Craig Counsell just sent the Cubs an unmistakable trade deadline message

What began as a dream season for the Chicago Cubs has begun to falter recently. The team is just 5-7 over its last 12 games, and the lead in the NL Central has now been whittle down to a mere two games over the Milwaukee Brewers (and 2.5 over the hated St. Louis Cardinals). At this point, it's clear that Chicago still has lots of work to do if it wants to be considered a true World Series contender, with potentially fatal flaws that need addressing at the trade deadline. And if it wasn't clear, Craig Counsell went out of his way to make sure it would be after Sunday.

It wasn't just that the Cubs lost the series finale to the Houston Astros, with Jose Altuve's two-run homer providing all the scoring in a 2-0 final. It somehow felt like all the cracks in the foundation were showing at once, cracks that were made all the more glaring thanks to how Counsell chose to manage in the later innings.

Craig Counsell put Cubs' trade deadline needs on full display in loss to Astros

Start with Altuve's go-ahead homer, which proved to be the difference in the game. Jameson Taillon had managed to keep Houston off the board to that point but was clearly laboring, already over 100 pitches as he prepared to face the heart of the Astros order for the third time. You'd think that would be the point at which a manager decided to go to the bullpen, especially in such a crucial game. Counsell, however, stuck with his starter, to disastrous results.

But really, this is on the Cubs' roster construction as much as anything. Sure, injury luck and a schedule that required them to play 26 games in 27 days both had something to do with that, but the reality is that Chicago doesn't have the pitching depth to let Counsell mix and match the way he'd like. The Cubs' starters don't have the depth to get into the late innings against tough lineups like this, and Counsell doesn't have enough relievers he can trust in order to feel confident about getting him through four-plus innings.

And that wasn't even the worst move Chicago more or less forced its manager to make on Sunday. With his team looking to get something going on offense after consecutive hits to start the top of the seventh, Counsell was able to call on Michael Busch off the bench. But after Busch popped out, things suddenly dried up: Counsell wanted to give himself a better option than light-hitting utility man Jon Berti in a key spot, but his only other option was ... fellow light-hitting utility man Vidal Brujan, who promptly struck out.

You could almost hear Counsell delivering a message to president Jed Hoyer from the dugout: This simply isn't good enough if you want this team to get through the NL gauntlet come playoff time. The Cubs have a rock-solid foundation upon which to build, including arguably the league's best everyday lineup. But for as good as Chicago's starting nine is, it takes more than nine hitters to win a title. You're going to need the ability to change a game with one at-bat; the ability to get the right matchup in the right spot is crucial come October, and right now Counsell's paper-thin bench doesn't afford that.

There's plenty of time for Hoyer to address the needs above. There are still weeks to go until the deadline, the team seems plenty motivated and it has a wealth of young talent to deal from. But Cubs fans better hope he gets busy, because if not, Counsell's decisions are going to continue to want to make them pull their hair out.