Tuesday Twins: Miguel Sano leaves minor league team due to family matter

Some newsy tidbits for your Tuesday afternoon:

• Miguel Sano has apparently left the High-A Ft. Myers Miracle and returned home to the Dominican Republic due to an illness in his family. It’s unknown when he will return. Over the 19 games he’s played for the Miracle since his demotion, Sano is hitting .328/.442/.453 with two home runs. (UPDATE: LEN3 now reports that Sano will return to the team in a couple days, and also has some other minor updates on how Sano is doing.)
• Speaking of leaving teams, that was apparently the reason closer Fernando Rodney made an odd relief appearance in the 5th inning of Sunday’s Twins versus Rays game. The team allowed Rodney to leave early to fly to Miami and become an official US citizen. I imagine right after the picture below he pantomimed shooting a bow and arrow into the sky.

• Also, in case you missed it, the Twins held a pop-up wiffle ball home run derby downtown last week, and fans were treated to a new kind of Fernando Rodney Experience.

• Are you a fan of the All-Star Game? Apparently, Fangraphs’ Dan Szymborski is not. In fact, he makes the interesting argument that the actual All-Star Game is the worst part of All-Star Week. What do you think?
• SB Nation’s Eric Stephen is a little less of a party pooper about the matter, listing out five things he thinks are pretty awesome about the All-Star Game.
• Did you watch the Home Run Derby last night? There’s a growing conspiracy that winner Bryce Harper actually cheated, and Grant Brisbee is on it.