What once was a few weeks of rumors from beat writers about what might happen, producing a couple of lines in a notebook and an occasional headline if something was close, has morphed into a full-blown, 24/7 job. Some outlets, notably The Athletic and the aggregating site MLBTradeRumors.com, provide nonstop shopping for rumor seekers. The gambling aspect obviously has increased interest, along with social media and the addition of a third wild-card team in each league, which means more mediocre teams are still in contention at the deadline. As of Saturday, only a half-dozen teams were more than 4 1/2 games from a wild-card spot. Executives go under the cone of silence weeks before the deadline, leaving managers and players to answer speculative questions. Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was in no mood to play along Saturday before the Cubs beat the New York Yankee…

“Go ask Jed,” is my rote response. “He’s not returning texts.” The beauty of the trade deadline is it gives every fan a chance to be a general manager, conjuring up deals to improve their favorite team and proving to themselves why they should be the GM. One of the occupational hazards of being a sports reporter is hearing unsolicited trade proposals, and that’s especially prevalent with both the Cubs and White Sox looking to buy at the same time, a rarity in Chicago. Everyone naturally had a deal to get Skubal and offers a return of prospects that would make Tigers President Scott Harris roll his eyes. Getting Skubal would’ve made Hoyer so popular he could have his own stage at Lollapalooza, but it was a long shot to believe the Cubs finally would reel in the big one. What will Hoyer do now? I’m not sure even Hoyer knows until he actually does it. There are only a co…