State of the State's Pro Teams

We have 4 major franchises in this city, so I thought I'd do a quick post of thoughts on each...where we are, where we've been, where we're going.

1) TWINS
The only winner in our history, and they've done it twice. A consistent winner, which is much more than you can say about the other 3 franchises. The Twins do it with their own guys who are fundamental players and they pitch really well. I expect this team to make another run this year, and really every year for the forseeable future. They made a nice splash by grabbing Crede this winter, which in the past has really been the only thing against this club - lack of impact free agent signings. I hate to say it, but this looks like a team with very few weaknesses right now, and they are the model franchise in the city. The new staudium next season will only enhance their standing and keep us all interested for quite a while.

2) VIKINGS
I rank them 2nd for a couple of reasons...they try to win by spending lots of cash and making moves, and they are in the NFL, the #1 sport for most of the country. Interest is still quite high, but fading. With a potential move and a lame duck coach/QB combo, the Vikes appear to be on the tail end of their run. The huge involvement in free agency has helped tremendously, kudos to Zygi on that. But the coach is still a moron, I felt this way before last season and I haven't seen anything to change my mind. They still don't appear to have a QB - yep, Sage might be a slight upgrade from the bad TJACK, but it's still not a Super bowl contender. Now, if the Cutler rumors are true and something like that happens, which I give about a 1% chance, then this will be totally different. You have to have a QB to be a contender, and we don't right now. They will not be getting a stadium, unless something drastically changes in the state or maybe the team (Cutler). But I look for us to be a 3 sport pro city within 10 years, which is why this team continues to drop farther and farther off of my radar with each passing season. Overall, never really close to a title in the last 5 years. This year will likely be no different, unless the QB situation is fixed. The future, well, I think you have to start at the top. They should win the division - but is that really saying much. Unless you can make a run in the playoffs you aren't where you need to be. I still don't like Chilly, so a change there might be good - but it might all be irrelevant if we don't have a team in a couple years.

3) WILD
The "ultimiate build job" hasn't exactly worked out. Where do I begin for the problems with this club: 1)you have an old school coach, who might win more games than the talent should suggest, but is still on his way out. 2)you don't draft well - ever. when you have teams that are loaded with young talent and all we can throw out there is PMB, Gilles, Shepherd...you can't compete. 3)your expansion, cute little story phase is over. time to start winning games and being a consistent contender - but we're not even close. They have a few players, but i don't think the front office is aggressive enough to make some big shake-ups and change things at Xcel. Overall, they are competitve, but there isn't a real threat to make a post-season impact. This year, I am betting on them as a non-playoff team. Gabby will leave, very doubtful we can trade him this week. So the future looks a little bleak, unless they hire the right coach and start drafting better and bringing in something different with the free money from Gabby...we could be starting the slow down trend for the next few years - we'll see how popular the X is at that point.

4) WOLVES
The trainwreck that is the Wolves actually has one of the more promising futures of the 4 major teams in this city. If you were to ask me who will be better in 2011 Wolves or Wild...I say Wolves in a second. They have some nice young players - still a bunch of crazies running the show, but they have some talent and some cash and lots of draft picks. Obviously, right now they are bad, and finishing in the lottery is probably the best thing for them right now. Add 1-2 new young players and a couple of solid vets for next year and we could be a fringe playoff team. I didn't think we'd ever get here, but this team might actually be turning it around a bit and moving their way up the ladder in Minneapolis/St.Paul.

Thoughts?