As has been rumored for about a month now that the Cubs have been trying to sign former Pirates pitcher Paul Maholm. Well, according to a number of sources, they signed him today.
Maholm was 6-14 this past year, but put up some decent numbers outside of that. As I recall, he got hurt near the end of the season...but it's too late and I'm not going to bother to look it up.
The Pirates declined to pick up his $9 million option for 2011.
Terms of the deal haven't been released, so until I know what those are, I'll refrain on stating whether or not this is a good deal.
Maholm isn't a top of the rotation starter, but he's a serviceable left hander who has recorded a couple of pretty good seasons in his 7 year big league career. He walks a few too many for my taste, but gets ground balls and keeps the ball in the ballpark.
With Maholm in place, the Cubs currently have Travis Wood, Ryan Dempster, and Chris Volstad set in the rotation. Now we see if Garza sticks around or if Randy Wells is the 5th starter.
