Cody Christie

I'm not counting him out. Especially if he continues to swing well into the second half. His poor start made it difficult to give him the mid-season MVP award.

Sounds like he has been hanging out with Liriano too much.

Carroll is already under contract for next season while Casilla would have to go through the arbitration process for the third time. The Twins could just decide to pass on Casilla and fill the utility role with someone from the minors.

Salcedo continued his road back from injury with his second start in the GCL on Friday night. He is still limited on the amount of pitches that he can throw. So in 2.1 innings on the mound, he allowed two earned runs with one walk and one strike out. For the second start in a row, there were two unearned runs scored against Salcedo so the error might have caused his pitch count to rise a little more than the team wanted. Since returning from injury he has thrown 5.1 innings and allowed two earned runs with one walk and four strike outs.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?776-Handing-out-Twins-Mid-Season-Awards

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the All-Star Break at hand, it marks the unofficial midpoint of the 2012 season for the Minnesota Twins. Coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, it was hard to have optimism for the 2012 campaign. There were question marks surrounding players that missed large chunks of last season due to injury, the bullpen had some unproven arms, and the starting rotation needed to prove itself. All of these story lines have played out in different ways with some of them being much more positive than the others. The Twins have played a little stronger in recent games to give a semblance of hope to fans across Twins Territory. The scary part might be the fact that by the All-Star Game last year the club had put together 41 wins and sat 6.5 games out of first place in the Central. While the team was still seven games under .500, there was a chance for a strong second half run. Entering the break this season, the Twins are further back in the division and more games under .500 than last year. Overall, it looks like a tough hole to dig out of in the second half. At the beginning of the season, I predicted who I thought would win various awards for the 2012 version of the Twins. The All-Star Break allows for time to reflect back on the first half of the season and to see how close to being right (or being very wrong) that those predictions were. Each of the awards below has been named after someone that optimizes that award for the Twins organization. There are some legends from the past and even one current MLB player but all have had a significant place in Twins lore. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Nw5_5My7xw/T_rgXstjLRI/AAAAAAAACqg/XWMisSEYtV4/s320/ScottyD.jpgHarmon Killebrew MVP: Josh Willingham, LF-DH Preseason pick: Joe Mauer, C-1B-DH At this point in the season, it looks like a two man race for the top player on the Twins in 2012. Josh Willingham started off the season like an MVP and he carried the team through the early portion of their schedule. On the other hand, Joe Mauer has put together a very strong campaign after putting a dreadful 2011 season behind him. Either one of these players could be named MVP of the first half for the Twins so let's take a look at some of the numbers. To this part in the season, Willingham is batting .261/.376/.536 with 19 home runs and 60 RBI. His batting average is right around his career average but his OBP and SLG are both higher than his career marks. Joe Mauer is batting .326/.417/.452 with five home runs and 41 RBI. He sits in the top five for batting average in the entire American League and he has the highest OBP of any AL player. On FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, both players sit within .1 points of each other in WAR. It seems like the races is almost a tie so there must be some other way to figure out who should come out on top. The tie-breaker for me was looking at Win Probability Added and Willingham is the clear leader on the team. His clutch hits and RBI have helped to turn losses into victories on a team that needed him to provide a little spark. The race was tight but Willingham is the team's MVP through the first half of the year. Johan Santana Pitcher of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP Preseason pick: Francisco Liriano, LHP This might be the easiest category to select through the first portion of the Twins schedule. Scott Diamond has emerged as the best pitcher on the staff for the Twins and his transformation has been fun to see so far this year.Since he started the season at Triple-A, he has only been able to log 79.0 innings with the big league squad. His seven wins are three more than any other starter this season and his ERA of 2.62 is very low. It is starting to look more and more like Francisco Liriano could win this award by the end of the season. His starts in recent weeks have been very good and his is able to strike out more batters than Diamond. Liriano's terrible start was tough to overcome at this point in the season so his numbers still look high at the All-Star Break. He does lead the team in games started and innings pitched but his ERA and WHIP need some time to recover from the early part of the season. With all of the trade rumors surrounding Liriano, it is hard to imagine him being with the club until the end of the season. That would seem to mean that this award is Diamond's to lose for the rest