The Chicago Cubs are looking to add frontline talent and depth before the July 31 MLB trade deadline. Jed Hoyer has been clear about that for some time.

The team’s president of baseball operations also has said those deals aren’t happening just yet, even with the calendar formally turned to July. MLB’s trade market still is settling.

Hoyer and his front office have been actively speaking with other teams, though, trying to be ready to make deals when the time comes.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with teams,” Hoyer said in a 25-minute meeting with reporters on-site in Chicago. “We’ll continue to have a lot of conversations, but these things ramp up.”

Hoyer said there’s typically a lull around the MLB draft on July 13-14, and then things get going again, but trade activity trends toward the end of the month.

“I think so many things happen over the next 25 or so games until the deadline,” Hoyer said. “The idea that a handful of teams that know exactly where they are, but a lot of teams are in the middle. …

“A lot of things are going to change. There are probably some teams that will sell that don’t expect to and vice versa. So, I don’t think the market is really defined yet.”

That’s the process. So, what’s the Cubs’ need? Starting rotation depth. That’s clear to all. Hoyer also mentioned overall roster depth, with an eye on the bench and the bullpen. And maybe some right-handed hitting. The batting order and the defense provided by it is, obviously, pretty darn good overall.

“You’re going to have injuries in the second half, and you have to be able to address those,” Hoyer told reporters. “We’re also looking to kind of raise our replacement level and raise our talent level. And that’s really the challenge, I think, acquiring guys that provide depth. I know we can do that. …

“If we find guys I think are better than our current alternatives, and that’s how you actually get better as a team. You know that that’s a little bit more difficult.”

The Cubs’ willingness to buy doesn’t come with many caveats. Hoyer said he’s “financially comfortable that we’ll be able to address the needs we need to address at a deadline. That’s not something I’ve really questioned or thought about at all.”

Hoyer also said the Cubs would consider rentals. They would consider acquiring a player with several years left on their contract, too, or under club control, which is an obvious preference.

Finding the right pieces to provide the push required for a team with World Series aspirations will be the challenge. It’s not just about wanting a player. It’s also about delivering the prospects the trade partner wants. That could happen in a competitive seller’s market, depending on how things shake out.

“I think that you have to be creative with the deadline,” Hoyer told reporters. “Certainly, there are years where it lines up relatively simply with a clear seller, and that seller happens to like your prospects. But there are plenty of years where you have to get creative and find a three-way deal, or, you know, find a more creative solution to it. And this year may be a year for those creative solutions if there’s a kind of a dearth of clear sellers.”