CHICAGO — While the Chicago Cubs have engaged in preliminary trade conversations, a team source described those check-ins as standard due diligence. With two months until the Aug. 3 deadline, and a pitching staff dragged down by injuries, the expectation remains that the club will first have to find internal solutions.Edward Cabrera, who’s been dealing with a blister on his right middle finger, will “likely” be activated to start this weekend against the San Francisco Giants, according to Cubs manager Craig Counsell.Matthew Boyd, who was coming back from a surgical procedure on his left knee, has another rehab start scheduled for Saturday with Triple-A Iowa. “And then he’s good to go,” Counsell said, “assuming that goes well.”In the big picture, even the Cubs are beyond the point of saying it’s still early and assuming that everything will be fine.“This has been a wake-up call, I hope, for everyone,” Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon said after Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to the Athletics at Wrigley Field. “Nothing’s going to be handed to us.”Barring another 10-game losing streak that craters their playoff chances, the Cubs, who believe in the core group that won 92 games and a playoff round last year, intend to be buyers at the trade deadline. The franchise already planned to exceed this year’s $244 million threshold and pay the luxury tax, an investment that looked solid during the club’s two 10-game winning streaks in April and May.The up-and-down nature of this season will force Jed Hoyer’s front office to read and react. The Cubs somehow have the same record as the rebuilding Chicago White Sox (32-29), and they trail the first-place Milwaukee Brewers by eight games in the loss column.A snapshot of the standings through June 1 also showed 12 of the 15 teams in the American League either in a playoff position or within three games of a postseason spot. In the National League, 11 of the 15 teams had a winning record, and two of the exceptions were the Giants and New York Mets, two big-market clubs with enormous financial commitments that will make it difficult to concede early.