of the season. Diamond is the lone bright spot in a rotation full of holes and he looks like he might have to be the ace of the staff for the next handful of seasons. Rick Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Jared Burton, RHP Preseason pick: Brian Duensing, LHP When the season started, I picked Duensing for this award because he was shifting back to a successful role that he held with the club in the past. This was assuming that he would stay in the bullpen for the majority of the season but now he finds himself in the starting rotation. This leaves a couple of arms in the bullpen that have shown themselves to be very valuable in the first half of the year. Glen Perkins burst onto the scene last season as one of the most valuable set-up men in the American League. His transition from starter to relief pitcher allowed him to add some velocity to his pitches and he looked like a brand new man. It has been more of the same for Perkins in 2012 and he has even been given the opportunity to close some games with Matt Capps on the DL. His ERA and WHIP are a little higher than one would like for an arm out of the 'pen but his strikeouts per nine innings has increase over last year. Much like the race for team MVP, the competition for Relief Pitcher of the Year is a two-man race. Jared Burton has rediscovered himself as a 31-year old after two injury shortened seasons with the Reds. He has looked dominant at times with a WHIP under 1.000 and a 2.55 ERA for the year. His strikeout total will never match Perkins but Burton has been an unsung hero of the first half for the Twins. Rod Carew Rookie of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP Preseason pick: Chris Parmelee, 1B-RF-DH Coming out of spring training, it looked like there would be a couple of different rookies in line for the Carew ROY Award. Chris Parmelee had made the squad after a strong spring training and a very good month of September at the end of last season. The Twins were unsure of what to expect from Justin Morneau and it made sense to have another strong first baseman on the roster. Liam Hendriks was another rookie that made the squad when the team headed north for the start of the year. Some injuries to the starting staff allowed Hendriks the opportunity to start the year in the rotation. The story line for each of these players has been a little frustrating to watch in 2012. Both players have found a lot of success at the Triple-A level but the results have been mixed with the big league squad. Parmelee has been sent back-and-forth to Rochester on multiple occasions and his last trip had to be tough for him. He sat on the bench for multiple weeks and he was given a handful of at-bats. Hendriks has really struggled at the big league level and it will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in the second half. For the reasons mentioned in the Santana Pitcher of the Year category, Diamond is the clear-cut winner of this award. Brain Dozier has gotten plenty of playing time at shortstop but there are still multiple things that he needs to work on. Diamond, Dozier, Hendriks, and Parmelee are all in line to have a big impact on this team in the future so it will be interesting to see what they can do. So who do you think should win each award? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ With the All-Star Break at hand, it marks the unofficial midpoint of the 2012 season for the Minnesota Twins. Coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, it was hard to have optimism for the 2012 campaign. There were question marks surrounding players that missed large chunks of last season due to injury, the bullpen had some unproven arms, and the starting rotation needed to prove itself. All of these story lines have played out in different ways with some of them being much more positive than the others. The Twins have played a little stronger in recent games to give a semblance of hope to fans across Twins Territory. The scary part might be the fact that by the All-Star Game last year the club had put together 41 wins and sat 6.5 games out of first place in the Central. While the team was still seven games under .500, there was a chance for a strong second half run. Entering the break this season, the Twins are further back in the division and more games under .500 than last year. Overall, it looks like a tough hole to dig out of in the second half. At the beginning of the season, I predicted who I thought would win various awards for the 2012 version of the Twins. The All-Star Break allows for time to reflect back on the first half of the season and to see how close to being right (or being very wrong) that those predictions were. Each of the awards below has been named after someone that optimizes that award for the Twins organization. There are some legends from the past and even one current MLB player but all have had a significant place in Twins lore. