CHICAGO — Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer is searching for pitching depth in the trade market, but might be in wait-and-see mode until the end of the month.

“We’ve had a lot of conversations with teams,” Hoyer said Tuesday afternoon. “These things ramp up, they take a little break at draft time, then they ramp up again after that.

“When it comes to acquiring depth, we’re on the lookout. We’re talking, but with the realization these things trend towards late July.”

The Cubs’ lead in the NL Central has shrunk after the team went 13-13 in June while its starting rotation’s ERA sunk to 23rd in the league entering Tuesday night’s game against the Cleveland Guardians. But as has been the case over the past several seasons — due to the addition of a third wild-card team in each league — there are only a few teams clearly looking to deal this early in the process.

The summer trade deadline is July 31.

“There’s a handful of teams that know where they are, but there’s a lot of teams in the middle,” Hoyer said. “I don’t think the market has really defined itself at this point.”

Hoyer indicated he might have to be “creative” with trades, citing the potential for multi-team deals.

The Cubs are also concerned with innings piling up for a couple of starters who didn’t play full seasons a year ago due to injury. Left-hander Matthew Boyd has been fantastic but had only eight regular-season appearances in 2024, while rookie Cade Horton made only nine appearances — all in the minors.

Add in the fact the Cubs want to strengthen their bench and bullpen, and this could be a busy trading season for them.

Hoyer was asked if he has the resources for potential additions, and if this was a year to go for it considering Chicago has been in first place since early April.

“This team has played really well,” Hoyer said. “Let’s wait 30 days and make that determination. … Financially, I’m comfortable that we’ll be able to address the needs we need to address at the deadline. That’s not something I’ve questioned or thought about at all.”

Hoyer cited attendance at Wrigley Field for helping the Cubs’ financial flexibility, as the team ranks seventh in per game average at 36,689 — despite a particularly cool spring.

Eventually, the conversation turned toward free-agent-to be Kyle Tucker, who was acquired from the Astros over the winter for prospect Cam Smith and two other players. Tucker and Smith both had good series when the teams faced each other over the weekend in Houston.

Hoyer was asked if Smith’s success might push him more to sign Tucker to a long-term deal.

“Kyle is the kind of player you want to keep,” Hoyer responded. “We’ll be talking to (agent) Casey (Close) about that at some point, but ultimately you have to go into that negotiation with a value. You have to do that with any negotiation. I don’t think that (Cam Smith’s play) changes anything.”