Cody Christie

The Twins seemed to be sitting pretty on Tuesday evening after a couple of long balls from Josh Willingham and a very solid start from Cole DeVries. The bullpen took over in the seventh inning and the White Sox decided to put on a slugfest for the rest of the game. During the explosion by the bullpen in the final two innings, the Twins offense failed to score any more runs and the game ended with a final score of 11-4, an ugly blowout loss at the hands of the White Sox. Tomorrow afternoon, the Twins will try and salvage one game out of the series before heading home for six-games against Central Division foes. Nick Blackburn will take the mound to face off against Jake Peavy. But before we turn our heads to tomorrow, let's look at what happened today across the farm system for the Twins.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 1, SYRACUSE 6 After scoring a run in the first inning, the Red Wings were shutout the rest of the way by the Chiefs pitching staff. It was the third loss in a row for Rochester after going 14-5 to start the month of July. Syracuse seems to have Rochester's number in recent games by beating the Red Wings in eight consecutive games, their longest current losing streak against any opponent in the International League. Brian Dinkelman, the lead-off hitter, started the game with a bang by knocking out his third home run of the season. He was also the only member of the Red Wings to manage more than one hit in the game with his double later in the game. In his last four games, Dinkelman is 8-for-14 (.571) with three doubles, a triple, and a home run. Danny Valencia hit his 16th double of the season but was left on base. After a brief trip back to the big leagues, Chris Parmelee returned to Rochester and went 1-for-3 with a walk. Shairon Martis made his second start since being called up from New Britain and it was his first quality start even though he got the loss. Over the course of six innings, he gave up three earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Bobby Lanigan gave up multiple runs for the first time in his last ten games with the Red Wings. All of the runs off of Lanigan came on a three-run home run in the seventh inning to turn a two run lead into a five run lead. NEW BRITAIN 3, BINGHAMTON 4 New Britain did their best to claw their way back against Binghamton but the Mets proved to be too much for the Rock Cats. There wasn't a single hitter in the Rock Cats line-up with more than one hit and New Britain still out hit Binghamton in the game. There were plenty of extra-base hits with Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Joe Benson and Deibinson Romero all hitting doubles in the game with Benson driving in two runs during an eighth inning rally. In the end, there was not enough offense to get the victory for the Rock Cats. Blake Martin started the game and he was saddled with his fourth loss of the season after giving up three runs on three hits. It was his first loss since joining the rotation for the Rock Cats at the end of June. Marty Popham pitched over an inning of scoreless baseball by striking out two of the four batters that he faced. Jose Gonzalez gave up a run for the first time in his last three outings. It came on a home run off of the bat of Eric Campbell in the eighth inning. It was the second loss in a row for the Rock Cats but New Britain is 7-4 since July 16th. FORT MYERS 5, CHARLOTTE 6 The Miracle took a two-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning but the Stone Crabs would not go away quietly. Michael Tonkin surrendered a single with two outs that pushed two runs across the plate to tie the game and send the contest to extra innings. An error by Levi Michael in the bottom of the 11th allowed a runner to reach base and the next batter smacked a double to make Charlotte the victors on this evening. From reports out of Fort Myers, it was a weird play in which the runner fell down twice on his way around third and he still managed to score. There were some positives for the Miracle with Angel Morales hitting a two-run home run that stretched the Miracle lead to 5-2 at the time. Kyle Knudson, Lance Ray, and Anderson Hidalgo all had two hits in the game with Knudson hitting his eighth double of the season. The top of the order had a rough night with the first two batters, Jonathan Goncalves and Levi Michael, combining to go 0-for-10 with two strikeouts. Matt Summers was solid for the Miracle even though he was given a no decision. He