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Nw5_5My7xw/T_rgXstjLRI/AAAAAAAACqg/XWMisSEYtV4/s320/ScottyD.jpgHarmon Killebrew MVP: Josh Willingham, LF-DH Preseason pick: Joe Mauer, C-1B-DH At this point in the season, it looks like a two man race for the top player on the Twins in 2012. Josh Willingham started off the season like an MVP and he carried the team through the early portion of their schedule. On the other hand, Joe Mauer has put together a very strong campaign after putting a dreadful 2011 season behind him. Either one of these players could be named MVP of the first half for the Twins so let's take a look at some of the numbers. To this part in the season, Willingham is batting .261/.376/.536 with 19 home runs and 60 RBI. His batting average is right around his career average but his OBP and SLG are both higher than his career marks. Joe Mauer is batting .326/.417/.452 with five home runs and 41 RBI. He sits in the top five for batting average in the entire American League and he has the highest OBP of any AL player. On FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, both players sit within .1 points of each other in WAR. It seems like the races is almost a tie so there must be some other way to figure out who should come out on top. The tie-breaker for me was looking at Win Probability Added and Willingham is the clear leader on the team. His clutch hits and RBI have helped to turn losses into victories on a team that needed him to provide a little spark. The race was tight but Willingham is the team's MVP through the first half of the year. Johan Santana Pitcher of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP Preseason pick: Francisco Liriano, LHP This might be the easiest category to select through the first portion of the Twins schedule. Scott Diamond has emerged as the best pitcher on the staff for the Twins and his transformation has been fun to see so far this year.Since he started the season at Triple-A, he has only been able to log 79.0 innings with the big league squad. His seven wins are three more than any other starter this season and his ERA of 2.62 is very low. It is starting to look more and more like Francisco Liriano could win this award by the end of the season. His starts in recent weeks have been very good and his is able to strike out more batters than Diamond. Liriano's terrible start was tough to overcome at this point in the season so his numbers still look high at the All-Star Break. He does lead the team in games started and innings pitched but his ERA and WHIP need some time to recover from the early part of the season. With all of the trade rumors surrounding Liriano, it is hard to imagine him being with the club until the end of the season. That would seem to mean that this award is Diamond's to lose for the rest of the season. Diamond is the lone bright spot in a rotation full of holes and he looks like he might have to be the ace of the staff for the next handful of seasons. Rick Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Jared Burton, RHP Preseason pick: Brian Duensing, LHP When the season started, I picked Duensing for this award because he was shifting back to a successful role that he held with the club in the past. This was assuming that he would stay in the bullpen for the majority of the season but now he finds himself in the starting rotation. This leaves a couple of arms in the bullpen that have shown themselves to be very valuable in the first half of the year. Glen Perkins burst onto the scene last season as one of the most valuable set-up men in the American League. His transition from starter to relief pitcher allowed him to add some velocity to his pitches and he looked like a brand new man. It has been more of the same for Perkins in 2012 and he has even been given the opportunity to close some games with Matt Capps on the DL. His ERA and WHIP are a little higher than one would like for an arm out of the 'pen but his strikeouts per nine innings has increase over last year. Much like the race for team MVP, the competition for Relief Pitcher of the Year is a two-man race. Jared Burton has rediscovered himself as a 31-year old after two injury shortened seasons with the Reds. He has looked dominant at times with a WHIP under 1.000 and a 2.55 ERA for the year. His strikeout total will never match Perkins but Burton has been an unsung hero of the first half for the Twins. Rod Carew Rookie of the Year: Scott Diamond, LHP Preseason pick: Chris Parmelee, 1B-RF-DH Coming out of spring training, it looked like there would be a couple of different rookies in line for the Carew ROY Award. Chris Parmelee had made the squad after a strong spring training and a very good month of September at the end of last season. The Twins were unsure of what to expect from Justin Morneau and it made sense to have another strong first baseman on the roster. Liam Hendriks was another rookie that made the squad when the team headed north for the start of the year. Some injuries to the starting staff allowed Hendriks the opportunity to start the year in the rotation. The story line for each of these players has been a little frustrating to watch in 2012. Both players have found a lot of success at the Triple-A level but the results have been mixed with the big league squad. Parmelee has been sent back-and-forth to Rochester on multiple occasions and his last trip had to be tough for him. He sat on the bench for multiple weeks and he was given a handful of at-bats. Hendriks has really struggled at the big league level and it will be interesting to see if he gets another shot in the second half. For the reasons mentioned in the Santana Pitcher of the Year category, Diamond is the clear-cut winner of this award. Brain Dozier has gotten plenty of playing time at shortstop but there are still multiple things that he needs to work on. Diamond, Dozier, Hendriks, and Parmelee are all in line to have a big impact on this team in the future so it will be interesting to see what they can do. So who do you think should win each award? Leave a comment and start the discussion.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?770-Friday-Links-N-Thinks

