--RHP Santiago Casilla is slated to appear in a minor-league game Saturday (with high-Class A Stockton) for the first time since going on the DL with a knee injury. He's eligible to be activated Thursday. Aside from Stockton, he'll likely pitch a game for Class AAA Sacramento.
--Former LF Rickey Henderson, who'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July, took a tour of the Cooperstown shrine and was asked about steroids in the wake of Manny Ramirez's 50-game suspension. "I was never tempted. I was too fast," said Henderson, suggesting an oversized body would be detrimental to the running game. --1B Jason Giambi, who issued an apology of sorts after his leaked testimony emerged from the BALCO proceedings, was asked about Manny Ramirez's suspension on Thursday. "I just don't know the circumstances. I don't know anything about it, really," Giambi told the San Francisco Chronicle. "He's a phenomenal player, and that's going to have an impact on the Dodgers for sure. What he does for a team is amazing. He helps the guys ahead of him and the guys behind him."
--SS Orlando Cabrera is good friends with Manny Ramirez from their time in Boston. "If there's a guy in the game I admire, it's that guy," Cabrera told the San Francisco Chronicle. "But I'm not sure about anyone but myself. The only (other) person I can tell you is not doing something is my wife (Katie). Now it's about personal negligence. You have to cover your back -- I'm afraid to take anything, even a vitamin. My wife won't let me. You just don't know. The list of banned stuff, half of it on there you could get at GNC five years ago."
BY THE NUMBERS: 2.61 -- The A's bullpen ERA entering Sunday, the best mark in the majors at that point. Opponents were batting .188 against Oakland relievers, which was also the lowest mark in the majors.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "The guy is a great athlete. He's 6-foot-5, Greek physique, an all-state basketball player in high school." -- A's starter Dallas Braden, on OF Ryan Sweeney, who went over the wall in Texas to rob Ian Kinsler of a home run.
