The scene, July 30 -- When Dustin May's teammates wrapped their arms around him in the Cardinals dugout Wednesday, the gesture was not celebratory. It carried the weight of a goodbye that had not been announced yet - the kind of hallway handshake that moves faster than a front office press release.

the 28-year-old right-hander is available, the conversations with buyers are real, and the August 3 deadline is three days away.

The Cubs entered Wednesday's trading-day noise as the most prominently linked destination, with one report describing a deal as a "deadline shocker" - language that signals genuine surprise not at the trade itself, but at how deep Chicago is willing to reach into its prospect well to pull it off.

May signed a one-y...