While not making it their intent this year, the Royals once again have a handful of players they may be interested in flipping this summer. Doing so could fetch some helpful minor leaguers, while clearing the way for younger Royals to gain valuable experience. It’s exactly what happened last season, and it’s the only thing that could salvage this wretched campaign.

The players in the clubhouse know it’s coming. It’s a harsh reality, but one they accept. It affects them professionally – who wouldn’t want to be traded from a cellar-dweller to a playoff contender mid season? But it also affects them professionally – should they move their families for what could be only a couple of months?

“It really doesn’t affect your daily approach to things at all,” said Terrance Gore, who was acquired late in the 2018 campaign by the playoff-bound Chicago Cubs from the Royals. “It more affects your family more than anything. You may have to pack up and leave at any point and time on short notice. But as a player it really doesn’t affect you. You just go out there and play the game the way you’ve been playing.

“If it happens, it happens. Sometimes it’s a good thing. Sometimes it’s a bad thing. But leaving the Royals, because I’ve been with the Royals so long, it’s definitely a bad thing, because I’ll always be a Royal no matter where I go. But if it happens to you, it’s just something you have to live with.”

Major League Baseball set a hard deadline for trades this year – July 31 is the cutoff. So deals may start happening a little earlier than in years past.

Players like Gore understand that deft trades at mid-season can change history. When the Royals won the 2015 World Series, it was in large part due to the trade-deadline acquisitions of Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto. And last year, the Royals were on the selling end, shipping Moustakas at the deadline to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jorge Lopez and Brett Phillips.

“Every player does look at it as an opportunity,” Gore said of being traded to a contending team. “It’s a chance to contribute to something special.

“We look at it as a business. Sometimes giving away one player you can get two players in return that will make the team better in the long run. I’m always a Royal, and anything that will help the organization in the long run, I’m cool with it.”

A few one-year flippables on the team might have some value on the trade market. First and foremost is Jake Diekman. While the bullpen has been pretty awful as a whole, the 32-year-old lefty has been tough, with a WHIP barely above 1.00 and more than 13 strikeouts per nine innings. The Royals signed him to a one-year deal knowing he could very well be trade bait.

Sadly neither Wily Peralta nor Brad Boxberger – other relievers on one-year deals – won’t attract similar trade interest.

Homer Bailey’s hot and cold performances might not attract a great haul, but some team in need of a starter might give him a try.

Two one-year position players might bring some prospects, if just the right trade partners can be found.

Martin Maldonado holds tremendous value for any contending team who finds itself in need of a catcher down the stretch. Maldonado is a whiz defensively and has shown he can quickly bond with a pitching staff. He won’t be a difference maker with the bat, but he could save a season for a team in need of a rock behind the plate.

Outfielder Billy Hamilton has failed to provide much offense, but the rest of the league knows what he can do: play great defense and steal bases. A team that could use a late-game pinch runner and defensive replacement could get some real good out of the 28-year-old speed demon. Trading Hamilton would also open a spot for prospect Bubba Starling to finally make his long-awaited debut.

The Royals should do anything and everything necessary to trade all of the players mentioned above. None of them fit the organization’s future plans, and will just be taking up space if they are on the roster after July 31.

And none of them hold any sentimental value to the organization. That cannot be said, however, for Alex Gordon, whose contract runs out after this year as well. Would the Royals actually consider trading the local product, the pillar of the franchise and fixture in the community?

Other teams have traded cornerstone stars at the deadline – Justin Verlander, David Price and Yoenis Cespedes are just a few from recent years. But for a beleaguered club to trade a guy who’s labored faithfully for 13 years is hard to envision.

Other difficult deals to swing could involve guys with more than one year left on their contracts. It was reported (although General Manager Dayton Moore denied it) that the Royals are open to trading nearly everyone on their current roster.

If a deal can be found for Ian Kennedy, the Royals shouldn’t hesitate. He shows some potential as a reliever, but he won’t be with Kansas City past next year, and his contract is an albatross.

Whit Merrifield would probably bring the most in return, and the Royals might be open to dealing him, despite having three very affordable years left on his contract. If Jorge Soler continues to crush home runs, he might also have value on the trade market. And Danny Duffy might be attractive to some team.

Those three players should only be traded for a haul in return, as they each hold value for the ongoing rebuild. But if enough is offered in return, none should be considered untouchable. Gordon might fall in a different category, and it would understandable if the Royals choose to keep him.

Otherwise, let the wheeling and dealing begin!

Homer Bailey says the thought his career might be over after 2018 never crossed his mind. But over the winter he had plenty of doubters.

Bailey signed with the Kansas City Royals to a minor league contract when it would seem few other teams were interested. Royals general manager Dayton Moore is known for turning over rocks in search of rebuilding help, and Bailey was worth the minimal risk.

