The trade deadline is fun to talk about for media and fans.

Any time there is a flurry of activity where players change rosters and teams make transactions is an enjoyable time for the people who consume and analyze/write about/talk about this game.

But one thing that can sometimes get lost in all the trade deadline chatter is that these aren’t pieces on a chess board or players in a video game. These are real human beings who hear the rumors and have to deal with the uncertainty of where they will be employed in a few days.

Jameson Taillon is facing that situation right now.

[WATCH: Taillon’s postgame press conference]

Back in December of 2022, the Cubs signed Taillon to a 4-year deal. He still has 2 more seasons left after the 2024 campaign but he has nonetheless found himself in trade rumors.

Part of that is the Cubs’ position – 5 games under .500 after Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Brewers – and part of that is the lack of viable sellers at the deadline. There are not many starting pitchers on the market and there are not many teams that are in sell mode with parity running rampant around the game.

Whether the Cubs trade Taillon or not remains to be seen. He has continued to perform at a high level for this team and did so again Tuesday night.

In a crucial game against the division-leading Brewers, the veteran right-hander pitched into the 8th inning and allowed only a run on 4 hits and 3 walks. He took the tough-luck loss but kept his team in the game all night.

Afterwards, he was honest about where the team is at currently and voiced his own thoughts about how he wants the next week to go.

“I’ve had a great time here,” Taillon said. “I love showing up here every day. It’s a great group of guys. I think we’ve said it a lot – I feel like we should be better than we are. But to this point, we just haven’t gotten it done and results speak louder than any words we can say.

“I would love to stay here. I chose coming to Chicago and being a Cub. So that’s where I’m at.”

With the strong outing Tuesday, Taillon is now 7-5 with a 2.96 ERA and 1.15 WHIP this season. He has been a consistent force in the rotation since making his season debut in mid-April after a back injury slowed him in Spring Training.

This is the type of pitcher he – and the Cubs – knew he could be when he was signed in free agency a year-and-a-half ago.

But the first season on the North Side didn’t go according to plan for Taillon. He carried a 6.93 ERA through his first 14 starts in the 2023 campaign before a strong showing to end the year.

After he was taken out of the game with 1 out in the 8th inning Tuesday night, the Wrigley Field crowd of 37,651 gave him a nice ovation and it was a perfect full circle moment for Taillon.

“Yeah, those moments are cool,” he said. “Those are moments you’ll never forget. I can tell my kids about it one day. All the hard work – it’s nice to make people happy and be acknowledged and stuff like that.

“And then on the flip side, even when I was struggling last year, I’d say even more important than getting any sort of ovation is I never had anyone in the streets talk bad to me or I never felt like I was getting booed and nothing got out of hand with that. So I just have a lot of respect for the fans and stuff from that front.

“Because if you show up every day and you’re getting booed and you’re struggling and you already put pressure on yourself, it could have spiraled. And just having the support probably helped push me through and get me to where I am.”