pitched five innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Michael Tonkin gets the blown save for giving up the lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. The loss was charged to Ricky Bowen even though the lone run that he gave up was unearned. BELOIT (OFF DAY) A night after three Snappers pitchers combined to throw a seven hit shutout on Monday night, the team enjoyed an off day on Tuesday. The Snappers are playing .500 baseball in their last six games and now they hit the road for a stretch of six games away from home. Miguel Sano has gone hitless in his last four games to see his batting average drop to .240 for the season. This came on the heels of six games where he went 7-for-18 with two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored. At the beginning of the season, it looked like Sano was destined for Fort Myers by the middle of the season but he continues to need to work on his consistency. ELIZABETHTON 12, KINGSPORT 5 Two three-run home runs helped to separate the E-Twins from the Mets. DJ Hicks hit one three-run shot in the first inning to put the Twins on top and Max Kepler hit his own three-run homer in the next frame. Jorge Polanco had a couple of hits and two RBI out of the nine spot in the batting order. By the end of the third inning, the Twins were up 10-0 and it seemed like the game was all wrapped up at that point. Even with the blowout loss, the E-Twins had to use seven different pitchers during the course of the game. Kaleb Merck got his second victory of the year by throwing two innings and allowing one run on a single hit. Travis Huber got hit hard in the final inning by allowing three runs on four hits. The team had to bring in Tyler Herr to get the last out of the game after Huber struggled during his time on the mound. GCL TWINS 6, GCL ORIOLES 1 (7 innings) In his second game since returning from the DL, Byron Buxton hit his second extra-base hit in as many days. He went 1-for-3 in the game with his second double of the season to raise his batting average to .258 in his last ten games. It is good to see Buxton finding his swing after missing almost two weeks with a hamstring injury. Joel Licon and Zach Larson each had two hits to pace the GCL Twins. Jose Ramirez managed to get two RBI without recording a hit. Kyle Gibson made his fifth start since coming back from Tommy John surgery and he didn't give up a run for the second start in a row. His two innings on the mound were perfect and he struck out two of the six batters that he faced. Gonzalo Sanudo picked up his first professional win by throwing three innings and giving up one run on four hits. He pitched last season in the GCL but never earned a victory so congratulations are in order for Mr. Sanudo. GCL TWINS 5, GCL ORIOLES 4 (7 innings) While the other game on this day was a little one sided, this game was much more of a nail biter with the GCL Twins squeaking out the win. Luke Bard, the 2012 Draft pick, made his first start as a professional and he lasted two innings by giving up one run on one hit with two strikeouts. The back and forth contest meant that Markus Solbach was the pitcher of record when the Twins took the lead for good. It was his second victory of the season for the native of Germany. Trent Higginbotham earned his first save for the 2012 year by throwing the last two innings and only giving up a single run. The offense of the GCL Twins was lead by a pair of 2-run home runs from Bryan Haar and Javier Pimentel. For both players, it was their first home run of the season. Kelvin Ortiz had a perfect day at the plate by going 3-for-3 with three singles spread out across the game. Byron Buxton didn't play in this game as the team tries to slowly bring him back from his injury. --- Players of the Day for July 24, 2012 Pitcher of the Day- Matthew Summers (5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BL_KYZGsmoU/UA9jlrPf4cI/AAAAAAAAC_4/ywPS3Ei8H_8/s320/MatthewSummers.JPG Hitter of the Day- DJ Hicks (3-for-5, 2B, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hFhY4r70kXc/UA9j66S-ykI/AAAAAAAADAA/PTCryrVjMLE/s200/DJHicks.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 25th Schedule Rochester vs Syracuse- RHP Esmerling Vasquez New Britain vs Binghamton- RHP BJ Hermsen Fort Myers @ Charlotte- RHP Matthew Hauser Beloit @ Burlington- LHP David Hurlbut GCL Twins @ GCL Rays- TBA --- If you have any questions or comments on the minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will certainly answer them.

