MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins chairman Tom Pohlad said words on Thursday that many fans will surely love to hear: that the club is aware of the need to invest in payroll, and that being “competitive” is not a satisfactory goal for the organization.
Pohlad, who took over as the club’s primary owner in December, hosted media members on Thursday morning for an informal conversation that covered a wide range of topics. But, of course, the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline and player expenditure underlined many of the questions.
2026 Trade Deadline: Aug. 3, 6 p.m. ET
• Everything you need to know
• Latest trade buzz and rumors
And Pohlad acknowledged that even if the 2026 Twins make it into the playoffs, that’s not the end goal -- and that it will take increased spending to get where they want to go.
“We might have a magical year this year, but a $100 million payroll is not going to get the job done for trying to accomplish the kinds of things we want to accomplish,” Pohlad said. “We’ve got to be competitive consistently. And that’s a baseline. And then we’ve got to be willing to make investments and make bold moves that allow us to be successful in the playoffs.
“I think the barometer for success in the past has been, ‘Let’s just try to be competitive.’ The barometer for success going forward is, 'Let’s win a championship.' And that’s going to require us to make decisions, whether it’s at a Trade Deadline or in the offseason, that look probably pretty different than decisions we would have made in the past.”
As for the 2026 Deadline, Pohlad did not speak in specifics, for obvious reasons with 3 1/2 weeks left before decision time. Circumstances change, the right opportunity might just not be there, and it’s never wise to broadcast strategy to the whole world. But there’s little indication that the front office or ownership has any appetite for the kind of selloff that the Twins executed in '25.
But Pohlad expressed confidence in general manager Jeremy Zoll, saying, "I think JZ’s done a phenomenal job,” and was emphatic that whether it’s this summer or in upcoming offseasons, he understands that Twins fans are clamoring to see ownership commit to building the roster.
“This is a ‘build and they will come’ situation,” he said. “The fans are not going to come back based on words. They're going to come back once they see investment in the team and success on the field. I know that.
“Early on, I may have made comments like, 'We've got to build a business that can support more investment on the field.' Well, to build the business, we've got to win. And to win, we've got to put a better product on the field. There does need to be an upfront investment made. But when we make an investment, we have to be successful. We have to [expletive] win. If we do that, then people will come and it will all work.”