“That’s something I tell every team I’ve had at the All-Star break,” he added. “The trading deadline is only two weeks away. It isn’t just this team, it’s every team I’ve had and it’s fact, it’s true.
“You see teams dropping out and, I mean, do you think Toronot would be listening to talk about trading Doc (pitcher Roy Halladay) if they were two or three games out versus 12 games out?”
Volquez progresses
Edinson Volquez played long toss Saturday, 35 throws from 120 feet and the next step comes Monday in Los Angeles when he makes 30 pitches off a bullpen mound.
The plan is for him to do three bullpen sessions, every other day, “Then I’ll be ready to pitch on rehab either for Louisville or Dayton next week,” said Volquez.
Volquez was holding his bobblehead that was passed out Saturday, “And look, somebody broke both my arms off (Francisco Cordero),” he said. “I like the bobblehead. It has a better nose than I do.”
Not quite Albert
Manager Dusty Baker asked how many home runs Albert Pujols has and when he was told it’s 34, he said, “He’s a one-man wrecking crew. That guy has a plan for every at-bat, the way Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds did. He’ll hit a home run to right, a home run to left, spit on a couple of pitches and hit a home run to center.”
Some mentioned to Baker that his own player, Edwin Encarnacion, started the second half by getting on base eight straight times (seven hits and a walk) and Baker said, “Yeah, but he ain’t quit Albert yet. If he gets close to being Albert, I’ll be happy as hell.”
Cameron’s view
Mike Cameron had some things to say after the play Friday on which umpire Kevin Causey called him for interference on a hard slide into Brandon Phillips behind second base, also calling out the batter, Ryan Braun at first base.
“This ain’t high school baseball, that was a high school call,”
said Cameron. “That was a boneheaded mistake by the umpire and he gave a boneheaded answer for it.”
The umpire, Causey, is up from the minors as a vacation replacement.
Quote of the day
Pitcher Edinson Volquez said he has been away so long that he won’t know how to find the mound, to which manager Dusty Baker said, “That’s OK, I’ll direct him
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