Bailey isn’t setting any worlds on fire yet, but the results are positive enough.

Embarrassing as it was, you can discard Thursday’s disaster in which Bailey was drubbed after four solid innings. The defense behind him was much of the problem. Bailey entered Thursday with a 4-3 record in eight starts, a 4.83 ERA, and 38 strikeouts in 41 innings.

Bailey has been arguably the Royals best starter in 2019, though that bar isn’t set very high. Brad Keller, Jorge Lopez and Jakob Junis have all struggled, and Danny Duffy was late to the party due to injury. While he’s had a couple of rough outings, Bailey has also had a few very good ones. He two-hit the Cleveland Indians over seven shutout innings on April 13, then five days later he held the New York Yankees to just three hits and a run over six innings. On May 10, he held the powerful Philadelphia Phillies to just one run on four hits over five innings.

“We’ve got a couple of months ahead of us before we can say that (it’s been successful), but it feels great right now,” the 33-year-old said recently.

Bailey wasn’t assured much when he signed with the Royals. He had a glossy resume, but everything good on it was outdated. In fact, the veteran pitcher hadn’t posted an ERA below 5.56 since the Royals reached the 2014 World Series. His 9-27 record wasn’t just the product of pitching for the dreadful Cincinnati Reds. He was flat out bad, for a long period of time.

What now seems like ages ago, the Reds once placed the hope of their future on Bailey’s shoulders, and seemed well on the way to being rewarded for that faith. The seventh player picked in the 2004 amateur draft, by 2009 Bailey was one of a group of hot young pitchers that included starters Johnny Cueto, Mike Leake. Edinson Volquez, and flame-throwing reliever Aroldis Chapman. Those young guns helped the Reds finish first in the National League Central in 2010 and again in 2012.

Bailey’s career reached its zenith when he fired a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in September 2012, then repeated the feat against the San Francisco Giants in July 2013. Foreseeing greatness in his future, the Reds invested $105 million in the next six years of his career.

It all went downhill from there, and fast. Off to a good start in 2014, Bailey was shelved midseason due to “arm fatigue.” The problem eventually led to diagnosis of torn ulnar collateral ligament, which necessitated Tommy John surgery. Other injuries and surgeries followed, and both Bailey and the Reds went off the deep end.

Things hit rock bottom when, finally relatively healthy in 2018, Bailey was saddled with an embarrassing 1-14 record for the hapless Reds. Desperate to off-load some of his onerous contract, the Reds traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who promptly gave him his release.

Still believing in himself, Bailey sought a place to recover. Enter Moore and Royals pitching coach Cal Eldred.

“I never had any notions that I wasn’t going to get the chance somewhere,” Bailey said. “I was prepared for this season to happen, I just didn’t know where for a while. After talking to Dayton and Cal this offseason, it felt like this was going to be a really good fit this year.

Bailey was guaranteed little aside from a chance in spring training. But Bailey knew better than anyone the status of his health, and he believed a return to the majors was a good bet. He sensed his best shot was with the Royals.

“The conversations I had with Dayton and also with Cal were what it took,” said the 13-year veteran. “Talking with Cal about how he likes to prepare different things, and his philosophy about pitching in general, it seemed like he was just a really good fit for me personally. It felt like he was someone I would work really well with.”

Moore has shown that reclamation projects like Bailey are one of his strong suits. Ryan Madson, Kris Medlen, Joe Blanton, Peter Moylan, Chien-Ming Wang and Mike Minor are all pitchers the Royals have scooped up off the scrap heap and reinvigorated.

Moore’s motivation is not just to find quality pitching to fortify the Royals’ staff. He sees the opportunity to turn discarded pitchers into tradable assets. A player like Bailey on a one-year contract who performs well for half the season could be flipped for minor leaguers that bolster the franchise’s rebuild. He was never seen as a long-term piece for the Royals. But he could bring them some prospects who help make the Royals winners again.

It’s certainly a promising scenario for Bailey. Just a few months ago, he had little opportunity to make a big-league roster. Now he seems destined to be dealt to a playoff team by August. And if his effectiveness holds out, he might be in line for another multi-year contract in 2020.

But they might not recall quite so readily the one man who, perhaps more than any other at the time, was credited with bringing winning baseball to Kansas City.

Remember “Big Game” James? Remember “The James Shields Trade?”

Shields was a hard-nosed “gamer” who relied upon guile and tenacity as much as his formidable talent during the short-lived heyday of the Tampa Rays.

Seeing that they had talent, but not a winning culture, the Royals raided their then top-flight farm system to acquire Shields, not realizing at the time that a secondary piece, Davis, would eventually solidify the Kansas City bullpen in the championship season.

But the December 2012 deal is not called “The Wade Davis Trade.” And there is a reason for that.