My usual edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks" had to be pushed back because of some other commitments. Since I am in the process of moving back to North Dakota after two years in the Cities, it has been a crazy couple of weeks of packing boxes and moving furniture. Remember to keep checking in as I will continue to post about the Twins in the midst of moving back to my home state. My regular schedule just might need to switch itself up a little bit in depending on when I have internet access and when I am not busy moving boxes. The Twins put together a decent weekend in Kansas City with a series win for the first time in weeks. It was great to see Ryan Doumit get home runs from both sides of the plate on Sunday and Sam Deduno was able to pick up his first professional victory. Only a couple days before, Casey Fien had earned his first professional victory when the Twins won on Friday night. Now the team will head to Chicago to face a White Sox team that limped out of the weekend by being swept in Detroit. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As the trade deadline starts to sneak closer, it is going to be interesting to see what the Twins are able to get for some of their veteran players. For now, sit back and enjoy this edition of "Links-N-Thinks." Every team can feel a little stress at the trade deadline. The affiliation of Twins minor league teams might be changing in the very near future so let the affiliation dance begin. For those that need help, here is a trade deadline cheat sheet for the Twins. It sounds like the Yankees have already asked about acquiring Denard Span but the Twins are asking for "a ton." A recent draft pick for the Red Sox was in the middle of a terrible stretch of play in the GCL. His final at-bat of the summer came on Friday against the GCL Twins and he ended the season 0-39 with 37 strikeouts. In a recently released documentary, Twins top prospect Miguel Sano is one of the 16-year old players followed before he signs with the Twins. Nick Blackburn is back with the Twins and it is still tough to know what to expect from him. Former Twins masher Jim Thome continued his climb up the all-time home run list by passing Sammy Sosa. Earlier in the season, Johan Santana had the first no-hitter in Mets history and he has struggled since that point. The Twins and the Royals wore throwback uniforms over the weekend to honor the Negro Leagues. After looking at this picture, it is hard to believe that Ben Revere didn't get hit. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WOM2x1T13N0/UAyjQI6XvoI/AAAAAAAAC8Y/8D15N00FHHk/s320/Reverethrowback.jpg Six new members were elected to the Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame and one of the new inductees is former Twins manager Tom Kelly. If there were an inner circle of the Hall of Fame, who would make the cut? The Post Office released their much anticipated new stamps featuring four baseball legends. No former Twins made the cut. Small ads will start to appear on the jersey's of NBA players next season so does that mean that baseball will be the next sport to join this revenue stream? It's funny to watch Prince Fielder try to slide and it isn't just because he is a large man. With the trade deadline approaching, it is time to figure out what Terry Ryan should do. Francisco Liriano might be the Twins best trade chip when it comes to restocking their pitching inventory. Bert Blyleven offered up an amazing quote in response to all of the things Reggie Jackson said about Blyleven and others not being worthy of the HOF. Earlier in the week, Joe Mauer made a tremendous diving catch in foul territory. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Hicks following the path laid by Hunter, Span Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits Tuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: Calcaterra wins 2012 Joe Posnanski Award Video of the Week: Oswaldo Arcia might be putting together a season that will place him very close to the top of the Twins prospect list. He started the year at Fort Myers and quickly outgrew his spot in High-A ball. Now he is playing well for the New Britain Rock Cats and he made the team a winner with this walk-off home run.

After an offensive explosion on Monday night, the Twins made things a little bit more interesting on Tuesday when they didn't take their first lead in the game until the seventh inning. This comeback was spurred on by four two out hits with Ben Revere and Joe Mauer knocking in the runs to make the difference in the 6-4 final score. It seemed like a showcase game for Joe Mauer as he went 3-for-4 in the game including an RBI and one walk. He also made a tremendous diving catch on a bunt attempt where he had to sprawl out in foul territory to snag the pop up. Mauer is making an attempt to catch Mike Trout for the league lead in batting average but Trout continues to have monster games as he went 4-for-6 on Tuesday. There is plenty of time left for Mauer to catch Trout so it will be interesting to see if the 20-year old rookie ever cools down. Mauer wasn't the only member of the Twins organization to impress on Tuesday night because there were plenty of good games in the farm system. Make sure to check out all the details below in this edition of "Tuesday's Trip through the Minors."[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ROCHESTER 6, NORFOLK 2 After a loss on Monday, the Red Wings got back to their recent winning ways by topping the Norfolk Tide on Tuesday night. During the month of July, the Red Wings have the most wins in the International League with 11 wins to their credit. Rochester is one victory away from the .500 mark and it would be the first time the team has seen that point since the end of April. The 2010 and 2011 seasons were a little rough for Rochester but the victory tonight has the Red Wings off to their best 97-game start since 2007. Jeff Manship pitched strong for the Red Wings by spreading out eight hits over six innings with both runs being charged to him. It was his first start since returning from the DL and he got his first victory since May 21 to improve to 5-1 on the season. Luis Perdomo got the untraditional three inning save, his sixth save for the year, by tossing three scoreless frames and striking out two. The one man to get to the Red Wings pitching staff