We will start today with a couple of reader comments taken at random (or to serve our single-minded purpose, you decide!) — one from today’s story about the Vikings and Sage Rosenfels, the other about the Twins and Joe Crede:

*Was the last time the Vikes had a real QB, someone who you knew would be the starter for the next year or 2 or even next week. Someone who was competent, at least, or good.

*From what I read, the odds are pretty good that he will add to the team significantly, if not explosively. I’d've been happy to see the Twins stay pat with what they had, but I think there’s a decent chance that this deal can be a winner for both Crede AND the Twins.

If we had to go on a simple binary system of ones and zeroes — a system that works well in many cases — we’d have to say the overall fan reaction on Crede is a 1, while Rosenfels is a zero.

What does this tell us? Well, for starters, it tells us most people would rather have someone who they think has a chance to be “great if healthy,” rather than a player they think has a ceiling at “decent and healthy.”

More than that, though, these critical moves get to the heart of fan dissatisfaction with both teams in recent years: the Twins, for not pulling the trigger on moves that will upgrade the team; and the Vikings, for failing to solve their issues at quarterback despite having a contending roster at virtually every other position.

Both moves are fairly low-risk; Crede for one year, with $2.5 million guaranteed; Rosenfels for a draft pick (third or fourth round?) and a modest contract extension reported by one Houston radio station as $9 million over three years. The Twins, in fact, have taken far greater risks in terms of guaranteed money paid to outside free agents in recent years (Livan Hernandez and even Mike Lamb come to mind).

But the Twins have passed their test with fans (or at least turned attention toward another bullpen arm, particularly now that Boof Bonser says he needs surgery), while the Vikings have generated, at best, a collective “meh.” Indeed, when we did our famous cocktail napkin QB draft with Local Quipster, Rosenfels was No. 10 and No. 11 on our respective lists of potentially available targets. Jeff Garcia was in the top 3, and we still think he was a much better fit. Target him for two years and have a clear plan in place for what you want to do after that. Rosenfels could be an upgrade, but he still feels too much like a stopgap. He’s young enough to be around for a while, but is he good enough? At the end of the day, we’re still not sure they have a No. 1 QB. That’s the frustrating part for a Vikings fan — and the thing, health issues notwithstanding, that makes Crede > Rosenfels in the court of local public opinion, even if on the surface they seem like somewhat similar moves.

Fasola-link! The miracles of technology.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.