The Los Angeles Dodgers are interested in Pirates starter Paul Maholm, an industry source outside the team said this afternoon.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4058/...406f215a_o.jpgMaholm
There has been no indication from the Pirates that Maholm or any player is on the trading block, though they have acknowledged that they will listen to offers.
Maholm, a 28-year-old left-hander is the Pirates' highest-paid player on the active roster at $4.5 million -- second baseman Aki Iwamura is continuing to make his $4.85 million salary in the minors -- and he is coming off a three-hit shutout Sunday of the Astros. Overall, he is a team-best 6-7 with a 4.03 ERA.
This is Maholm's official page.
A report yesterday by Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown described the Dodgers as aggressively pursuing starting pitching in advance of a challenging stretch of games inside the West Division, writing that they have asked about Houston's Roy Oswalt, Chicago's Ted Lilly and others.
On Sunday, general manager Neal Huntington reiterated that the Pirates do not expect to be as active at this July 31 trading deadline as with previous ones: "This year, we've got some guys that we're not really motivated to move. If we get a good baseball trade, we'll make it. But we're beyond the prospect collection mode, and we're trying to move forward with this group."
UPDATE 4:43 p.m.: Some of the athletes are having fun at Maholm's expense because of this. Andy LaRoche placed his old blue Dodgers bat bag -- coincidentally, also with No. 28 on it -- in front of Maholm's stall.
"Can't believe I still had that thing," LaRoche said.
Maholm, not one easily fazed or distracted, simply smiled and shrugged when asked about it.
4:48: John Russell was asked about the possibility of Maholm being traded: "Paul's good for us. I haven't heard a lot of talk. Obviously, this time of year, everybody starts poking around, especially when guys start doing well. Whether teams leak it out or just want to leak it out because it might be something good ... Paul's good for us. He'll get you a quality start every time out, and guys like that are important to your rotation."