was former Twins player Lew Ford who went 3-for-4 with a home run to raise his average to .340 with 10 long balls. Rene Rivera didn't start the game for the Red Wings but an early exit by JR Towles meant that Rivera would get some at-bats in the game. He went 2-for-3 with sixth home run of the year. Clete Thomas and Evan Bigley matched the two hits from Rivera with each hitter managing an extra-base hit in the game. Sean Burroughs lead the team with two runs batted in and he's up to 18 RBI for the season. The Red Wings have scored four or more runs in a season high six straight games and it's the first time they have done this since July of 2010 when they put together a seven game streak. NEW BRITAIN 5, NEW HAMPSHIRE 6 The Rock Cats took an early 2-1 lead in the first inning and proceeded to fall behind for the next few innings. A big rally in the 8th inning brought the team back into the game with Aaron Hicks scoring the game tying run on a wild pitch with two outs in the frame. The lead wouldn't last long as the Fisher Cats posted back-to-back hits in the top of the ninth to reclaim the lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Rock Cats would do their best to tie the game with two men reaching base in the inning. Unfortunately, the tying run was left in scoring position when Estarlin De Los Santos popped out to shortstop. Joe Benson was the only member of the Rock Cats to have more than one hit in the game. The lone extra-base hit came off of the bat of Chris Colabello, his team leading 27th double of the season. In the last ten games, Colabello is hitting .389/.421/.500 with five extra-base hits and seven RBI. Aaron Thompson tossed eight innings for the Rock Cats and gave up five runs on 10 hits including two home runs. By giving up the run in the top of the ninth, Edgar Ibarra was tagged with his first loss since being promoted from Fort Myers at the end of June. FORT MYERS 2, DUNEDIN 1 (GAME 1, 7 innings) The Miracle scored two runs in the first inning of this game and that is all they would need to hold on for their 39th victory of the season. Cole Nelson started the game for the Miracle and didn't give up a single earned run during his time on the mound. Over the course of five innings, he surrendered four hits while striking out four and lowering his ERA to 4.03 on the season. It was his fifth victory of the season and his second win in the month of July. AJ Achter earned his third save of the year by throwing two scoreless innings with four strikeouts. Levi Michael and Rene Tosoni were the lone Miracle hitters with an extra-base hit as each man had a double to his name for the game. Daniel Santana and Josmil Pinto each had two hits with Pinto knocking in one of the two runs in the game for the Miracle. Pinto has 34 RBI on the season and this ranks third for Fort Myers behind Lance Ray and the aforementioned Daniel Santana. It was the second victory in a row for the Miracle and they would try and complete the sweep of Dunedin in the second game of the double header. FORT MYERS 0, DUNEDIN 6 (GAME 2, 7 innings) After winning the first half of the double header, the Miracle struggled to get runners across the plate in the night cap. Fort Myers piled up nine hits over the course of the game but the team went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position. Levi Michael and Daniel Santana had two hits apiece to lead the club. For the most part, Casey Lawrence, the starter for Dunedin, shut down the rest of the line-up for the Miracle as he tossed six scoreless innings for his sixth victory of the year. Koby Clemens, the son of Roger Clemens, hit a home run in the second inning to give the Blue Jays an early lead in the second inning. Madison Boer was roughed up for six earned runs off of eight hits in only 2.2 innings on the mound. With the rough outing, Boer saw his ERA rise to 7.47 over the course of his 13 starts with the Miracle. Miguel Munoz and Nelvin Fuentes cleaned up the rest of the game for the Miracle by throwing over four innings of shutout baseball but the hole was already dug for Fort Myers. Even with the rough loss, the Miracle can go for the series victory tomorrow in the finale of the four-game set. BELOIT (OFF DAY) After three straight losses, the Snappers enjoyed a much needed off day on Tuesday. The team will start a six game home stand on Wednesday as they try to sneak closer to the .500 mark in the second half standings. The Snappers have already clinched a playoff spot with their record in the first half but it would still be nice to see the team continue to succeed in the second half. Miguel Sano hit his 19th home run of the year on Monday and it was only his second home run of the month. In the last ten games, he is hitting .300 with eight RBI and four extra-base hits. ELIZABETHTON 7, JOHNSON CITY 4 One big inning at the plate was all that it took for the E-Twins to take command of their game against the Johnson City Cardinals. The first three batters of the inning got singles to load the bases before the first out was recorded on a force out at home. Kelvin Mention strode to the plate with the bases loaded and he connected for his first professional home run and it just happened to be a grand slam. A couple of batters later Max Kepler would hit a two-run home run, his second of the year, to cap off a seven run inning. Five members of the E-Twins had multiple hits as the team compiled 12 hits in the game. Hein Robb started the game for the E-Twins and threw 3.1 innings with Johnson City getting seven hits off of him and three earned runs. Kaleb Merck earned his first professional win by throwing 2.2 innings and giving up one earned run on a single hit with three strikeouts. DJ Baxendale and Christian Powell combined for three scoreless innings to close out the victory for the E-Twins. For Powell, it was his first save on the season and four of the six outs he recorded were on strikeouts. GCL TWINS -, GCL ORIOLES - Today's double header between the GCL Twins and GCL Orioles was postponed because of the wet weather in Florida. The GCL Twins are in first place in their division and sit two games ahead of the GCL Red Sox. The team has won their last five games and nine of their last 11 contests. First round pick Byron Buxton hasn't played in a game since July 9 when he suffered a hamstring injury. Hopefully he will be able to get back into action whenever the weather decides to cooperate in Florida. