John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about the All-Star experience, the Twins making it clear they should be sellers at the trade deadline, what to do with Kurt Suzuki, Aaron's illnesses, John's dancing, paying to get rid of Ricky Nolasco, details on the August pub crawl, why Danny Santana is rushed but young pitchers aren't, ex-girlfriends in the wild, Josh Willingham falling apart, and dwindling television ratings. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click below:

Aaron has the sniffles, so John, Parker Hageman & Kate Butler discuss the Kurt Suzki dilemna, the Twins buy/stand-pat decision, how to rework the home run derby and then play the much-rumored-but-rarely-heard "Beauty and the Beast" version of the Gleeman and the Geek theme song. For the second half, John goes to the Futures Game where he joins Jeremy Nygard and Seth Stohs in reviewing the progress and decline of the top prospects in the Twins systems at the traditional midway point while John tries not to dance to Panic At The Disco. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by RubricLegal.com UPDATE: We had a winner. Please congratulate joemama who will be attending the game on September 3rd. Nice job. Now you have a reason to watch the All-Star Game. To celebrate Minnesota being the center of the baseball world this week, Twins Daily’s Official Law Firm, Rubric Legal (formerly Snyder Gislason Frasier) is giving away front row tickets to a Twins game to a reader that guesses this year’s All-Star Game MVP. Just leave your guess in the comments below and we’ll pick a winner at random from the correct guesses. You’ll get four front row tickets to a Twins game this year for one of dozens of available games. Rubric has helped the Twins Daily community analyze some interesting and thorny issues for MLB, like challenges to MLB’s Territorial TV Rights and minor league labor practices. They can bring expertise in a wide range of legal issues to you, too. Check them out at RubricLegal.com.

Sponsored by Ticket King The baseball world is coming to your door, Minnesota. Get out there and soak up your city.You’ll have lots of opportunities. The All-Star Weekend is packed with TONS of opportunities to meet ex-Twins. Hell, even Twins Daily is getting into the act with a Happy Hour on Monday. Here is a rundown of some of the higher profile events and their prices as seen at TicketKingOnline.com. All-Star Fan Fest Here is the most inclusive and probably fan-friendly event of the weekend. It runs from Friday through Tuesday and includes a ton of activities and chances to meet your favorite Twins alums and other MLB greats for autographs, clinics, photos and Q&A sessions. The schedule is overwhelming. Tickets are $35 apiece ($30 for kids) and as little as half of that at Ticket King. You’ll also have multiple opportunities to watch some Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) panel discussions there. They include the History of Baseball in Minnesota, Statistical Analysis, Official Scoring, Twin Cities Stadiums and Toni Stone, an African-American woman from St. Paul who played in the Negro Leagues between 1937 and 1954. I’ll be participating in the one on Minnesota Baseball History at Friday at 2:00. 2014 All Star Sunday The Futures Game, which showcases MLB’s top minor leaguers, starts at 4:00. The celebrity softball game starts at7:30. I’ll let others dwell on the latter….. Obviously, Twins Daily is maybe more excited about the Futures Game than most other events this weekend. Three players from the Twins organization should be participating; Alex Meyer – Meyer is the top pitching prospect in the Twins organization and has spent the year impressing in AAA. After a recent rough stretch, he has bounced back strong in his last two starts with 17 K in 12 IP with just 3 ER. With those kinds of numbers, this may not be his only appearance at Target Field this year. JO Berrios – Berrios was recently promoted to AA as a 20-year-old, making him the youngest player at that level. He’s already thrown 101.1 innings this year with a 2.31 ERA and 113K in 101.1 IP. He also looks like a strong contributor to the Twins future. Kennys Vargas – With Miguel Sano laid up this year, Vargas has become the Twins most talked about minor league slugger. As a 23-year-old in AA, he has been the complete (hitting) package, showing power (.474 slugging perecentage), patience (53K and 35 BB) and good contact (.291 batting average). It’s unclear if the lumbering switch-hitter will be able to stay at first base, but his bat should be a welcome addition to the Twins lineup in the next year or so. Tickets are very reasonable for many seats; they’re comparable to a Twins game. 2014 All Star Workout and Home Run Derby Now we’re getting into the heavy hitters – literally. Twins fans may well have a fan favorite on both the AL and NL rosters. Current Twin Brian Dozier is going to try and yank those high fastballs into the left field bleachers. (I see 50 tickets available there at Ticket King.) And there are lots of rumors that Justin Morneau may be added to the NL roster if he isn’t voted onto the All-Star roster by the fans. Tickets are significant, and in a twist, it looks like they’re pricier in the bleachers where you have a chance of catching a home run ball. (Bring your glove.) You can get lower level infield seats for less than $200 (which is quite a bit below the price MLB charged, I think.) And if you can’t go, why not join us Monday night at Mason’s to watch the action with the Twins Daily posse? 2014 All-Star Game Either this is on your bucket list or it isn’t. If it isn’t, you’re off the hook. But if it is something that you’re going to want to do, this is your chance to do it. Any other year, you can add travel costs and hotel costs, which are off the charts. This year, you have a ticket cost and not much more. It is what it is: an exhibition which happens to exhibit the game’s biggest stars. It’s going to include Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, David Price, Andrew McCutchen, Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw. There is going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance. There will be an unbelievable amount of hype surrounding Derek Jeter’s last All-Star Game. There will be a ballgame with a tremendous number of substitutions. And there might be a "Is it dusty in here?" Justin Morneau moment. Either you want to pay for that or not. If you do, it’s going to cost you. I see All-Star tickets going for as little as $347. It looks like the markup in my section, section 102, is a couple of hundred dollars over face value. So it’s going to cost you as much as a short vacation. I think I’ll remember it longer than most vacations I’ve taken. I’ll be there. You’ll find links to tickets for all the events in the above story and all are an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier,Ticket King, can help.

All-Star Game Hometown Rules Rule #1: When The Game comes to town, you have a party. Rule #2: See Rule #1. Far be it from Twins Daily to break the rules. Today, July 14th, we're throwing a party at Mason's Barre and Restaurant prior to the Home Run Derby. From 4:30 to 6:30 we'll have a couple of kegs of beer reserved to offer Twins Daily readers to thank you for all your support. We'll be joined by readers and writers of FanGraphs.com and possibly a special guest or two. We'll also be joined by Pete Rukavina, a Twins Daily member who is personally sponsoring the bash just because he's awesome, so please say thank you to Pete if you see him. We aren't charging, there are no tickets, and you don't need to RSVP. Given previous events, I'd suggest getting there early if you want one of the free beers. But even if you can't -- the All-Star Game is in town. Let's have a party.