CHICAGO — The Cubs added four players to their roster this week ahead of the MLB trade deadline, three of which were activated before the homestand began Friday.

Right-handed reliever Andrew Kittredge, left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers and utilityman Willi Castro were added to the Cubs’ roster Friday morning. In corresponding moves, Gavin Hollowell and catcher Moisés Ballesteros were optioned to Triple-A Iowa.

[MORE: How MLB analysts graded Cubs’ trade deadline deals]

The Cubs designated veteran reliever Ryan Pressly for assignment Thursday night in a move that cleared 40-man roster space for the new additions.

One more move still is coming, as Michael Soroka needs to be added to the active roster. The Cubs plan to start Soroka in Monday night’s game at Wrigley Field.

Noticeably absent from that group is a frontline starter who could tilt a heated NL Central race in the Cubs’ favor. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer discussed that at length Thursday, after the trade deadline had passed.

But both he and Cubs manager Craig Counsell believe the Cubs are a better team today than they were earlier in the week.

“We have a good team,” Hoyer said in a 1-on-1 interview with Cole Wright on Thursday. “We had a good team prior to today. I think we have a better team with more depth now, and I’m excited to see these guys go forward.”

Added Counsell before Friday’s game: “I think we successfully added to the foundation of this team. This is a good baseball team, and we’ve strengthened it.”

Now the Cubs can settle in and focus on the task at hand: Catching — and ultimately passing — the Milwaukee Brewers for the division title and securing a first-round playoff bye.

That task started Friday with a series against the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles, who sold off a few key pieces ahead of the deadline (including Kittredge).

As the calendar flipped to August and the Cubs had a more clear idea of what the roster looks like post-deadline, Counsell wanted to communicate a message to his team.

“I love this day because this is our group,” Counsell said. “This is the group we’re going forward with. And I think for the guys in the room, that’s a really good feeling.

“That’s my message to them today: This is who we’re going to have the fun with. This is who we’re going to go through it with. We’ve got a great three months ahead of us, and it starts today.”

Counsell’s message is clear: The rumors are in the rearview mirror. It’s time to play baseball.

But within that message was a key point: three months.

The Cubs have just two months left in the regular season, but this is a team that leads baseball in run differential and owns the second-best record in the game (one game behind the Brewers).

They are legitimate World Series contenders — and Counsell wanted to make it very clear to his team that the goal is to play deep into October.