The Minnesota Twins engineered one of the most sweeping trade deadline teardowns in recent memory. It felt like half the roster was sent packing, from stars like Jhoan Durán and Carlos Correa, to run-of-the-mill bats and bullpen arms.

On the surface, it felt like the Twins’ reason for trading away so much salary was simple: to save money and help the Pohlad family sell the team. After months of entertaining sales pitches and toying with fans’ emotions, however, it turns out the Pohlad family did not like the offers available to them and will not be selling the team as a result.

Here is the most important bit: “To strengthen the club in a rapidly evolving sports landscape – one that demands strong partnerships, fresh ideas, and long-term vision – we are in the process of adding two significant limited partnership groups, each of whom will bring a wealth of experience and share our family values. We see and hear the passion from our partners, the community, and Twins fans. That passion inspires us. This ownership group is committed to building a winning team and culture for this region, one that Twins fans are proud to cheer for.”

Twins ownership blows only real excuse for trade deadline fire sale

While it became clear around the deadline that Minnesota would not be competing for a playoff spot this season, the scale of the teardown, which included several high-impact players under long term team control, was difficult to comprehend.

And yet, Minnesota was attempting to turn a profit by selling the team, which is hard to do with a reported $425 million in debt (great job, Pohlads!). But cutting into their defiicit by shedding salaries, in theory the Twins became a bit more palatable to point buyers.

While Minnesota is adding new investing partners, so maybe this all worked out for the Pohlads on some level, it’s hard not to feel like the fanbase just got scammed. The Pohlads can say “we want to build a winner in Minnesota” all they want, but there’s little evidence that this team will be competing for a World Series in the near future. In fact, I think we all expect the last remaining stars, like Joe Ryan and Byron Buxton, to pop back up in trade rumors this winter.

Twins ownership has lost the faith of its fanbase

The reactions on Twitter to the Pohlads’ announcement were, uh, not positive in a general sense. FanSided’s own Josh Hill summed it up nicely:

This is a broken fanbase, one tired of ownership cheaping out at every turn. The Twins went out and signed Carlos Correa away from the Houston Astros, a huge show of power in the AL, only to trade him right back a few years later. That move alone is indicative of how Twins ownership tends to operate. Every step forward is eventually undermined by the repressive need to funnel money back into ownership’s pockets.

A lot of teams are run like that, not just the Twins, but for a city with two sustainably built contenders in the Timberwolves and the Vikings, it’s becoming harder for the Twins to keep pace. Minnesota has enough talent left over to reconstruct a competitive roster in the offseason, but it will require a level of financial commitment from ownership (and their new investing partners) that does not align with past actions.