This is great to see from Michael. I was a little surprised that they started him at Ft. Myers instead of Beloit. But he is making the adjustments so let's hope it continues.

Patience is the key with young players. As teenagers, their bodies are still developing and there will be ups-and-downs at the hot corner. I think the Twins will give them plenty of time to work out the kinks at third base.

Love the rise of Arcia this season. Think Rosario could be higher.

Parmelee sitting on the bench was starting to be ridiculous. Glad he will get to play somewhere. But there doesn't seem to be a spot for him to play on the Twins this season unless someone gets hurt.

There has been more than one time this season that I have been impressed with the throws from Revere. I liked his range better in CF last year but he has been fine in RF this season.

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. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNjDUCmQTiI/T_Y77q0m_9I/AAAAAAAACow/mGqgf6XxakI/s1600/Brian+Dozier+Squibber.gif 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.

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. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNjDUCmQTiI/T_Y77q0m_9I/AAAAAAAACow/mGqgf6XxakI/s1600/Brian+Dozier+Squibber.gif 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.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?759-Tuesday-s-Trip-through-the-Minors

Salcedo has made two rehab appearances for the GCL Twins. He has thrown three innings in those two appearances and struck out a batter an inning. There were two runs scored in his second appearance but both were unearned runs. He hasn't walked a batter since his return to the mound. It will be nice to see if he can still make something out of the rest of the season.

A rain delay in Detroit held up the start of the Twins game for an hour and a half. When the game got underway, it turned into a back and forth contest between the Tigers and the Twins. The Twins bash brothers of Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe each added another home run to their totals for the season as they continue to try and match each other for the team lead. Even Joe Mauer was able to hit his second home run in the past week with an opposite field home run in the later innings of the game. Nick Blackburn left a few too many sinkers up in the zone and the Tigers offense was able to hit some balls out of the park. The bullpen for the Twins was able to keep some of the damage to a minimum by not allowing a run in their five innings of work. Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July but make sure to check out what happened across the minor leagues on Tuesday night. ROCHESTER 5, PAWTUCKET 3 In the midst of a tough stretch of baseball where the Red Wings had lost five of their last seven games, Rochester was able to put together a huge seventh inning to come out victorious. One of the most miraculous things might have been the fact that all of the runs were scored after two outs had already been recorded in the inning. Clete Thomas and Rene Rivera hit back-to-back home runs to start the scoring in the frame. The other big hit in the frame was a double by Pedro Florimon to plate two runs and put the team up by two. The bullpen for the Red Wings has been outstanding in recent weeks and they have pitched 12.1 scoreless innings in a row. A starting pitcher hasn't picked up a victory for the Red Wings since June 25 and that trend continued on Tuesday with Bobby Lanigan picking up his first victory of the season for Rochester. Casey Fien pitched two perfect innings for his third hold of the year and he struck out four of the six men that he faced. NEW BRITAIN 14, BOWIE 7 The Rock Cats wasted little time jumping on the Baysox by starting a hit parade in the bottom of the first inning and exploding for ten runs. With this many runs on the board, there were plenty of offensive stars for New Britain. Estarlin De Los Santos was 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, and four RBI. Evan Bigley matched De Los Santos with four runs batted in and he also had a double. Chris Herrmann and Chris Colabello each piled up three hits over the course of the game. Danny Lehman was the only hitter to remain hitless in the game for New Britain. With all of the runs on the board, the pitching staff for New Britain didn't need to be perfect on this night. Blake Martin started the game but didn't make it through five innings before giving up six earned runs. Edgar