Twins Chairman Tom Pohlad says they team will increase payroll next year but needs to see more fans

The Minnesota Twins are in third place currently in the American League Central, four games behind the Chicago White Sox. And they're just one game out of the Wild Card, meaning they are still very much in the hunt for playoff spot.

But so far, the fans have not shown up as much as the team expected. Twins home attendance at Target Field is averaging 21,078 fans per game, falling roughly 3.4% behind last year's average pace of 21,836 per game. Last year already marked one of the lowest-attended eras in the ballpark's history.

"I think Brooks Lee, and Kody Clemens, and Josh Bell, and Buck, and all these guys have earned the opportunity to have more fans in this ballpark between now and the end of the season," Pohlad told WCCO's Chad Hartman this week.

In fact, Pohlad believes fans can make the difference for a team fighting to stay in the playoff race.

"And I frankly think that our success between now and the end of the season is somewhat dependent on how many fans come out to the ballpark," Pohlad adds. "The more fans that come, the harder we're going to play, and the better chance we're going to have of earning a playoff."

Much was made of the decision last season to cut significantly from the payroll, and trade a number of players at the MLB trade deadline. That was under a different regime, which didn't include Tom Pohlad who says he intends to provide financial backing for the Twins front office in 2027, in the hopes of fortifying the team’s roster.

But for now, even after trading for a pitching help at this year's deadline, they're hoping to see more buy-in from the local fanbase. Pohlad and GM Jeremy Zoll were buyers at the trade deadline this time around. The team acquired A.J. Minter, Dean Kremer and Jeff Hoffman, and that meant adding several million in salary for the remainder of the 2026 season, as well as 2027 commitments to Hoffman and Kremer.

Pohlad told Hartman Wednesday that there's no question the payroll is going up in 2027, and believes this is a team ready to not just get to the playoffs, but make a run similar to what they did in 2023 when the advanced to the ALDS, eventually losing to Houston.

Now, as the team hits the stretch run of this season, Pohlad talked about various incentives they've offered as a way to entice people to show up at the ballpark, including $2 beers for select home games on Friday and Saturday.

"I think it's an olive branch," he says. "It's an effort to say, 'hey, we get it.' And I know we haven't done everything right in years past, but, you know, I'm clear-eyed about what needs to happen here."