Minnesota Twins executive chair Joe Pohlad announced Thursday the team will be up for sale.

Pohlad's family has owned the club for 40 years.

"After months of thoughtful consideration, our family reached a decision this summer to explore selling the Twins," Pohlad said in a statement.

Pohlad and team president Dave St. Peter informed the club's full-time employees at Target Field on Thursday before going public with the decision, according to Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"For the past 40 seasons, the Minnesota Twins have been part of our family's heart and soul. This team is woven into the fabric of our lives, and the Twins community has become an extension of our family," Pohlad added. "The staff, the players, and, most importantly, you, the fans - everyone who makes up this unbelievable organization - is part of that. We've never taken lightly the privilege of being stewards of this franchise."

The Pohlad family could make more than $1.5 billion from the sale, notes Miller. Joe's father, Carl Pohlad, bought the team in 1984 for $44 million.