The MLB trade deadline is still over a month away but the rumors and news are still dominating talk around the league.

Which teams will sell? And which players will be available?

The Cubs will be among the buyers, as they hold a 2.5-game lead in the NL Central even after dropping three straight games, including a difficult loss Tuesday night in St. Louis.

And they would certainly look to target pitching, as Jed Hoyer has already suggested for weeks.

Given that there is still so much time before the July 31 deadline, teams are not likely to jump the market and make moves in late June or early July. So, a lot could change over the next few weeks.

But that didn’t stop ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel from ranking the top trade deadline candidates — and a lot of the top names are linked to the Cubs.

That list includes:

3B Alex Bregman
RHP Sandy Alcantara
3B Eugenio Suárez
RHP Seth Lugo
RHP Zac Gallen
RHP Merrill Kelly
RHP Luis Severino
RHP Tyler Mahle
RHP Zach Eflin
RHP Walker Buehler

ESPN ranked players by their value to the new club, not necessarily their likelihood of being traded.

The eight starting pitchers on the list all make sense, as the Cubs have been linked to rotation help all year — ever since Justin Steele went down for the season in April and Shota Imanaga followed with a two-month absence for a hamstring injury.

That need has been underscored during the Cubs’ recent downturn. Jameson Taillon and Ben Brown each gave up eight earned runs in their starts against the Cardinals this week and Colin Rea was tagged for seven runs during Sunday’s loss to the Mariners.

Even with Imanaga coming back on Thursday, the Cubs clearly have room for another quality arm in the rotation.

Alcantara is the most notable pitcher — and ranked No. 3 on ESPN’s list with a 60% chance of being traded — and has been the most common name linked to the Cubs this season.

The Miami Marlins are clearly selling and Alcantara represents their best asset. He will turn 30 in September and is under team control through next season as well.

Alcantara is coming off Tommy John surgery — he missed all of 2024 — and struggled at the outset of this season but he has a 2.74 ERA in June and was the NL Cy Young Award winner in 2022 when he led the league with 8.0 WAR, six complete games and 228.2 innings to go along with a 2.28 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.

[MORE: Former Cubs infielder wants team to target Sandy Alcantara]

Lugo was the runner-up in AL Cy Young voting last season, going 16-9 with a 3.00 ERA in 33 starts for the Royals.

Gallen and Kelly are both on the Diamondbacks, who remain just 2.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the NL. But Arizona just lost star Corbin Carroll to injury, as well as starting catcher Gabriel Moreno and Suárez. They are also without their ace Corbin Burnes, who underwent Tommy John surgery. So the D-Backs very well may determine it’s time to sell by the time late-July hits.

As for the position players, it’s certainly an intriguing idea.

Rookie Matt Shaw has promise as the Cubs’ top-ranked prospect entering the season, but after going 1-for-4 Tuesday night, he is now hitting just .220/.297/.311 on the year.

It is not unreasonable to think the Cubs might be looking for a possible upgrade at third base a month from now, and Bregman and Suárez fit that bill — if they’re available.

ESPN gives Suárez a 50% chance of being dealt but only a 10% chance for Bregman.

The Cubs made a strong push for Bregman in the offseason before he signed a deal with the Red Sox in spring training. He is having another strong year, hitting .299 with a .938 OPS, 11 homers and 35 RBI. Bregman has been on the IL since May 24 with a strained right quad.

But there are complications, as ESPN writes:

His $40 million salary — and the chance to opt into two more years at $40 million annually — significantly shortens the list of teams that would take on his deal.

The Cubs have the prospect capital to go out and acquire impact players at the deadline. Let’s see what path Hoyer and Co. take next month.