General managers with shopping lists already are making calls to the Marlins and Royals (14 arbitration-eligible players) about possible trades. San Francisco, desperate for a proven bat, is expected to pursue one-dimensional second baseman Dan Uggla. The Giants also may kick the tires on first baseman Paul Konerko of the White Sox and Derrek Lee of the Cubs, both of whom have full no-trade clauses. They probably would have to deal a young pitcher—Jonathan Sanchez or Matt Cain. They're considered expendable because lefty Madison Bumgarner is climbing fast. …

White Sox broadcaster Steve Stone, on the Dodgers' three-game sweep of the Cubs: "I'm shocked Los Angeles was able to overcome the Cubs' mystique without having a priest bless their dugout with holy water.''

Ozzie Guillen on Vazquez, pitching staff: "I have a good pitching staff. I don't have the guy who is going to step it up and fight for a Cy Young and win 20. I've got a good enough pitching staff to compete, and that's all I have."

"Javy is a consistent pitcher sometimes, and we haven't scored enough runs for him. [But] sometimes he hasn't pitched well enough. I don't have an ace here.

"What you see is what you get. The guy struck out 200 people every year, but sometimes he makes bad pitches and gets himself in trouble. When Javy attacks the strike zone and is aggressive, you're going to see a good day from him."

Jose Contreras' rehab could take up to a year

My letter to the Sun-Times. Don't know where he came from, but if we never see Cowley again that's fine.

Mr. Tucker,

Just a quick note to thank you for today’s recap of last night’s Sox game. It’s the first time in a long time that a game story told a tale of what actually happened on the field! No drama, no gossip, no @#$%-stirring or controversy, just the facts as they happened. In fact, I couldn’t believe I was reading the Sun-Times.

Thanks again, keep up the good work!

Poreda to the rotation?

Greetings From Ozzie Guillen: "Get ready for the warnings. I signed a five-year deal with this organization and we play Kansas City a lot. They play with fire. I respect everybody at the pro level. But enough is enough."

A Virginia company claims to have a urine-based test for human growth hormone that could be used to drug test athletes two weeks after its use, rather than 48 hours or less.

The company, Ceres Nanosciences, says the test eliminates the need for blood tests to detect HGH. Players' associations have pushed back on blood tests. Ceres says its test can be available within six months, through the World Anti-Doping Agency.

The story was first reported by the Washington Business Journal.

Current tests track HGH use only within the past 48 hours. The two-week test, and having it be urine-based, would theoretically make it harder for athletes to evade an HGH test.

A WADA spokesman said the organization is encouraging Ceres to continue researching the test. No worldwide studies have been conducted.

"Jermaine is as hot as doughnut grease right now," Nick Swisher said. "He's doing his thing, and we're just trying to get as many guys on for him as we can. Overall, this was a good series for us. We've got a long way to go."

The Red Sox are deep in conversations with the White Sox on a trade that would send infielder Juan Uribe to Boston, according to sources.

Uribe is batting just .225 in limited playing time this season, but his three home runs are one more than all Red Sox shortstops have hit. Boston shortstops are 28th in the majors in runs scored and 23rd in RBI.

It's not clear who the White Sox would get in return for Uribe, but one possibility is Alex Cora, the utility infielder who has fallen out of favor in Boston. Cora's brother, Joey, is the White Sox's bench coach.

The White Sox want to rid themselves of Uribe's $4.5 million contract, perhaps in hopes of rekindling talks with Baltimore about second baseman Brian Roberts. If the White Sox could acquire Roberts, or another second baseman, they could shift Alexei Ramirez to shortstop and trade Orlando Cabrera, possibly to the Dodgers.

The possibility of trading for Roberts and then dealing Cabrera was first reported by FoxSports.com.

Chicago is still looking for a starting pitcher to replace injured Jose Contreras. They could try to deal Cabrera for Derek Lowe, although the Dodgers don't have much depth in their rotation and would be hesitant to part with him.