Asked about possibly acquiring a starter by the non-waiver trade deadline July 31, General Manager Ned Colletti said, "You can't force it a priority." He added that his main goal was to land a late-inning reliever.
Because so many teams are still playoff contenders -- only 4 1/2 games separate first place from fifth in the NL Central -- Colletti said it's hard to determine which teams will be buying and which will be selling.
The Dodgers are looking at top-of-the-line starters such as Roy Halladay of Toronto and Cliff Lee of Cleveland, but trading for either of them will be costly.
Among the Dodgers' in-house options:
* Weaver, who is probably headed back to being a long reliever, as Torre has repeatedly called him a calming influence of a young bullpen.
* Rookie James McDonald, who won the job in spring training, only to post an 8.48 earned-run average in four April starts.
* Jason Schmidt, who hasn't pitched in the majors in more than two years. Schmidt's immediate future could be determined by how he pitches today in a rehabilitation start for triple-A Albuquerque.
* Eric Stults, who has spent the last three-plus years shuttling back and forth between triple A and the majors. Pitching for Albuquerque on Saturday, he gave up two runs and five hits in six innings at Memphis.
"We have candidates and opportunities," Colletti said.
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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com
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DODGERS TODAY
AT MILWAUKEE
When: 11 a.m. PDT.
Where: Miller Park.
On the air: TV: Channel 9; Radio: 790, 930.
Pitchers: Clayton Kershaw vs. Yovani Gallardo.
Update: Kershaw has settled down in recent weeks; the 21-year-old left-hander is 3-0 with a 0.61 earned-run average over his last five starts, all Dodgers victories. Kershaw ranks third in the majors with a .204 opponents' batting average and fifth in the National League with 9.13 strikeouts per nine innings. He was outstanding in his last start, tossing six scoreless innings Tuesday in an 8-0 win over the Mets. Gallardo was hit hard the same night, giving up four runs, six hits and five walks in five innings against St. Louis. He has never faced the Dodgers.
-- Dylan Hernandez