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 17, 2012 Pitcher of the Day- Cole Nelson (5 IP, 0 ER) http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rJRI6Sz7M6c/UAYjipgMbeI/AAAAAAAAC3k/DvEjOGUFSMs/s320/Miracle.jpg Hitter of the Day- Kelvin Mention (1st Professional HR, 4 RBI) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G7LUwl8jyZs/UAYZjAJ4TwI/AAAAAAAAC10/P_MYPzyRv1E/s200/ph_592551.jpg --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 18th Schedule Rochester @ Norfolk: LHP Liam Hendriks New Britain vs. New Hampshire: RHP Shairon Martis Fort Myers vs. Dunedin: LHP Pat Dean Beloit vs. Lansing: LHP Jason Wheeler Elizabethton vs. Johnson City: TBD GCL Twins vs. GCL Rays: TBD --- If you have any question or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and I will try to answer them.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hEnUEQv6SHU/UAOQotUCM9I/AAAAAAAACyU/nBWJzKxqgXU/s320/SwingSun.jpeg Since the Twins took Aaron Hicks with their first round pick in the 2008 MLB Draft, there has been plenty of talk about the athletic outfielder fitting into the future plans of the Twins organization. Hicks was one of the highest draft picks the Twins had prior to drafting Byron Buxton in this year's draft and he seemed to have all of the tools to make him a very valuable player. It hasn't been a fast rise to the top for Mr. Hicks during his five years in the farm system for the Twins but he looks like he might slowly be figuring things out at the Double-A level with the New Britain Rock Cats. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There has been an up and down trend to the career of Hicks with there being more downs than ups. He can go through extreme hot stretches were he looks like a power threat from both sides of the plate and he follows that up with a rough couple of months that brings his statistics back down to earth. This roller coaster ride has been something that the Twins have tried to solve in recent years as they try and push the outfielder to find more consistency in his approach at the plate. The trend of ups and downs has continued in 2012 with some poor months mixed in with some very good offensive months. The month of July has been one of those very good months for Hicks. In his 14 games played in July, he is hitting .358/.452/.566 with five extra-base hits including two home runs and four RBI. This is also following the month of June where he hit .288/.377/.424 and all of those numbers were higher than his career averages. So it seems that the last couple of months have slowly been improving for Hicks as he starts to get more experience at the Double-A level. For the most part, his 2012 campaign would be excellent if not very a rough month of May at the plate. It could be a season of new personal records for Hicks on the offensive side of the ball. He has a career high nine home runs and he is closing in on some other personal bests. He is one triple away from tying his career high of six triples in a season and he has 19 stolen bases which is two short of his own record. There is over a third of the season left so this should give Hicks plenty of time to set some offensive highs for himself in the coming months. One of the biggest problems for the switch-hitting Hicks has been the change in his splits versus right-handed or left-handed pitchers. He is traditionally much better from the right side of the plate versus left-handed pitching. While this trend has continued in 2012, the gap is closing between his splits and he has shown the ability to hit for power from both sides of the plate. As a right handed hitter in 88 at-bats, he is hitting .295/.370/.466 with four home runs and three doubles. He has more than double the at-bats from the left side, 203 plate appearances, and he is hitting .266/.365/.424 with five home runs and five triples. It is great to see his numbers improve from both sides of the plate but it is also very good to see him become a more well-rounded hitter in the box. In the past, the Twins have seen some other high school outfielders take their time while developing in the system for the Twins. Denard Span didn't debut until he was 24 and his first full season in the big leagues didn't come until the next season as a 25-year old. Torii Hunter made his debut as a 21-year old but he only go into one game and he was used as a pinch runner. His first full season would come a couple seasons later when he was 23-years old. He hadn't been blowing the cover off of the ball in the minor leagues but he became an All-Star caliber player for the Twins. It is also important to remember that the Twins teams of the late 1990's were not very good so it allowed for younger players to get more playing time. Could this situation play out with Hicks in the next couple years? With Hicks playing all of this season so far at Double-A, there are plenty that are wondering when the young star will be making his debut with the Twins. The 22-year old might be a long shot to debut in 2012 because there are a few things working against him at this point. He is not on the 40-man roster and that means another move would need to be made to clear a spot for him even though that wouldn't be too difficult. There are a couple other young outfielders, Oswaldo Arcia and Joe Benson, that are already ahead of him because they have 40-man roster spots. Arcia is having a tremendous season but he spent the first part of the year at the High-A level so it might be pushing it to say he will get a chance this year. During last September, Benson got a taste of the big leagues but he has struggled in 2012. It will be a toss up to see if any of these players get the call this year. It seems the Twins front office would be satisfied with Hick showing that he can be a consistent offensive threat from both sides of the plate. His speed and defense have always been his best attributes and it seems that his hitting is slowly coming along. Twins fans can hope that he will follow some of the other high school outfielders that took some time to develop in the minor leagues before becoming solid regulars with the club. For now, Hicks will continue to refine his approach at the Double-A level in hopes that he can call himself a major league player at some point in the next two years.

