PITTSBURGH -- With Ryan Dempster possibly off the trade market now, the Chicago Cubs could end up taking a closer look at what red-hot pitcher Paul Maholm would fetch on the open market.

Maholm is on a run of five consecutive starts of six innings or more with one run allowed after holding down his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.

One rumor had Maholm possibly returning to his old stomping ground of Pittsburgh in a deal, but the Pirates effectively nixed that idea when they traded for left-hander Wandy Rodriguez on Tuesday.

Despite just coming to the Cubs this season, it’s not as if heading to a new team so soon would be easy for Maholm.

“It would be a huge transition,” Maholm said Wednesday on the “Waddle and Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “I have a wife and a son, and both of them are enjoying Chicago just like me, and that's the reason we decided to sign in the offseason.”

With team president Theo Epstein and general manager Jed Hoyer working the phones as they try to rebuild the roster, Maholm can still be moved. Unlike Dempster he does not have trade veto rights.

“We play for the postseason and want to do that, but we'll see how the next six, seven days go, or however long we've got,” Maholm said. “I'm not one of those guys who's going to go in to Jed or Theo and ask them or go to (manager Dale Sveum) and ask if he's heard anything. My job is to be prepared every fifth day, and that's what I'm going to do, expect to make my start on Sunday and see where we go from there.”

It isn’t like Maholm is itching to get out of town. He appreciates what the Cubs have done for him.

“That's one of the reasons I signed and gave them a (contract) option,” he said. “I finished last year hurt and everyone thought I was still hurt. They showed they believed in me and signed me, and I'm hoping to stick around for a good while. The fans are awesome.”

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Cubs pitcher Paul Maholm joined "Waddle & Silvy" to discuss trade rumors, Ryan Dempster and more.



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