It's been a busy few days for the Minnesota Wild, but the moves now officially extend beyond the ice. While the league is still reeling over the Quinn Hughes trade, Wild owner Craig Leipold is expanding his reach across the Minnesota sports spehere.
When the Pohlad family disappointingly announced they wouldn't be selling the Minnesota Twins, they tried to soften the blow by revealing that some limited partners would be joining them instead. Nothing was known about these mysterious partners, but in recent days it was rumored that Leipold would be one.
On Wednesday, the Twins made it official, announcing that Craig Leipold would be one of three limited partners joining the ownership group.
"Following approval by Major League Baseball, the Pohlad family today proudly announced the addition of limited partners to the Minnesota Twins ownership group. Principal investors include Glick Family Investments and George G. Hicks, investing alongside several prominent Minnesota business leaders. Craig Leipold, majority owner and principal investor in Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE), is also joining independently as a limited partner," the statement read. "Collectively, the club's new limited partners bring deep experience across business, sports, and entertainment."
Pohlad Family welcomes limited partners to Minnesota Twins Ownership Group pic.twitter.com/wyIBBzCVPN
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) December 17, 2025
Craig Leipold has a chance to become one of Minnesota's greatest sports heroes
While Leipold is going to add the title of Twins owner to his portfolio, the statement specified that he was acquiring a non-controlling, minority interest, which means he won't be making any big decisions regarding payroll.
That's a bit of a bummer for fans who are hoping the team will actually spend, but getting Leipold a seat at the table is a big step in the right direction.
Not to make everything about the Quinn Hughes trade, but it's a relevant and recent example of Leipold doing something the Pohlad family has been scared to do with the Twins for decades. Outside the Carlos Correa signing back in 2023, it's been essentially four decades of kicking the can down the road hoping that some future assets will work out and provide a cheap path to a World Series.
That's both wishful thinking, and also just a bad strategy. It's one that the Wild have been flirting with for a few years but broke out of with the Hughes trade. It's a win-now move that is drenched in future value, even if it require the Wild to give up a haul of really great young assets to make the deal happen.
Imagine the Twins doing that, who are unfortunately the Vancouver Canucks in every single scenario they themselves in. Leipold won't be in a position to pressure the team to make those decisions but his arrival as a limited partner creates a path toward getting someone in ownership who will.
One major roadblock preventing the Twins from being sold is the sheer amount of debt that has accumulated over the years since the pandemic. That's why Leipold and these new limited partners have been brought on, to help pay that debt down.
We'll see what happens, but if Leipold joining the Twins helps get that debt down and allows the team to sold, thus freeing fans from nearly a half-century of Pohlad occupation -- and couples that with a Stanley Cup run -- then he has a chance to go down as one of the greatest Minnesota sports heroes of all-time.