Ibarra picked up his second win since being promoted from Fort Myers at the end of June. The last 3.1 innings were pitched by Daniel Sattler for his first save and he only surrendered one hit. FORT MYERS 11, ST. LUCIE 2 There were fireworks scheduled for after the game but the Miracle made sure the fans saw some during the game as Fort Myers piled up 13 hits against St. Lucie. Lance Ray was 2-for3 in the contest with his ninth home run of the year and three RBI. Daniel Ortiz also knocked in three runs with his two doubles in the game. It was a very balanced attack for the Miracle as five of the nine batters had multiple hits and six batters had at least one run batted in. After being saddled with the loss in each of his last three starts, Cole Nelson picked up his first victory since June 12. He threw five innings and was charged with two earned runs but he did give up five walks. In three innings of work, Marty Popham was almost perfect by allowing a couple of hits and striking out three. It was the third straight scoreless outing thrown by Popham. The Miracle sit one game behind Bradenton for first place. BELOIT 1, CEDAR RAPIDS 10 Unfortunately for the Snappers, they were on the wrong end of a blowout loss in this game. Beloit only managed four hits in the game and Adam Pettersen had half of those knocks. The only run of the game for Beloit was driven in by Adam Bryant with a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. After getting pulled from the game on Monday with three defensive errors, Miguel Sano was absent from the line-up on Tuesday night. For the second straight start, Tim Shibuya struggled and he was pulled after two innings and a couple of home runs allowed. Bart Carter allowed five earned runs in less than two innings on the mound but he did manage five strike outs. The only Snappers pitcher to survive without allowing a run was Clint Dempster and he struck out four of the six batters that he faced. ELIZABETHTON 7, PRINCETON 2 The month of July has been off to a fantastic start for Romy Jimenez as he has hit two double in every game so far this month. For the season, he is batting .444 and his OPS is an eye popping 1.447 in 11 games. Adam Walker hit his second home run of the season and he had three RBI in the contest. Travis Harrison was also able to knock in two runs with his couple of hits for the E-Twins. It seems that the Twins are being careful with the amount of innings pitched by Taylor Rogers as he has thrown four innings in all of his starts this year. On this night, he allowed two runs on a couple of hits but the big lead allowed him to pitch comfortably. Tyler Herr picked up his second win of the season and he has not allowed a run in his last five trips to the mound. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 2 After trailing for most of the game, the GCL Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come out on top. Aderlin Mejia and Logan Wade lead the Twins with two hits apiece and each player had an extra-base hit to their credit. Dereck Rodriguez doubled in a run as part of the rally for the Twins and he later scored the winning run when Bryan Haar singled. Byron Buxton might of had his worst game as a professional by striking out three times in four plate appearances. Adrain Salcedo made his second appearance as he tries to return from injury. He made his first start and gave up two hits and two unearned runs in his two innings of work. Chris Mazza got his first victory of the year and his first victory as a professional. He threw 2.1 innings and struck out three to lower his ERA to 1.17. Jose Berrios got his first save by throwing a scoreless ninth. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 3, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Estarlin De Los Santos http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gOdjyQdGZmY/T_O60AXicrI/AAAAAAAACm4/d9nQKewbNIY/s320/RockCats.jpg Pitcher(s) of the Day- Red Wings Bullpen (12.1 inning scoreless streak) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XkMsrXHz5BU/T_O64-1fpRI/AAAAAAAACnA/ronnKtp688Q/s320/4553.gif --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 4th Schedule Rochester vs Pawtucket- LHP Luke French New Britain vs Trenton- LHP Logan Darnell Fort Myers at Charlotte- RHP Matthew Hauser Beloit at Clinton- LHP Steven Gruver Elizabethton vs Kingsport- RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins vs. GCL Orioles- TBA GCL Twins at GCL Orioles- TBA --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

