CHICAGO — By now, Spencer Jones is something of a trade deadline veteran.

And as a longtime top prospect in an organization that is almost always buying, he gets it, with rumors involving his name in potential trade packages constantly swirling at this time of year.

This year is no different, even if the setting is, with Jones getting a real opportunity for playing time in the big leagues instead of sweating out the days leading up to the deadline in a minor league clubhouse.

“Obviously the Yankees being the Yankees, they’re always in a position to acquire,” Jones said by his locker at Rate Field. “So in the minor leagues, I remember my first couple years, first times going through it, everybody’s kind of shaky, ‘What’s going on?’ People are thinking about that more than the game, and that’s not really the way to operate. But that’s just the reality of the situation. Obviously the older you are, and the more times you see guys moving to different places, guys coming, guys going, we just see it as part of it.”