The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 MLB trade deadline.CHICAGO — Staying in character, this is how Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell described his unfiltered reaction to the breaking news that the Los Angeles Dodgers were acquiring Tarik Skubal late Saturday night: “I was half-asleep, and then fell asleep five minutes later.”This is not just a bit for the daily media briefings. The Cubs have created a working environment in which the players stick to regimented routines, and the coaches look for solutions rather than dwell on all the pitching injuries. The club’s style of play is crisp, fundamentally sound and a reflection of their manager’s personality.Roughly 30 hours ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, Counsell shrugged at the idea of the American League’s back-to-back Cy Young Award winner joining a team going for a World Series three-peat.“Inevitable, whatever, everybody’s got a shot to do it,” Counsell said. “Credit to them for doing it.”Andy McCullough helps you process the Skubal tradeAndy McCulloughCubs executives Jed Hoyer and Carter Hawkins still have time to better equip their team for October. One prominent option is Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman, who made two quality starts against the Los Angeles Dodgers in last year’s World Series.On Sunday, though, Counsell’s focus was on that afternoon’s game against the New York Yankees at Wrigley Field, an eventual 2-1 loss to Gerrit Cole and a lights-out bullpen. The Cubs manager did not linger on what could have been or what might happen next.The Cubs checked in with the Detroit Tigers about Skubal and monitored the situation, but club officials anticipated another organization would be better positioned and more incentivized to trade for the All-Star lefty, who will become a free agent after this season.The Cubs remain heavily active in the search for starting pitching, according to sources who were granted anonymity to freely discuss the club’s ongoing plans. But giving up a top-100 prospect (or a young player they similarly value) for a rental is unlikely, even for a pitcher of Skubal’s caliber. That thinking might have changed with a division lead, easier access to a first-round bye and higher World Series odds, but that’s not Chicago’s current reality.It all leaves the Cubs as the other team when Skubal is expected to make his first start in a Dodger uniform Tuesday night at the Friendly Confines.“The thing about the Dodgers is they do so many things so well,” Cubs pitcher Matthew Boyd said. “They’re in that (cycle) of their franchise where they’re going to be in on everybody. They’re chasing their championships, as other people are, too. When it’s all said and done, it’s not surprising.“When I was growing up, it was, ‘The Yankees are going to sign this free agent.’ It doesn’t matter who it is, it’s the big free agent, they’re going to sign him. That’s kind of where the Dodgers are at right now.”The Cubs believe they have a deep enough farm system to pull off multiple moves, including a bigger deal to add an impactful starter under club control beyond this season. Chicago’s organization doesn’t have an abundance of the young pitching talent that rival teams traditionally seek at the trade deadline, but the Cubs are encouraged by the numerous position players who have taken steps forward this summer.The question the Cubs face is whether teams value their prospects similarly — with some of the calls they’re getting, they believe at least some do — and whether prices will reach a point they can stomach.José Soriano has been on the Cubs’ radar. (Ross Turteltaub / Getty Images)Along with Los Angeles Angels starters Reid Detmers and José Soriano, the Cubs are also interested in Seattle Mariners starters George Kirby and, to a lesser extent, Emerson Hancock. To swing a deal of that magnitude would require a significant amount of prospect capital.The Cubs are willing to do that for the right pitcher, but they’re still looking at rental starters as well, a group that includes Gausman, Clay Holmes and Brady Singer.If the Skubal option wasn’t that realistic, then trading for Freddy Peralta in the middle of a disappointing season wasn’t all that appealing, either. Continuing their sell-off, the New York Mets shipped Peralta to the Tampa Bay Rays for a trio of prospects in Sunday’s deal.“Tarik’s going to an awesome situation,” said Boyd, who helped mentor Skubal at the start of his major-league career when both were in Detroit. “And it’s our job to beat him.”When asked if the Cubs think they can beat the Dodgers and win the World Series this year, Cubs catcher Carson Kelly was definitive.“Absolutely, with the guys in this room and the way that we’ve played,” Kelly said.Kelly, another one of Skubal’s former Detroit teammates, acknowledged the ups and downs the Cubs have experienced this season. The club worked around a barrage of pitching injuries as well as a collective offensive slump during a 10-game losing streak. The formula involves Gold Glove defenders all over the field, Pete Crow-Armstrong’s ascension as an MVP candidate, plus different pitchers taking advantage of opportunities.“We can win in so many different ways,” Kelly said. “With the defense and the pitching and the overall whole of the group, we believe we can go win a World Series.”If the Cubs really want to challenge the Dodgers this fall, that internal confidence will have to be displayed by Monday’s deadline. Two-plus hours later, Boyd is scheduled to throw the first pitch in a three-game series that could be a playoff preview.“When the dust settles at the end of the year, there’s probably a good chance we’re going to line up with them at some point,” Boyd said. “It doesn’t matter who’s on the other side. It doesn’t change what we do. We have a very, very good team, and we’re going to attack it.”