A rain delay in Detroit held up the start of the Twins game for an hour and a half. When the game got underway, it turned into a back and forth contest between the Tigers and the Twins. The Twins bash brothers of Josh Willingham and Trevor Plouffe each added another home run to their totals for the season as they continue to try and match each other for the team lead. Even Joe Mauer was able to hit his second home run in the past week with an opposite field home run in the later innings of the game. Nick Blackburn left a few too many sinkers up in the zone and the Tigers offense was able to hit some balls out of the park. The bullpen for the Twins was able to keep some of the damage to a minimum by not allowing a run in their five innings of work. Have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July but make sure to check out what happened across the minor leagues on Tuesday night. ROCHESTER 5, PAWTUCKET 3 In the midst of a tough stretch of baseball where the Red Wings had lost five of their last seven games, Rochester was able to put together a huge seventh inning to come out victorious. One of the most miraculous things might have been the fact that all of the runs were scored after two outs had already been recorded in the inning. Clete Thomas and Rene Rivera hit back-to-back home runs to start the scoring in the frame. The other big hit in the frame was a double by Pedro Florimon to plate two runs and put the team up by two. The bullpen for the Red Wings has been outstanding in recent weeks and they have pitched 12.1 scoreless innings in a row. A starting pitcher hasn't picked up a victory for the Red Wings since June 25 and that trend continued on Tuesday with Bobby Lanigan picking up his first victory of the season for Rochester. Casey Fien pitched two perfect innings for his third hold of the year and he struck out four of the six men that he faced. NEW BRITAIN 14, BOWIE 7 The Rock Cats wasted little time jumping on the Baysox by starting a hit parade in the bottom of the first inning and exploding for ten runs. With this many runs on the board, there were plenty of offensive stars for New Britain. Estarlin De Los Santos was 2-for-5 with a double, a home run, and four RBI. Evan Bigley matched De Los Santos with four runs batted in and he also had a double. Chris Herrmann and Chris Colabello each piled up three hits over the course of the game. Danny Lehman was the only hitter to remain hitless in the game for New Britain. With all of the runs on the board, the pitching staff for New Britain didn't need to be perfect on this night. Blake Martin started the game but didn't make it through five innings before giving up six earned runs. Edgar Ibarra picked up his second win since being promoted from Fort Myers at the end of June. The last 3.1 innings were pitched by Daniel Sattler for his first save and he only surrendered one hit. FORT MYERS 11, ST. LUCIE 2 There were fireworks scheduled for after the game but the Miracle made sure the fans saw some during the game as Fort Myers piled up 13 hits against St. Lucie. Lance Ray was 2-for3 in the contest with his ninth home run of the year and three RBI. Daniel Ortiz also knocked in three runs with his two doubles in the game. It was a very balanced attack for the Miracle as five of the nine batters had multiple hits and six batters had at least one run batted in. After being saddled with the loss in each of his last three starts, Cole Nelson picked up his first victory since June 12. He threw five innings and was charged with two earned runs but he did give up five walks. In three innings of work, Marty Popham was almost perfect by allowing a couple of hits and striking out three. It was the third straight scoreless outing thrown by Popham. The Miracle sit one game behind Bradenton for first place. BELOIT 1, CEDAR RAPIDS 10 Unfortunately for the Snappers, they were on the wrong end of a blowout loss in this game. Beloit only managed four hits in the game and Adam Pettersen had half of those knocks. The only run of the game for Beloit was driven in by Adam Bryant with a single in the bottom of the fourth inning. After getting pulled from the game on Monday with three defensive errors, Miguel Sano was absent from the line-up on Tuesday night. For the second straight start, Tim Shibuya struggled and he was pulled after two innings and a couple of home runs allowed. Bart Carter allowed five earned runs in less than two innings on the mound but he did manage five strike outs. The only Snappers pitcher to survive without allowing a run was Clint Dempster and he struck out four of the six batters that he faced. ELIZABETHTON 7, PRINCETON 2 The month of July has been off to a fantastic start for Romy Jimenez as he has hit two double in every game so far this month. For the season, he is batting .444 and his OPS is an eye popping 1.447 in 11 games. Adam Walker hit his second home run of the season and he had three RBI in the contest. Travis Harrison was also able to knock in two runs with his couple of hits for the E-Twins. It seems that the Twins are being careful with the amount of innings pitched by Taylor Rogers as he has thrown four innings in all of his starts this year. On this night, he allowed two runs on a couple of hits but the big lead allowed him to pitch comfortably. Tyler Herr picked up his second win of the season and he has not allowed a run in his last five trips to the mound. GCL TWINS 3, GCL RAYS 2 After trailing for most of the game, the GCL Twins scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come out on top. Aderlin Mejia and Logan Wade lead the Twins with two hits apiece and each player had an extra-base hit to their credit. Dereck Rodriguez doubled in a run as part of the rally for the Twins and he later scored the winning run when Bryan Haar singled. Byron Buxton might of had his worst game as a professional by striking out three times in four plate appearances. Adrain Salcedo made his second appearance as he tries to return from injury. He made his first start and gave up two hits and two unearned runs in his two innings of work. Chris Mazza got his first victory of the year and his first victory as a professional. He threw 2.1 innings and struck out three to lower his ERA to 1.17. Jose Berrios got his first save by throwing a scoreless ninth. --- Players of the Day for Tuesday, July 3, 2012 Hitter of the Day- Estarlin De Los Santos http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gOdjyQdGZmY/T_O60AXicrI/AAAAAAAACm4/d9nQKewbNIY/s320/RockCats.jpg Pitcher(s) of the Day- Red Wings Bullpen (12.1 inning scoreless streak) http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XkMsrXHz5BU/T_O64-1fpRI/AAAAAAAACnA/ronnKtp688Q/s320/4553.gif --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, July 4th Schedule Rochester vs Pawtucket- LHP Luke French New Britain vs Trenton- LHP Logan Darnell Fort Myers at Charlotte- RHP Matthew Hauser Beloit at Clinton- LHP Steven Gruver Elizabethton vs Kingsport- RHP Hudson Boyd GCL Twins vs. GCL Orioles- TBA GCL Twins at GCL Orioles- TBA --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, leave them in the comments section and Seth or I will try to answer them.

1. The White Sox will win the AL Central with a record of 87-75. 2. The Minnesota Twins will finish in 4th place in the division with a record of 77-85 . 3. Current Twins who will be wearing new uniforms after the trade deadline include: Denard Span, Francisco Liriano 4. The Texas Rangers will defeat the San Francisco Giants to win the 2012 World Series.

Like many have said here already, his option isn't much of an option (see what I did there). I could see an incentive deal to come back with the team since they will be hurting for starting pitching. But he won't even be able to pitch at the beginning of the season. Tough to know what kind of deals will even be an option for him.

Is there some kind of party that one should throw for this momentous occasion? I suggest lots of fireworks across America