Summing up a big week in Minnesota sports for Twins, Vikings, Wild

MINNEAPOLIS - Minnesota sports fans woke up to their cell phones Sunday morning, probably not believing what they were seeing.

Carlos Correa, one of the biggest stars and arguably the best shortstop in Major League Baseball, had agreed to terms with the Minnesota Twins on a three-year deal. Fast forward 24 hours, and Bill Guerin went all-in on the 2022 season for the Minnesota Wild. He traded a conditional pick for future Hall-of-Fame goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury.

While hockey fans were buzzing about that news around the NHL trade deadline, Za’Darius Smith posted to his Instagram story Monday afternoon that he was at TCO Performance Center on a free agent visit. By Tuesday morning, one of the top edge rushers in the NFL had agreed to terms on a three-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings.

It would normally be a big deal for one of those three things to happen in Minnesota. Over the span of about 72 hours, flyover country became the center of the sports universe. Here’s a little detail into how all three came together.

CARLOS CORREA WANTS TO BUILD ‘CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE’ IN MINNESOTA

Twins’ management hadn’t been in contact with Carlos Correa, he was considered out of their price range. Rumors were swirling they were pursuing Trevor Story after trading Josh Donaldson to the Yankees. Then, according to Dan Hayes with The Athletic, Correa’s agent, Scott Boras, reached out the Twins about Correa.

Correa, his wife and Boras hopped on a Zoom call last Friday night with Derek Falvey, Rocco Baldelli and Thad Levine. After a little more than two hours, Correa’s mind was made up. He was coming to Minnesota. Let’s not forget the Twins still need starting pitching, but it’s also OK to celebrate the team signing Correa.

He’s a two-time All-Star, won a World Series in 2017. Now the top two picks from 2012 (Correa and Byron Buxton), are teammates. Correa welcomes the challenge of turning the Twins, who have lost 18 straight playoff games and haven’t won a playoff series in 20 years, into a consistent contender.

WILD MAKES MOVE ON HALL-OF-FAME GOALTENDER

Bill Guerin made a series of moves before the NHL trade deadline, but landed his biggest fish Monday. Fleury was the top goalie in the NHL last season, and has won three Stanley Cup titles. He’ll share duties with Cam Talbot, after Guerin traded Kaapo Kahkonen to San Jose for defenseman Jacob Middleton.

Guerin inquired with the Chicago Blackhawks about Fleury weeks ago. The two were teammates with the Boston Bruins. There’s now a buzz in the Wild locker room as the franchise prepares for a postseason run. Fleury said it himself Monday about the Wild: "They’re built like a playoff team."

We don’t know if the moves will send the Wild to a Stanley Cup, but they can’t say they didn’t try.

ZA’DARIUS SMITH WANTS TO ‘MEET AT THE QUARTERBACK’

During his visit with the Vikings Monday night, Za’Darius Smith tweeted, "Meet at the quarterback" with a smile emoji. It’s a reference to the Purple People Eaters, and Smith couldn’t believe that the Vikings had four Pro Bowl defensive linemen in 1969 after touring the team’s museum.

He said Tuesday the minute he walked into TCO Performance Center, it felt like family. Smith nearly signed with the Baltimore Ravens in free agency, the team that drafted him, but decided against it at the last minute. In 32 starts with the Packers between 2019 and 2020, he had 26 sacks. He missed most of last season with a back injury, but is healthy now and ready to go. Now instead of terrorizing Kirk Cousins, he looks to make life miserable for Aaron Rodgers and the other NFC North quarterbacks.

"A lot of quarterbacks, they’re going to have to fear us," Smith said.

He’ll get to do it with Danielle Hunter, who had money in his contract shifted to a signing bonus to make room for Smith against the salary cap.

Minnesota sports teams landed three marquee players in less than three days. That’s something that hasn’t happened for the better part of four decades. What a week.