Jed Hoyer made it clear: the trade market isn’t necessarily open right now.

So, the answers to the Cubs’ offensive woes are going to have to come from within.

“I’m not trying to be stubborn and say we’re not going to look outside this group. We absolutely will,” Hoyer said before the Cubs’ series opening loss against the Giants on Monday. “I just think we have to be realistic on June 17 … this is the group that is going to need to start hitting in order to get where we need to go. No one player is going to change that dynamic today.”

The Cubs offense — which ranked 6^th in baseball in runs last season — has struggled for a massive chunk of this season.

Three everyday hitters, Nico Hoerner (94), Christopher Morel (94) and Dansby Swanson (84) are below-league-average hitters by weighted runs created plus. Both catchers, Miguel Amaya (54) and Yan Gomes (17) are struggling, too. That’s nearly half the Cubs’ lineup performing poorly.

But the hitting woes have been pronounced the last six weeks or so — especially in clutch situations.

Entering Monday’s contest, since April 27 (the day after the Cubs went a season-high 8 games above .500) the team is hitting .171 with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in baseball in that stretch and nearly 40 points below the next closest team (Oakland). Their .275 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position is the worst mark, too.

“I mean, that’s how you score runs,” Hoyer said. “Ultimately, you have to get hits in big spots. Taking that last series [against St. Louis] as a microcosm, multiple chances late in games [where] a single ties it or a single wins it and we haven’t been able to get those hits.”

The Cubs are still very much in the thick of playoff contention. Even with Monday’s heart-wrenching loss, they are only 2 games out of a wild card spot and that’s why the Cubs are still entertaining the idea of additions in about a month.

In a hypothetical sense, trading for a superstar middle-of-the-order bat would be a great addition for the Cubs. That hitter could help the Cubs’ woes in clutch situations, yes, but a hitter like that won’t be joining the team anytime soon – if at all.

And ultimately, it’s just one hitter, who likely will go through ups and downs of his own. So production from the rest of the Cubs’ lineup will still be critical.

“I think there’s no question that that guy impacts the hitters above and below and I think that yes, in the theoretical [it impacts a team], but like, the trade market isn’t really open at this point in the summer,” Hoyer said. “At this point, certainly the answers have to come from within.”

And ultimately, it’s just not the time where teams want to necessarily sell. Teams don’t want to wave the proverbial white flag this early and if they do, they’re going to want a massive overpay in prospect capital to do it.

“I talk to many teams every day, and the idea of making significant transactions in June is unbelievably difficult,” Hoyer said. “At times, it’s impossible because teams aren’t gonna do that to their own fan bases. So, I just think that the focus has to be how do we get these guys going? And that’s the way we kind of treat every day here.”

Hoyer and the Cubs still believe the Cubs have the potential to turn it around.

After all, through April 26, the Cubs were the best slugging team (.505) in the majors and were 7^th in batting average (.280) with runners in scoring position. He and the Cubs brass hope this is just a prolonged dry spell and that they’re close to turning a corner.

There were some signs Monday night. It looked like another day where the Cubs were just struggling offensively. But with 2 outs in the 7^th and runners on first and second, Seiya Suzuki delivered an RBI double to tie the game. Then, Ian Happ crushed a 3-run home run onto Waveland Avenue to give the Cubs a 3-run lead. Ultimately, though, the Cubs bullpen faltered late, as Héctor Neris blew the save opportunity — the Cubs’ 16th blown save this season, tied for second-most in baseball.

“We have to start hitting and allow our relievers to challenge with fastballs late in the game and not feel like every pitch has to be perfect,” Hoyer said. “A lot of our challenges are kind of one thing — we’re not scoring enough runs. We start scoring runs a lot of elements of the game get a lot simpler.”