Carlos Zambrano threw 60 pitches in the bullpen Sunday afternoon and said "I feel so good I could pitch tonight." Actually, he will be back Friday. "I feel unbelievable," he said. "The ball was really coming out of his hand well," said pitching coach Larry Rothschild. "He should be fine."The Cubs forced Alfonso Soriano to take a day off from batting practice, but the proclamations that he could be ready before the All-Star Game -- which were originally taken as being overly optimistic -- now seem to be correct. "Our medical people say [Soriano] is the fastest healer they've ever seen," says Cubs general manager Jim Hendry. "It looks as if he will be back before the All-Star Game."Mananger Lou Piniella and Rothschild are close to being sold on pitcher Sean Gallagher.But everyone knows the Cubs need one more front-line starter. They doubt they have enough to get C.C. Sabathia, although Hendry constantly touches base with Indians GM Mark Shapiro. They are monitoring Oakland; Rich Harden may be the best pitcher in the game. (Former teammate and current White Sox player Nick Swisher thinks someone should take Harden for this pennant run, then make him a closer). Everyone seems wary of Erik Bedard's makeup. There's interest in Randy Wolf, who despite his 14 team "no-trade" list would go to a contender. Wolf made a lot of friends in the Cubs organization by calling Hendry to explain why he chose the Dodgers over the Cubs for personal and family reasons when he went to L.A. The Cubs also keep looking at A.J. Burnett, in case. They'd love Aaron Cook, who apparently isn't available, and have kicked around Bronson Arroyo and Kevin Millwood.Wolf makes sense, and the Padres still like Matt Murton. So perhaps that's a quick fix, unless they decide to try to get Greg Maddux to leave San Diego."It may come down to July 28," says one Cubs official. "But we almost certainly will do something. But we really don't want to give up Gallagher at this point."Do not be surprised if Cleveland moves quickly on Sabathia. The Yankees have lurked, although it's clear Brian Cashman doesn't want to do it. Texas is not in. Pat Gillick and the Phillies shouldn't be overlooked. Tampa Bay has lurked, but Rays people say there's no way they can sign him after the season, and their focus is on a right-handed bat, with Xavier Nady and Murton on their radar. There will undoubtedly be a sleeper team or a team that will move once they see Shapiro will deal quickly.I am with Buster Olney -- the Brewers make the most sense if they can figure out a way to take some of the Ben Sheets money and give it to Sabathia. Two of the best evaluators I know say Milwaukee's Huntsville club is the best prospect team in the minors. Another says Huntsville has five legitimate starting major leaguers, and another club rates Huntsville "the best prospect team our scout's ever seen." Doug Melvin may not trade shortstop Alcides Escobar, but when you're talking about a bat like Matt LaPorta and a pure hitter like Matt Gamel (both over 1.000 in OPS), there's lots to discuss. It's a monumental gamble, but Sabathia is a great pitcher. The Cubs obviously respect the Cardinals and what they did without Albert Pujols and Adam Wainwright, but they are all concerned about the Brewers. "They have a lot of talent and a lot of guys who haven't gotten hot yet," says Piniella. They also know that the Brewers have an antsy owner and that Melvin is one of shrewdest general managers in the game."*****There is one remaining interleague game between the Yankees and Pirates (a makeup game to be played July 10), but the fact that the American League is up 149-102 with a run differential of 0.8 per game shouts that baseball still appears to be Div. I and Div. I-A. While the White Sox had their crosstown battle with the Cubs, the Tigers, Twins and Royals snacked on the National League.Obviously, this is not a one-shot deal. Look at the past three years:Also, other than the Cardinals in 2006, the Red Sox and White Sox swept three of the past four World Series. The AL is 10-0-1 in the last 11 All-Star games. They've won 11 of 16 World Series.*****The maple bat issue seems simple because of the safety factors. But players argue it's not that simple, that what they need to do is guarantee that the weight is no more than two ounces less than the inches in length. "One problem is that we're told they're running out of ash," says White Sox hitting coach Greg Walker. "Just eliminate these 35-inch, 31-ounce bats with the narrow handles."The White Sox, for example, have only two players who do not use maple bats. "Kids can get hit by line drives in the front rows," argues Brian Anderson. "I got a broken bat in my neck -- Derek Jeter fouled off a ball, broke an ash bat and it stuck me in the throat," says A.J. Pierzynski. "We need the maple bats, we just need to regulate them."