It’s the final countdown before the trade deadline, and with the calendar fast approaching the Aug. 3 cutoff, all eyes are on Major League Baseball’s 30 clubs to make a move — any move, really.In the time since our last Urgency Index, some things have changed, while others have stayed the same. After weathering a franchise-worst 12-game losing streak, the Marlins have found themselves eliminated from our exercise. Meanwhile, the Cubs, who’ve needed a starter and multiple relievers since the first Urgency Index on June 17, continue to top both categories. That much is especially true after Chicago DFA’d veteran Jameson Taillon on Monday.This week, it’s Tim Britton on bats, Eno Sarris on starters and Johnny Flores Jr. on relievers.Starting PitchersChicago CubsAmong the teams that are more likely to go to the playoffs than not, no starting rotation’s projected to be worse than the Cubs’. By runs allowed, they’ve only been 18th, so it’s fair to wonder if a team with this stellar of a defense can shrug off a weakness like this. Still, the batting average on a strikeout is zero and they need to do better than 23rd in starting rotation strikeout rate, especially as they face better offenses in the playoffs. The need is slightly more dire at the top of the rotation (their top three starters are 26th by OOPSY going forward) than the back (22nd by top five), which will make their shopping trip a little more difficult.Chicago White SoxWhether you look at their top three starters or their top five starters, the White Sox are 25th by projections. This isn’t some hallucination of future-looking numbers, either: the Pale Hose starters are bottom half in almost any stat you could use to judge a rotation. They have some intriguing young starters that are on the cusp, but are any of them truly ready to make an impact right now? And how willing will the team be to move any future value for present value in a season in which they’ve been surprisingly competitive? No reason to waste banked wins!Arizona DiamondbacksIt’s an ongoing problem for the Diamondbacks. They’ve scored runs with the best of them over the last three years — second in the big leagues in runs since the start of 2024 — but they’ve had a much harder time on the other side of the ledger. They’ve been a bottom-10 rotation in runs allowed since 2020, even. Will they buy more tepidly, considering the crowded wild-card race? Or will they try to buy a starter who can help them going forward as well? What do they think of their current window? How do they feel about their current pitching coaching? They’ll give us some insight into their thinking over the next week.Atlanta BravesThe Braves’ need isn’t as bad as the teams ahead of them. They rank pretty much middle of the pack no matter what projection system you’re using, and they have an ace’s ace in Chris Sale with a couple of injury wild-cards in Spencers Strider and Schwellenbach, who could still contribute at the end of the year. But a) that’s maybe not what a top contender wants to see and, b) the top of their rotation is a little better off than the back, and the back of a rotation is easier to fill via trade. That’s been the modus operandi for Alex Anthopoulos, too: get rentals that might just pop in the playoffs and get you all the way there. It’s worked before! They just need to find this year’s Jorge Soler on the bump.San Diego PadresNearly every projection system has the Padres’ rotation at the very bottom of the league, and that’s if you look at the top three or top five starters alike. Their rotation has allowed an ERA in the mid-fives over the last 30 days with the third-worst strikeout-minus-walk rate in the business. The only problem is that those woes have dropped their playoff probabilities down into the teens, so it’s hard to see them buying too aggressively. Maybe they’ll sell in a way that replenishes the rotation and makes them more competitive this year and in the future. Mason Miller, perhaps?