Malone Finds Market Thin for a Left-Handed Reliever

General Manager Kevin Malone was busy scouting high school players Wednesday for the June amateur draft, but his thoughts were also focused on the Dodgers’ immediate needs.

Trying to acquire a reliable left-hander for the bullpen has consumed much of Malone’s time. The Dodgers don’t have one on the 25-man roster.

“I’ll tell you, those guys are hard to find,” Malone said. “We’ve been talking about this for a while now, and we’ve been looking hard.

“The problem is, the guys we’re looking for don’t exist. I mean, there are left-handers out there, but just not the ones capable of upgrading our roster. Believe me, I’ve looked.”

Malone has spoken with many teams about potential deals, but top left-handers aren’t available. Of course, that’s not surprising.

“I analyzed it again just yesterday,” Malone said. “Let’s say there are about 40 left-handers out there, 25 of them are not really available. The 15 that are don’t do enough to really help you.”

Onan Masaoka and Jeff Williams are expected to help the Dodgers. However, the young pitchers struggled and are trying to correct their problems at triple-A Albuquerque.

Dennis Cook has topped the Dodgers’ wish list since Arthur Rhodes signed with the Seattle Mariners in December.

Malone discussed a trade with Met General Manager Steve Phillips, but the Dodgers weren’t willing to move a pitching prospect when Cook was briefly available in the off-season. Cook is off the market now.

Malone said the Dodgers must fill their void from within.

“We have to get Masaoka and Williams fixed,” he said. “They’re the guys who have to do it for us. We could look [outside] forever and not improve our situation, that’s just the bottom line.

“The good thing for us is that our right-handers can get left-handers out until they’re ready. We’ve been fortunate so far because our bullpen is good, but there could be some urgency at some point.”

*

The Dodgers continue to seek deals to create roster flexibility and trim payroll.

The emergence of rookie right-hander Matt Herges has made costly reliever Alan Mills expendable. Mills is owed $2.25 million this season, $3 million next.

Other clubs are especially interested in Albuquerque right-hander Mike Judd and Masaoka, several player-personnel sources said. The Dodgers have rejected several offers for Judd the last few seasons and refused to include Masaoka in the Shawn Green-Raul Mondesi trade.

Will the Dodgers soften their stance on trading Judd and Masaoka?

“Well, it’s like [Chairman Bob Daly] says, ‘We never want to say never,’ ” Malone said. “We like those guys a lot, and we’d still prefer not to move any of our young pitchers.

“Will we have to use one of those guys [in a trade] to help us in another area? We might if we can’t make it work any other way, but we’re not close to that point yet.”

TODAY

DODGERS’

CHAN HO PARK

(3-1, 3.38 ERA)

vs.

BRAVES’

TERRY MULHOLLAND

(2-2, 5.33 ERA)

Turner Field, 10 a.m. PDT.

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330).

* Update--Park hopes his blister problems won’t recur against the Braves. The right-hander was forced to leave his previous outing after a blister formed on his right middle finger. Team trainer Stan Johnston has been treating the area around the tip of Park’s finger. Park said his command was good after his bullpen session Tuesday, but it remains to be seen how his finger responds during a game. “It’s good now,” said Park, wearing a protective bandage while his skin hardens. “I feel ready, I just have to go pitch.” Mulholland had a complete-game victory in his last start. The left-hander has fared well against the Dodgers in his career, going 8-6 with a 2.08 ERA in 26 appearances.