If Michael Cuddyer keeps humming ``The waiting is the hardest part,'' no one could blame him.

Those lyrics, from an '80s Tom Petty song, couldn't be more true for the Edmonton Trappers outfielder this season. First, an April snowstorm in Edmonton postponed most of the Triple-A Trappers' first two home series. Then, Cuddyer missed 16 games because of a pulled oblique muscle.

Now Cuddyer, a Chesapeake native who is in the midst of his second consecutive All-Star season, waits for the Minnesota Twins to promote him to the majors.

``Sometimes it's frustrating,'' said Cuddyer, 23, who played eight games with the Twins last year after a late-season call-up from Double-A New Britain. ``I'm doing all I can do, but you just have to put up good numbers, and things will take care of themselves. I can only control what I do on the field.''

Cuddyer, a 1997 Great Bridge High School graduate, is making a fine case for promotion. He is batting .316 with 20 home runs and 51 RBIs and earned a starting spot in tonight's Triple-A All-Star Game, which will be televised from Oklahoma City on ESPN2 at 8.

Cuddyer, the Most Valuable Player in last year's Double-A All-Star Game, ranks second in the Pacific Coast League in slugging percentage (.605), is tied for third in home runs and tied for fourth in runs scored (60).

``He's as close to being ready for the major leagues as a young player can be,'' Trappers manager John Russell said. ``The more time he has here the better it's going to be when he goes up.''

When that will happen is uncertain.

The Twins have one of the American League's top outfields, with All-Star centerfielder Torii Hunter, leftfielder Jacque Jones and rightfielders Bobby Kielty and Dustan Mohr all batting above or near .300. Before the All-Star break, that quartet led American League outfields in batting average, home runs and RBIs.

At Edmonton, an outfield of Cuddyer, Michael Restovich and Michael Ryan has the Trappers in first place in the Pacific Coast League North Division. Edmonton leads the league in home runs and runs scored and is second in batting average.

Restovich played in Sunday's Major League Futures game, and Ryan leads the PCL in home runs (22) and RBIs (71) and joins Cuddyer in the Triple-A All-Star game.

``Does (Cuddyer) have the ability to come here? Yes,'' Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. ``Will it be in a week or a month? I don't know yet. He's not going to come up here and be a part-time guy. There's no sense in that.''

Still, the Central Division-leading Twins could free roster spots with a trade as the July 31 deadline nears. Minnesota may look to improve its starting rotation after the All-Star break if Joe Mays and Brad Radke make unsuccessful returns from injuries.

The Twins aren't likely to trade a top prospect such as Cuddyer, and Hunter, Jones, Mohr and Kielty are signed only through the end of this season. Terry Ryan acknowledged the team may make moves for the stretch run and wouldn't rule out trading Cuddyer.

``If we think it's a deal that's conducive for us to be better now or in the future we'd do it,'' he said.

``It's a good place for the Twins to be,'' Cuddyer added. ``I don't know what they're going to do, but something probably needs to be done.''

Until then Cuddyer waits in Edmonton, a hockey-crazed Canadian city nearly 1,000 miles northeast of Seattle.

The weather is heating up - temperatures were expected in the 80s this week - and so has Cuddyer. He was the Twins' Minor League Player of the Month in June after batting .319 with 12 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .735 slugging percentage.

Cuddyer also has showed promise in the outfield after moving from third base last season.

``I'm starting to get used to the outfield and getting better at it every day,'' said Cuddyer, who has played sparingly at first and third base this year. ``Right now the outfield is my place and where the Twins see me.

``A couple of years ago third base was where they saw me. It's just a matter of getting to the major leagues.''

Two Norfolk Tides also will be in tonight's Triple-A All-Star Game: Infielder Marco Scutaro (.345 batting average, 7 home runs, 25 RBIs) and catcher Jason Phillips (.294, 10 homers, 55 RBIs).