Joe Pohlad rocked in his chair as if a minor earthquake had just hit Target Field.
He had been asked how he felt about the Twins’ season. After years of working in various roles and departments with the franchise, Pohlad became the executive chair of the Twins last November. He has spent his first season running the franchise feeling like many fans, expecting the Twins to run away with a mediocre division.
“What sticks out to me is that we just haven’t been able to get much traction,” he said. “I kind of relate it to when I was learning how to drive a manual car. You just start … and stop … and then as soon as you get going a little bit you come to a stoplight and then you have to get going again.
“Because of that, we haven’t had the fun that you know the fans really want to have here, that feeling that the fans and our players can really grab onto and then get some momentum.”
Pohlad, 41, spoke about the state of the franchise Sunday afternoon, before the Twins lost 15-2 to Baltimore. They enter the All-Star break on a three-game losing streak and with a record of 45-46, a half-game out of first place in the AL Central.
Pohlad sounded optimistic about the business of baseball, for both the Twins and the industry. When asked about the current team, he chose his words carefully, even before he heard fans booing his team during a horrid performance Sunday.
“The first half of the season is over,” he said. “You’ve got to look at the calendar, right? Half of the season is gone, and we are .500 and hovering around first place. Hopefully, after today, we will still be in first place.
“So, it’s kind of a weird feeling. When you’re .500 and in first place you don’t really know how you should feel. Because, at the end of the day, you want to get into the playoffs. That’s the first step. And then you want to move past that, and I think our fan base wants to see progress, not only in the regular season, but in the playoffs.
“So, how do I feel? I want to see a little bit of urgency right now. I think our fans do, too. I think our players understand that.”
Pohlad was in place when the Twins signed Carlos Correa, at the end of his offseason free-agency odyssey, to a six-year, $200 million contract, and when they traded batting champion Luis Arraez to Miami for pitcher Pablo López and two prospects.
He watched President of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey build one of the best rotations in Twins history, and he’s watched Twins hitters, particularly his highest-paid position players, falter.
“What’s nice, and what I respect from our core group of players, is that they’re not backing down from their performance. They own up to it,” Pohlad said. “And that’s something that I really respect and I think all of our fans should respect.”
The Pohlad family has owned the Twins since 1984. If there is a common thread from Carl, who bought the team from Calvin Griffith, to Bob (Joe’s father) and Jim (Joe’s uncle), it would be patience.
The Pohlads didn’t fire manager Tom Kelly after eight consecutive losing seasons, or Terry Ryan, who ran the club as general manager for six of those seasons. They have had only four managers and four GMs (the generic term for the position Falvey holds) since 1986.
Will patience be a hallmark of Joe Pohlad’s tenure? He hesitated before answering.
“I did just talk about urgency,” he said. “We’ll see.”
Pohlad has worked in the organization his entire adult life, and he works at the ballpark every day in his new role since Jim retired from the position. Asked how the new responsibility has affected him, he said, “I worked with Jim, side by side, so I kind of knew what the job was, but you don’t know the weight of a decision until you’re the one making it. I think I’ve started to feel the weight of the role much more than I thought I would. It’s nothing I can’t handle, nothing I didn’t know what was coming. It’s just a realization that, ‘Oh, this is a big job.’
“I like it. I feel prepared. I felt ready, it’s just that there is a feeling, transitioning into this job, that, ‘Oh, there’s a lot more weight on my shoulders than I expected. It’s like the old saying: ‘ The buck stops here.’ “
“Urgency” might be replacing “patience” as the prevailing attitude of Twins ownership.