Hearing from Dan Duquette, Tommy Hunter and Chris Tillman

I'm still buried in pregame quotes and I'm trying to dig my way out.

Let me present you with a sampler platter. More is on the way.

Dan Duquette on today's trades:
"We were able to make a couple of trades to help our team and try to get ready to get back to the playoffs. We're real happy and excited that we were able to pick up (Gerardo) Parra. He's one of the top hitters in the National League this year and he fits the profile of an everyday position player for us. Two-time Gold Glover, he can hit against left- and right-handed pitching and he's very good at getting on base. He's got some really good numbers at the top of the order. He's a good set-up hitter and a good defender to play in the field. That should keep our defense strong, help our pitching, and his presence at the top of the lineup should be real additive. That's an ingredient that we've been missing and we're glad to have him join us."

Duquette on whether he feared that Parra deal wouldn't happen:
"The price is steep this time of year because there's a lot of teams that are chasing a couple of good players. I saw during our research on Parra, he's the leading hitter in the big leagues since May 1 in terms of average. He's been hitting the ball really well. He's desirable to a lot of teams, so the cost is significant. We gave up a good young pitching prospect in Zach Davies. Has a good changeup, he represented the team in the Futures Game and he got off to a good start in his career. It's a credit to our farm system that we have the players available to trade. And again, I think when you're close and you have a chance to get into the playoffs, you've got to do what you can around these deadlines to strengthen your team and keep going toward the goal."

Duquette on trading Tommy Hunter:
"Tommy Hunter's done a nice job for the team. We had him for five years. He came over from Texas and basically established himself as a major leaguer here. He did some good work for us. I remember the time he struck out A-Rod in the playoffs. That was a real high point. He's going to a new team, a good situation. And for us, we have some younger pitchers who are going to come up and join our team that have options, but also have a lot of talent. Mike Wright's been here. He's done a nice job. Mychal Givens has been here. He's done a really good job in Double-A. And invariably in our conversations with other teams, after Kevin Gausman the two pitchers they wanted next was Mike Wright and Mychal Givens. So other teams have identified them as ready for the big leagues. So now, we're going to give them an opportunity. It's a lot easier to manage a pitching staff and the workload when you have pitchers on your staff and in your bullpen that have options. And based on the workload and availability you're able to send players with options out to get a fresh player. And that's how we've been able to successfully manage our pitching staff. This allows us to do that."

Duquette on whether trading Hunter also was about freeing up money for Parra:
"Believe me, we added. But at the same time, we have other very capable pitchers coming into our bullpen. Tommy Hunter is going to be a free agent at the end of the season. And the players that are going into the bullpen not only have talent but they can also do a very responsible job for the club in the future. We just thought this was a good opportunity to make a transition with the bullpen and help us manage our pitching.

Duquette on Orioles never being sellers:
"We're always looking to buy and add to our team. And the reason for that is our run differential. We've been scoring more runs than we've given up. That tells me we are in this race and we're still competing for this season. I think our fans, our players, our organization, are going to do what we can to get to the next step."

Duquette on Junior Lake:
"Junior Lake's a 25-year-old right-handed hitter. Been with the Cubs his whole career, came up with the Cubs organization as a shortstop. Good athlete, good hitter. He's got about 600 plate appearances. He's hit a little over .240, shown flashes of power and he's been working with Manny Ramirez down in Triple-A and he's become a lot more of a selective hitter. Looking for his pitch, hitting the ball to right-center field, using the whole field. I think he's going to be a helpful player for our team. He's a lot like Jimmy Paredes was a year ago when we picked him up from Kansas City. This kid has had a trial with one organization. He's made some adjustments at Triple-A and I'm anxious to see how that's going to play when he comes back. I like his power. I like his versatility. I'm sure we'll find an opportunity to give him a shot."

Duquette on whether Lake will join Orioles in September:
"He's got a year experience because he played in the big leagues this year. He's going to go to Triple-A for now. He's a pretty good ballplayer. He's hitting over .300 at Triple-A. He's on-base almost .400. He's slugging almost .500. That generally plays in the big leagues."

Duquette on being in the market for pitching:
"We're always looking to add pitching. It's a little more difficult with the waiver period. Everybody has to go on waivers and you have to get permission of the other clubs to move the contract. There'll be a little bit of a lull in the transfer of players from team-to-team, but there will be some other opportunities. We'll be looking to add to our team."

Duquette on decision to DFA Bud Norris:
"That was a tough decision. Bud had a really good year last year, really good. Won the playoff game for us against these Tigers, just a terrific game. This year he hasn't been able to re-establish that. We tried him in the starting role. We transitioned him to relief and he just didn't have a lot of success. We're going to try and find a spot for him with another club. That was a disappointment, I think. I know it's a personal disappointment for me. I was disappointed we couldn't help him perform more or he couldn't perform better this season because he had a great year last season."

Duquette on attempts to trade Norris:
"We explored that with every club we talked with. He's not throwing the ball real well right now."

Duquette on whether he's optimistic that Norris can be traded:
"I'm not sure about that. We're going to try. He's a veteran pitcher. He's healthy. That's what's puzzling. I'm disappointed we couldn't find a solution to that."

Tommy Hunter joking about wanting a playoff share from Orioles:
"I've got a mouth to feed now, a little baby on the way, and diapers."

Hunter on when he'll join Cubs:
"I'm going to go home and give my wife a hug and see what she wants to do. I guess get out of here tomorrow. I'm not real certain on the plans now. Say goodbye to the guys, pack up and take the next step."

Hunter on whether it's easier to be traded after it happened in 2011:
"Easier. It is baseball. And I will reiterate about being traded once before makes this whole process a lot easier. You know what to expect. You expect certain things. It's definitely easier the second time around than it was the first. The first was not the easiest situation. These guys, I don't think they didn't want me. It's about other teams, too. It was a move they made. Live with it. Go play ball. See you guys around sometime. Smile and have a joke."

Chris Tillman on his left ankle:
"Sore, sore, which I expected it to be. It's actually a little better than I was anticipating. I'm a second-day sore guy, so it's kind of day-to-day from here. See how it feels."

Tillman on how he injured the ankle covering first base:
"I didn't even take a step. I picked up my foot and sat it down and I felt it. Some discomfort and I think just wanted to make sure. Normally you get swelling in the ankle and there was no swelling. Wanted to make sure. Just typical."

Tillman on whether he can make Monday's start in Oakland:
"I don't think it's going to be anything serious. If it's not my normal start day, maybe a day or two days tops. But it honestly could very easily be my day."

Tillman on severity of injury:
"I'm pretty sure it's just a basic sprain. From what I've heard from the doctors and trainers, it's just a sprain."

Tillman on Norris:
"It is frustrating, especially for the starting pitchers. We're close with him, and it's almost like we failed at the same time. It's a bummer because we're all in it together. We live and die with how each other does. He knows that and we know that. It's as disappointing for us as it is for him."