The fans have spoken.
In a Detroit News poll with 1,057 votes, Detroit-area sports fans picked the Tigers to edge out the Lions as the local team most likely to finally compete for a championship and break the long drought of the four rebuilding franchises.
►Tigers: 33.43%
►Lions: 32.96%
►Pistons: 19.46%
►Red Wings: 14.15%
The poll was conducted this week after News columnist Bob Wojnowski analyzed Detroit’s four teams in one of the historically bad periods for professional sports teams not only in Michigan but also in American sports city history.
Wojo’s picks in order with the earliest year of playoff contention were the following:
►Lions: 2022
►Tigers: 2023
►Pistons: 2023
►Red Wings: 2023
“It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen, unlike almost anything any American sports city has seen,” Wojo wrote in his column. “All four are rebuilding at the exact same time, at almost the exact same rate, with almost the exact same impediments.
“No one has a bona fide star to build around. No one has a line of free agents eager to grab their salary-cap stash. New plans are in place and new leaders in charge, but there’s no such thing as a clear path to success.
“All four have a chance to concurrently be the worst in their leagues, which is astonishing. It would be the most dubious “honor” ever but also amazing if four teams from the same city landed the top pick in their respective drafts.”
To Rate the Rebuild, you can vote at detroitnews.com or go directly to the story below.
Wojo: Tigers, Pistons, Wings, Lions all rebuilding; who will get out of basement first?
Related report: The 10 worst teams in Detroit professional sports history