Which Minnesota Team Do You Feel the Best About Right Now?

11/14/2024 08:00 AM

Twins? Vikings? Wild? Timberwolves?

Which Minnesota Team Do You Feel the Best About Right Now?

This site is firmly Twins Territory, but it is the MLB offseason and there are three other high-profile pro teams in full swing right now. While not everyone here follows each of them, I'm assuming there is a fair amount of fan overlap among the Minnesota faithful. Varying levels of success across the traditional "Big Four" pro teams has me wondering: which one is in the best spot right now? Which team is enjoying success now and set up best for the future? Let's run through the cases for each:

The Contenders

Minnesota Twins, MLB Baseball

• 2024 Season:

.506 Winning Percentage

4th Place in AL Central- Missed Playoffs

• Veteran Stars: Carlos Correa (SS), Byron Buxton (CF), Pablo Lopez (SP)
• Rising Stars: Royce Lewis (IF), Brooks Lee (IF), Jhoan Duran (RP)
• Manager: Rocco Baldelli- .525 winning percentage over 6 managerial seasons (all with Twins)
• Front Office Head: Derek Falvey- 8 seasons as Twins President of Baseball Operations
• Owners: The Pohlad Family has owned the franchise for 40 years, and will continue to until further notice.
• Notes and Narratives:

In 2023, the Twins advanced further in the playoffs than any squad had in over 20 years. In 2024, they slashed payroll and collapsed to an epic degree down the stretch to miss the playoffs. The Pohlad family has repeatedly been dumped on for their refusal to invest in a winning team in the only sport without a salary cap, but they appear to be selling the team soon. Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton are All-Stars when they're able to stay on the field, and the team has exciting young talents like Royce Lewis who have just arrived, as well as more top prospects coming down the pipeline. Rocco Baldelli and Derek Falvey may not be the best manager-front office duo, but they're certainly not the worst.

Minnesota Timberwolves, NBA Basketball

• 2023-2024 Season:

.682 Winning Percentage

3rd Place in Western Conference- Lost in Conference Finals

• 2024-2025 Season:

.545 Winning Percentage (as of 11/13 at 4:00 PM)

8th place in Western Conference

• Veteran Stars: Julius Randle (Forward), Rudy Gobert (Center)
• Rising Stars: Anthony Edwards (Guard), Jaden McDaniels (Forward), Naz Reid (Forward/Center)
• Coach: Chris Finch- .557 winning percentage over 5 head coaching seasons (all with Wolves)
• Front Office Head: Tim Connelly- 3rd season as Timberwolves President (8 prior with Denver Nuggets)
• Owners: It's Complicated, but Glen Taylor has owned the team for the prior 30 years
• Notes and Narratives:

The Timberwolves had one of the two greatest seasons in franchise history last year before running out of steam in the Western Conference Finals. Glen Taylor and Alex Rodriguez are in a litigation battle for team ownership, and team architect Tim Connelly could show himself the door if Taylor wins out. Franchise cornerstone Karl-Anthony Towns was shipped to New York prior to the season in a risky attempt to improve a good team while preserving future financial flexibility in a salary-capped sport. The team has stumbled out of the gate in 2024, but in the sport most impacted by individual players, Anthony Edwards has a good chance of becoming one of the best five in the league. Naz Reid.

Minnesota Wild, NHL Hockey

• 2023-2024 Season:

.530 Points Percentage

6th in Central Division- Missed Playoffs

• 2024-2025 Season:

.767 Points Percentage

2nd in Central Division

• Veteran Stars: Kirill Kaprizov (LW)
• Rising Stars: Matt Boldy (LW), Brock Faber (D), Marco Rossi (C), Filip Gustavsson (G)
• Coach: John Hynes- .615 points percentage over 2 partial seasons as head coach of the Wild (11 Season Total: .535)
• Front Office Head: Bill Guerin- 6th season as Wild General Manager
• Owners: Craig Leipold, who formerly owned the Nashville Predators, has owned the Wild for 16 years
• Notes and Narratives:

An incredibly hot start to the 2024-2025 season has wiped away the bitter disappointment of 2023-2024, where the team struggled enough that former Head Coach Dean Evason was fired mid-season. Russian 27-year-old Kirill Kaprizov has developed into one of the best players in the league, and the team has young rising stars at every position. It may be too soon to tell what kind of coach John Hynes will be, but so far, so good. Bill Guerin has done well to draft and develop talent while working under financial constraints left over from some pre-existing bad contracts, and Craig Leipold seems to be keeping his hands off things under Guerin's administration.

Minnesota Vikings, NFL Football

• 2023-2024 Season:

.411 Winning Percentage

3rd place in NFC North- Missed Playoffs

• 2024-2025 Season:

.778 Winning Percentage

2nd place in NFC North

• Veteran Stars: Jonathan Greenard (OLB), Aaron Jones (RB), Brian O'Neill (RT), T.J. Hockenson (TE), Andrew Van Ginkel (OLB)
• Rising Stars: Justin Jefferson (WR), Jordan Addison (WR), Christian Darrisaw (LT), Ivan Pace (MLB)
• Coach: Kevin O'Connell- .628 winning percentage over 3 head coaching seasons (all with Vikings)
• Front Office Head: Kwesi Adofo-Mensah- 3rd season as Vikings General Manager
• Owners: Zygi Wilf, 19 years (side note: did you know Carl Pohlad was once a majority owner of the Vikings?)
• Notes and Narratives:

The Vikings have hands-down the best ownership group in Minnesota, with the franchise continually ranking among the best in the NFL across the board with players. The leadership pairing of Kevin O'Connell and Kwesi Adofo-Mensah has been pretty good so far, but their longevity may ultimately be determined by the success of (injured) rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. McCarthy will be put in a position to succeed with rising stars at receiver and left tackle, as Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw might be the best at their positions in the league already- and they're both only 25 years old.

Scoreboard

Let me preface this by saying that of these four teams, the Wild are far and away the one I pay the least amount of attention to. So, going into today, I was down on Minnesota sports as a whole. Timberwolves haven't looked great this season, Vikings seem to get worse every week (even if they're winning), and the Twins had their epic collapse. However, this exercise makes me feel pretty good about the state of pro sports in my home state. There's rising stars galore, including two of the most electrifying players in sports- Anthony Edwards and Justin Jefferson. None of the coaches have proven to be bad, and three out of the four are still in their first head jobs. The front offices seem to be good, although the jury may be out on Kwesi Adofo-Mensah still (tough drafts, good signings). Every team has been in playoff contention recently- it could definitely be worse. If the ownership situations of the Twins and Timberwolves play out positively, things could continue to get better as well.

My vote on which team is on the best track right now? The Timberwolves. A proven front office, a promising coach, and a young player on a Hall of Fame trajectory- combine that with a franchise-record season last year, and things are looking great. The ownership litigation battle and a slow start to this season may be the only things to worry about right now. Which team gets your vote?