Maddon on Cubs trades: 'what we need is right here'

Neither Cubs president Theo Epstein nor general manager Jed Hoyer was around to talk with the general media about trade possibilities Tuesday.

But Hoyer did go on Comcast SportsNet's pregame TV show and say: "We have a lot of hooks in the water."

The Cubs may be in the market for a starting pitcher to bolster the rotation. They also are trying hard to obtain a veteran backup catcher to take some of the load off Willson Contreras.

Manager Joe Maddon did say he didn't think another starter would hasten going to a six-man rotation.

"I hadn't even thought of it in those terms, actually," he said. "We've talked about that all year and still consider (Mike) Montgomery a highly viable person for that particular role. We have not even discussed that so I don't have a real solid answer for that. The only thing we have talked about is the inclusion of Montgomery at some point.

"I really think what we need is right here. I mean that sincerely. I think the guys have been trending in the right direction."

Vacuum away those bunts:

Joe Maddon is not a real big fan of the sacrifice bunt, especially with position players. Maddon usually has a detailed explanation for why he does or does not do something, and on Tuesday, he discussed his reasons for not bunting pinch hitter Ian Happ with runners on first and second and nobody out in the seventh inning of Monday's 3-1 loss to the White Sox. Happ struck out, and the Cubs wound up leaving the bases loaded.

"I always welcome strategical questions," he said. "Whenever I choose to do something, believe me, it's been rooted in having done it before and based on personnel. Furthermore, there's this bias about the bunt, which I still don't understand, and when you want to bunt with the wrong people. The bunting assumption is that if you were to bunt, something positive is actually going to happen. And I really have a hard time understanding that.

"There are times to do that, and a lot of it has to who's on deck, who's in the hole, who's the pitcher, what's the matchup look like. Can he actually move the baseball? Who's the strikeout? Who's not the strikeout? There's so much involved in just making that decision to bunt or when to bunt."

Maddon then got out his broom.

"When you make decisions, everybody makes them in this little bunting vacuum that they carry around with them," he said. There's a lot more to consider."

This and that:

Ben Zobrist led off and went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles in Tuesday's 7-2 victory over the White Sox. His first-inning double was the 500th extra-base hit of his career … Willson Contreras tied his career high with 4 RBI … John Lackey became the first Cubs pitcher to hit four batters since Moe Drabowsky on June 2, 1957 at Cincinnati.