Amaro expects to be a buyer, holds Phillies players accountable

ST. LOUIS - Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . .

The deadline to make trades without waivers arrives a week from Saturday. Like every general manager of a team still eyeing October baseball, Ruben Amaro Jr. has deployed his baseball people to explore every possible deal that might make the Phillies better.

At the same time, in an impromptu state-of-the-team update before last night's game against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium, he made it clear that there's only so much he can do.

"If we continue to play the way we've been playing, I don't know if there's a trade to make that would make us a playoff contender. We have to play better baseball or we're not going to get anywhere," he said candidly.

"It's really up to the players who are swinging the bats and pitching the baseballs. I can get Cy Young and Mariano Rivera and it wouldn't matter."

Despite that, Amaro said he doesn't envision turning into a seller over the next week-and-a-half.

"I don't think that that's going to happen, but I can't say 100 percent for sure. I view us as buyers and I view us as a team that's still going to be a contending team. But it's up to the guys in this clubhouse. It's up to them. They're kind of going to have to make it happen as they have in the past," he said.

The Phillies have won the National League East each of the last three seasons, but Amaro admitted that having the wild card as a possible ticket for admittance to the postseason makes a difference.

"Oh, yeah, there's no question. There's still that possibility," he said. "And, listen, our team can get as hot as anybody. But they're not going to be able to just turn the light switch on and have it happen, they're going to have to work to get there.

"Overall, the inconsistency the last couple months has been trying. It's been disappointing to me, frankly. And I think disappointing to the guys who are playing. I don't think they're particularly happy with the way they've produced. It's certainly something that has to change. We're just putting too much heat on our pitching staff to have to be perfect. And that's not how it works. That's not how we were built."