Columnist Calls For Peace With Pohlads, But Twins Fans Aren't Buying It

A longtime sports columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune recently penned a piece from the perspective of a marriage counselor, trying to mend fences between angry Twins fans and the Pohlad family that owns the franchise. It did not go over well among said fans.

Jim Souhan's column for the Strib was met with vitriol in the comment section and on social media, particularly on X/Twitter. As of midday Friday, hours before the Twins' home opener, the tweet from the Star Tribune account has over 450 replies, well over 100 quote tweets, and just three retweets and 19 likes. That is what the kids call an epic ratio.

Much of the sentiment from commenters, it seems, has to do with Souhan's middle-ground approach. His column calls for both fans and Tom Pohlad to make concessions to fix their relationship. He acknowledges that fans have reason to be frustrated, but also believes their anger has gone too far.

"While I understand your consternation, might I also suggest that you’ve gone a little far in blaming the Pohlads for everything? Do you really think the owners are to blame for every baserunning mistake and hitting slumps? And the national debt?

"Do you realize that if you don’t buy tickets, Tom can cite low revenues as a reason to avoid spending money? Do you realize that if Tom spent another $20 million on payroll, you’d still complain? Do you realize that making yourself miserable every day of the year because you don’t like ownership of a sports team is self-destructive? Even if you’re right?"

Here are some of the popular responses.

If the Pohlads are going to treat the Minnesota Twins like a business, guess what? That means the consumer gets to choose where they do their business, and the Wild, Timberwolves, and Vikings have shown that commitment.

The marriage between Twins fans & the Pohlads is over. https://t.co/ApefArkh3K
— Eric Kraushar (@EricKraushar) April 2, 2026

He’s kidding, right? This is an April fools joke!! The Pohlads are the worst owners in sports. Fix what relationship. They used the fans and then cut payroll. https://t.co/YwWuC35iHp
— Paul Lambert (@MeatSauce1) April 3, 2026

There is zero onus on the fans to 'fix' this relationship https://t.co/3kTZyO4WGm
— ben wild szn (@bstoff350) April 2, 2026

I don't feel like I've done anything wrong. https://t.co/R1QNhyT6kd
— Bill Glahn (@billglahn) April 2, 2026

The fans have done nothing wrong; they buy the tickets, the expensive beer/food, the merch, etc. The Pohlads are 100% at fault.

The remedy for winning back fans is very simple: invest money into the team & show that you give a damn about winning.

Until then, it’s ALL on them. https://t.co/9mSdOyoHz7
— Buc Nasty (@HDtheTVman) April 2, 2026

Ahead of Friday's home opener at Target Field, Twins fans' discontentment is a major storyline hanging over the franchise. The vast majority of the fan base has no optimism around the team. People are upset with the ownership group's decisions to slash payroll multiple times since the breakthrough of the 2023 playoffs, including last year's trade deadline fire sale.

That's not only evident in the replies to that Strib column, it can also be found in the replies every time the official Twins account posts something.

The Twins' ability to stay the course on social media with zero regard for the comments is actually kind of commendable 😂 https://t.co/tXfJQu0PB8 pic.twitter.com/zsuQlDx9mE
— Phil Mackey 🎙 (@PhilMackey) April 3, 2026

It's going to be very interesting to see what attendance looks like at Friday's game. Plenty of indignant fans have vowed to boycott the Twins until the team is sold to new owners. Others aren't upset, but are instead apathetic, which might be more dangerous.

Between fan sentiment and sub-40 degree temperatures in Minneapolis, it might be a rather sparse crowd for a home opener. The Twins set a 25-year attendance low (COVID seasons aside) in 2025 and are going to have a hard time not slipping further in that department this year unless the team drastically exceeds projections. Off to a 2-4 start, that doesn't seem particularly likely.

By and large, Twins fans are an unhappy bunch right now. And it's hard to see how that changes until the team starts winning again or is no longer owned by the Pohlads.