Happy Friday! I hope you made it through the week and you are looking forward to the weekend. It's hard to believe that it is already the 13th of July. Where is the time going from this summer? Make sure you spend some time this weekend enjoying the warm weather and the wonderful outdoors. It won't be long and we will all be stuck inside for another frigid winter across Twins Territory. At least the Wild should be worth watching this season with their newest additions.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins resume play tonight for the first time since the All-Star Break. For the first week, the Twins play all of their games at Target Field so that should be beneficial to the club. This weekend the A's come to town to match-up with the Twins for three games and that is followed by a four-game set with the Baltimore Orioles. As I wrote about yesterday, there are still some headlines to follow in the second half that should make the Twins fun to watch. Before the Twins resume play and before you head out for the weekend, make sure to check out the links I have provided below. There were some great interviews and Twins stories this week so make sure to enjoy this edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." For those with hope, what would it take for the Twins to come back in the second half? Terry Ryan did a very good interview with FanGraphs about his experiences as GM of the Twins. It's getting close to the time when the Twins might need to be concerned about the payroll situation for 2013. Many Twins fans might not have known that Glen Perkins is a stat-head. One of the best pieces of news for Twins fans this week was that Kyle Gibson pitched in his first game since undergoing Tommy John surgery. Twins minor league pitcher BJ Hermsen made the Double-A All-Star Game but he still has plenty to prove. There are plenty of trade candidates for the Twins including the Orioles, the Nationals, and the Pirates. Watching the lightning strike during the Twins game on Sunday was scary and funny at the same time. A decade ago the All-Star Game ended in a tie but it still featured one of the best Twins All-Star moments with Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a home run. Here are the top five performances from Twins in the All-Star Game. Last year's first round pick Levi Michael is now on Twitter. This is a great picture of former Twins player Michael Cuddyer. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g3esZFWdRJk/UAAc_pKc9sI/AAAAAAAACvw/MN60ra1elHs/s320/pow20(cuddyer).jpg Cuddyer has also meant a lot to his new teammates in Colorado. After making some controversial comments about Kirby Puckett and Bert Blyleven, Reggie Jackson apologized earlier this week. A $3 million collection of baseball cards was found in an attic in Ohio. Guess it's time for me to sort through my old baseball cards. Slow down a minute. The A's are a .500 baseball team at the break. How did that happen? This new rule for baseball would really confuse the casual fans that attend games. Did you know that Buffalo, NY was close to getting an MLB franchise in the late 80's and early 90's? I hate being at Target Field and not getting to see close plays shown on the big screen. Apparently the Red Sox got in trouble for doing this in a game versus the Yankees. Are the Twins going to rename their spring training stadium? They would like to and there are some other plans in the works. The Saint Paul Saints are having a night specifically for atheists and the team will be called the Saint Paul Aints for the night. The Twins grounds crew has been working hard to get the field back in shape after the first concert in the history of the venue. A report came out that Danny Valencia is not happy in Triple-A but he needs to hit better if he wants to make it back to the big leagues. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Handing out Twins Mid-Season Awards Tuesday: Tuesday Morning Tidbits Thursday: Twins second-half headlines to watch Video of the Week: Season ticket holders for the Twins were asked to send in questions for Twins GM Terry Ryan. It was cool to listen to some of his answers and he even answered a question that I sent in. My question has about the lack of pitching depth in the entire organization but they took out some of the words that I used but it was still a cool concept.