break.
That return lasted for three at-bats. In the eighth inning, as he beat out an infield single, he touched first base awkwardly, sending him flailing down the first-base line. He left the game on a cart. The team later announced that he had avoided serious injury — the diagnosis was a left ankle sprain.
His one hit did spark the offense, at least. Leading by a run at the time, they went on to score two in the inning, beating the Blue Jays 4-1.
Cade Horton shoved: When the Cubs didn’t trade for a top-of-the-rotation starter at the deadline, Jed Hoyer expressed faith in Horton as an in-house ace. Horton has rewarded that faith since, and last night’s outing against the Blue Jays is the latest example.
The 23-year-old didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning. His final line: 5 2/3 innings, one hit, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts, as the Cubs beat the Blue Jays 4-1.
Horton is now 7-3 with a 3.07 ERA this season, and he’s 3-0 and has allowed one run in 16 1/3 innings (0.55 ERA) since the trade deadline.
500th Windup: Our 10 most-clicked links
A little behind-the-scenes: one of our editors (hi, Torrey!) is off work this week. She’s the person usually responsible for adding the “most-clicked links” at the end of each Windup.
And since today is the 500th edition of The Windup, she left us with a list to tide us over: our Top 10 most-clicked links in the history of the newsletter (ranked by the percentage of that day’s readers who clicked). Here we go!
10. Brooks Peck opens our list with his report from this March, when New Era didn’t ask anyone who spoke Spanish to take even a passing look at their new Texas Rangers cap.
9. Former Twins prospect Derek Bender was released after giving away his team’s signs. Sam Blum caught up with Bender this February for an exclusive interview to learn about the fallout from that decision.
8. In our first month as a newsletter (April 2023), Ken reported on a new base-stealing technique that was helping the Yankees look “like Usain Bolt.”
7. Ken’s predictions for this year’s All-Star rosters.
6. Keith Law makes his first appearance on this countdown, with this year’s Top 100 Prospects list.
5. Every year, our anonymous player polls are good for a few weeks of conversation. But in 2024, everyone wanted to know who the players thought was their most overrated peer.
4. Keith pulls even with Ken — his second entry on this list is his 2024 Top 100 Prospects list.
3. As last year’s Winter Meetings loomed, Cody Stavenhagen ranked the worst contracts in the game…
2. …which means Stavenhagen has two of the top three spots on this list: his 2023 list came in just a little higher.
1. I am not at all surprised. Our most-clicked story of all time was from last June, when members of our MLB and Culture staff ranked the City Connect uniforms, from worst to first.
Thanks for sticking around for 500 Windups. Here’s to reaching quadruple digits sometime around Opening Day 2028.
More 500th edition: As a throwback to the early days of The Windup, I wanted to make a playlist for you. Here are 15 songs I’ve been really into lately.
Handshakes and High Fives
Dennis Lin’s numerical look at how the Padres have now overtaken the Dodgers for the NL West lead.
The Orioles had zero walk-off wins this year. Now they have one: Jackson Holliday’s double beat the Mariners last night.
Hunter Greene returned from the IL last night, and was dominant against the Phillies. With the 8-0 win, the Reds are just one game out of a playoff spot.
It hasn’t been a good year in Atlanta. But at least rookie catcher Drake Baldwin has proven he’s a part of the team’s future.
Even if you’re not a Guardians fan, Zack Meisel’s throughline of multiple could-be aces in Cleveland’s history is a great premise for this story on Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee.
Astros news: Josh Hader’s return is “going to take a little bit longer than the two weeks he’s going to be on the IL” Hader is seeking a second opinion. Meanwhile … Remember our AL Cy Young discussion recently? Hunter Brown would like further consideration.
Earlier this week, we discussed Toronto’s ability to add as many as three starters internally. After Alek Manoah’s latest stumble in a rehab outing, perhaps that number is two.
Got a nice baseball card in not-so-nice condition? It might be worth more than you think, thanks to a new trend in collecting.
Brewers win-streak counter: 12 games! A 12-5 win over the Pirates triggered a promotional giveaway that has existed for 75 years (and only been cashed in twice before). If the Brewers win 12 straight, local restaurant chain George Webb gives away free hamburgers.
- If you’re wondering how the offer has stood for 75 years when the Brewers have only existed for 57 seasons, Stephen Nesbitt has all the answers you seek.
On the pods: On “Rates & Barrels”, the crew talk about how players change over the course of a season — what’s true in April might not be the case in August.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Latest Power Rankings, with free-agency notes.
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(Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)