The Fourth of July holiday means that the All-Star Break is quickly approaching and the Twins are near a break that might be good for a team that is struggling to find pitchers for their starting staff. There has been a well-worn road from Rochester to Minneapolis as the Twins try to find players to record outs for the big league club. Casey Fien and Sam Deduno will be the latest Red Wings to get called up to play with the Twins.

After putting together five consecutive wins, the Twins lost back to back contests in Detroit. The loss on Thursday afternoon might have been the most disappointing as the Twins looked to be in control after a strong start from Scott Diamond. In the end, the big bats for Detroit prevailed against the Twins bullpen and now the team will head to Texas to end the first half against one of the toughest teams in the AL.

The Rangers are the two-time defending AL Champions and they will trot out eight All-Stars. At the same time, the Twins have one current All-Star and 14 more losses than the Rangers. It could be a rough weekend in Arlington but it will be fun to see what Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe can do in the heat of Texas.

• Could it be time for the Twins to think about a contract extension with Francisco Liriano?
  
• Some possible trade targets for the Twins include the Reds, the Yankees, the Braves, and the Dodgers.
  
• Denard Span could be one of the players traveling to a new team by the end of the month.
  
• One of the most controversial articles of the week had Reggie Jackson state that he thinks former Twins Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven don't belong with him in the Hall of Fame.
  
• The end of June meant it was time to name the minor league hitter of the month, the starting pitcher of the month, and the relief pitcher of the month for the Twins.
  
• Trevor Plouffe has been something to enjoy in Minnesota.
  
• Detroit's defense is fun to watch.
  
• AJ Pierzynski spoke out about his poor reputation across the baseball world.
  
• This squibber by Brian Dozier was amazing to see and hard to explain to someone that wasn't able to witness it happen.
  

• With Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, and Matt Moore graduating to the big leagues, who is left as the top prospect in the minor leagues?
  
• There were two big hockey signings in Minnesota this week and Joe Mauer and Ron Gardenhire did their best to recruit Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.
  
• One of the biggest talking points of the 4th might have been explaining to friends and family about the Twins sending 30-year old Nick Blackburn to Triple-A.
  
• Ozzie Guillen blew up at reporters after Heath Bell blew another loss for the Marlins.
  
• A coach in the A's organization got banned from the bench after he ordered intentional balks to end an extra-inning affair.
  
• It's interesting to think of the Twins team as pairs of twins.
  
• The window for signing 16-year old international players opened earlier this week and the Twins scooped up the 12th best prospect according to Baseball America.
  
• There was some who questioned the Twins All-Star selection over the weekend but what about the All-Stars of the future.
  
• What should the Orioles expect from Jim Thome?
  

My Weekly Rundown

• Monday: Mauer elected and "fans" revolt
  
• Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits
  
• Tuesday's Trip through the Minors
  

Video of the Week: It is still an honor for any player to be selected to the All-Star Game even if it is Mauer's fifth trip to the Mid-Summer Classic. The Twins had a cool video that they threw together to see how the team announced that Mauer would be representing the Twins in Kansas City.