Rozner: Cubs put Epstein in position to add

The silly season is officially underway.

The two weeks leading up to baseball's trade deadline are not unlike the days heading into the NFL Draft, when teams are rumored to be trading down, trading up and trading out, not to mention reaching for players listed nowhere in a mock draft.

The same applies to MLB's non-waiver trade deadline, where teams in a seller's market are already sending out bad information about trade possibilities and contract extensions, hoping the media will drive prices even higher.

All of it will inspire some of the most ridiculous trade rumors of the season, and perhaps no team will be at the center of more gossip than the Cubs.

There's no doubting that Cubs president Theo Epstein has been conversing with teams for weeks, dipping his toes in the water and taking the temperature of GMs around the game.

But it's gotten more complicated since the Cubs had a bad month.

Had the Cubs continued on that absurd pace of the first 10 weeks, Epstein might have been more willing to sell off a significant portion of the future for a better shot at the present, but if anything the Cubs' poor finish to the first half might make them pause and take a closer look at what they are in 2016.

The Cubs might have a somewhat muddled view, not knowing precisely where they stand with their starting rotation, because if Jake Arrieta, Jon Lester and John Lackey don't get back on track, they can no longer be considered the favorites to win the World Series.

So how the Cubs perform over the next week or 10 days might go a long way toward deciding how serious they will be about filling holes around the roster, and Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel certainly helped the second half outlook with strong starts this weekend.

Obviously, they would like to get better at the back end of the bullpen. This is hardly news. The Cubs have been looking at that since December and could certainly use an arm or two late in the game to stabilize their short relief.

If their starters are sharp, they don't need much more than that on the pitching staff because their starters will be going deep into games in the postseason. If they aren't pitching well and pitching deep, the Cubs can't win anyway.

So they don't need to rework the entire pen. Once you get to October, you hope your starters can get you into the seventh, and then you need a couple big arms to finish off the game.

But the search for bullpen help doesn't mean adding a starter is out of the question.

"We're always looking at trying to find long-term starting pitching. It's super important," Epstein told reporters Friday at Wrigley Field. "Sometimes the trade deadline can be a better forum for that than the off-season. Sometimes it's not.

"And then this time of year it's important to stay focused primarily on this year's club. You can't think too far in advance in baseball, especially when you have a contending club and the chance to do something special."

Epstein has also worked hard to create an environment where young players can flourish and where players enjoy being together. He's not about to mess up that chemistry and risk long-term damage for the potential of short-term gain.

"There are so many variables. Things change. The way you look right now might not be the way you look in September," Epstein said. "Keep an open mind and understand things are going to change.

"We're going to have injuries the rest of the way. We're going to have guys really step up and improve. We're going to have guys who stumble."

The Cubs have already had their share of injuries and young players step up, and there will be more of both over the next three months, but what they do in the short term may play a role in what Epstein decides to do long term.

The better they play the rest of July, the more willing Epstein might be to move assets and add significant pieces as they creep up on the Aug. 1 deadline.

Mostly, the Cubs' need their big three to pitch big. The sooner the better.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.