*****Look, there is a lot more that's going to bubble to the surface from the Dave Wilder scandal. Wilder let the Feds know about the practices of other teams. White Sox people say it has really hit Jerry Reinsdorf, who is as loyal to his employees as any owner in the business. It has extended to Bud Selig, who pushed hard for clubs to interview Wilder for vacant GM positions. An example of Reinsdorf's loyalty is that he called Fred Wilpon to tell him that he named "an outstanding person and man" in Jerry Manuel as his new manager. Piniella wants to see if managers will now get one game suspensions for bumping umpires. Brian Runge baited Carlos Beltran and bumped Manuel and got one game. Piniella "billed" an ump last year --meaning the bill of his cap touched an ump -- and he got four games. A joke. Runge got one game, but Jon Lester got three for hitting Carl Crawford with a 72 mph curveball. *****These things should matter, nearly as much as the $7 billion revenues. Message to the Commissioner's Office: There are a lot of peripheral issues that are at the heart of the game's integrity that are not being run with interest, or a high degree of competency.*****You don't often see a coaches' room glued to television analysis, but last Friday Cubs coaches were to Ron Darling's astute breakdown of the lackluster starting stance that goes into the erratic drifting of Jose Reyes. Alan Trammell, who should be in the Hall of Fame, was extremely impressed by Darling, not knowing that Darling was once the MVP of the Cape Cod League as a shortstop. Darling showed how Reyes often is standing straight up and flat-footed as pitches get into the hitting area.Then, over the weekend, Reyes got picked off second base in a one-run game with David Wright at the plate on one of Andy Pettitte's "B" moves. On Sunday, Reyes threw a tantrum over an official scoring call. Issues remain with "Team ADD" -- as Joel Sherman calls the Mets. And can someone explain to me why they won't go after Kevin Millar --who Pedro Martinez thinks would be perfect for that clubhousebecause he was tricked into being a replacement player in 1995 when the Mets gave Guillermo Mota a two-year contact when they knew he also was a '95 replacement player and had tested positive for steroids?*****There are a lot of players and agents who are very nervous knowing Jeff Novitsky is still out there scouring for the drug dealers. Between Novitsky's diligence and that list of positive testers from 2003 that the union never destroyed, there are a lot of players who can still end up in the public crosshairs.*****There has to be a way that Terry Francona can name these three players to the American League All-Star team: 1. Milton Bradley, DH, Texas. 2. Brandon Morrow, P, Seattle. 3. Joakim Soria, P, Kansas City. Bradley remains in a league of his own in OPS. With David Ortiz out, Bradley should be the starter at DH.*****White Sox GM Ken Williams maintains that unless a starting pitcher gets hurt he will probably pass on the trade market. "I don't see a need to tinker with the mix," says Williams. "We have a nice blend of youth and experience, and I don't want to mess with it. The 12th pitcher on this staff (Adam Russell) throws 98. I think we're in pretty good shape with our pitching depth."That said, the White Sox have been fortunate. They've only had one game started by anyone but their front five of Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Javier Vazquez. Through this past weekend, the Cardinals, Yankees and Marlins had lost more than 700 days to the disabled list, while the Dodgers have spent $22 million on the players they have on the DL. On the other side, the White Sox are leading in terms of general health, losing less than 125 days to what are mostly insignificant injuries. According to the esteemed Will Carroll, they are one of three teams, along with the Royals and Marlins, who have lost less than $2 million so far.Florida's case, when you've got a $20 million payroll, it's hard to lose much salary to the DL. It remains mind-boggling that the Marlins, on June 30, were in second place, two games ahead of the Mets with a payroll that is less than half that of the second lowest-paid club.