Forget that Shields was not the pitching star of the 2013 and 2014 Royals. His role was bigger than that. He led the pitching staff like a Pied Piper, showing the likes of Ventura and Danny Duffy how to be professionals. He taught the team to despise losing. He demonstrated what it takes to be a winner.

Now four seasons after the Royals allowed Shields to depart via free agency, Shields recalls his role in Kansas City.

“I just brought energy every day,” Shields recalled. “I brought fun back into baseball over there.”

He recalled that the Royals’ talent was unmistakable. But the team was young, unproven and uncertain of itself when he arrived.

“Losing, obviously, isn’t fun,” he said. “They were stuck in that rut, just trying to figure out who they were. I just tried to keep the guys loose, and tried to help them feel like a unit.”

Shields provided his typically gritty effort against the Royals on Friday. He soldiered through 6.2 innings, throwing 109 pitches, to collect the win.

“It’s baseball,” he said when asked about his feelings for his former team. “I loved my time there, but I’m with the White Sox right now. That’s just the business.”

Valued for his leadership and clubhouse presence, Shields continues to find himself with clubs stuck in rebuilding mode. Since leaving the Royals, he pitched for the San Diego Padres when they went just 74-88. Then he was traded to the White Sox, who are in a prolonged rebuilding process and are currently just a tick better than the moribund Royals. He said his role is the same now with the struggling White Sox pitchers as it was in Kansas City.

“It’s just being able to slow the game down,” said the 13-year veteran. “The game’s a lot faster in the big leagues, and these young guys are just learning that. We all have to slow the game down. Even veterans, sometimes the game speeds up on us.”

Due to his winning pedigree, Shields has found himself a part of a lot of losing lately. So he’s not unsympathetic to the plight of the 2018 Royals. But he said he believes the right ingredients are in place for an effective rebuild.

“Those guys have created a great culture. The organization itself is amazing. I had a lot of fun playing in KC.

“At the end of the day, they’re going to pull it together. They’ve got a good group of guys in there, including (veterans) who have been there and kind of know what’s going on and how to lead those guys.”

The Royals just drafted a passel of pitchers, including using their first five picks on college arms, to stock their empty farm system. None of the current top seven Royals prospects are pitchers, but they just took a few who might crack that upper echelon.

Immediately thereafter, the Royals added even more pitching prospects by trading rent-a-player Jon Jay.

But why was there such a dearth of arms in their system in the first place?

The problem was created in the summer of 2015 when the Royals traded five minor league pitchers to acquire Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto for the World Series run. None of the 800,000 who jammed downtown Kansas City for the parade complained about the price paid to acquire Zobrist and Cueto.

Dayton Moore calls pitching “the currency of baseball,” and he spent it with conviction to gain the crown.

Now, with a flag flying over Kauffman Stadium and no pitching talent in their farm system, it’s time to evaluate the cost.

On July 26, 2015, the Royals traded reliever Brandon Finnegan plus minor league pitchers John Lamb and Cody Reed to Cincinnati for Cueto, the starter they needed to get over the hump.

Then just two days later, to acquire Zobrist, the Royals dealt Sean Manaea, their prized pitching prospect, and Aaron Brooks, a reliever who had seen some time in the Kansas City bullpen.

The price seemed appropriate, but losing Finnegan and Manaea was a bitter pill to swallow. It only grew more distasteful as Manaea became the ace of the Oakland staff.

So when Manaea tossed a no-hitter on April 21 of this year, Royals fans couldn’t help but reflect on which could have been. Considering the failure of Danny Duffy and Ian Kennedy this season, and the struggle of Eric Skoglund to adjust to the big leagues, Manaea would look awfully nice fronting that group.

Manaea said Royals fans shouldn’t view it that way.

“It worked out for both sides. I’m really happy for where I am right now, and really happy for how it worked out for the Royals,” said the 26-year-old lefthander who is scheduled to face the Royals on Sunday. “It was awesome when they won the World Series. I couldn’t have asked for anything better for them. They did a really good job putting it together at the end (of 2015).”

Manaea said he wasn’t excited at the time to be traded away from the team that drafted him in 2013, but knows that it made sense.

“It was weird at the time, but ever since I got (to Oakland), everybody’s been really cool and I kind of eased into being a part of this team. So I was really fortunate that the Royals gave me a chance, and I understand that (being traded) is just a baseball-type of thing.”

Much as the Royals might wish they had Manaea in their rotation today, they didn’t lose much in dealing the other four pitchers.

Three years after the Cueto trade, the Reds aren’t benefitting at all from it. When the Reds come to Kansas City on Tuesday, they’ll bring none of the three former Royals with them.

Finnegan looked like a stud in his stint with the Royals, and trading the 22-year-old probably stung more than the loss of Manaea at the time. But after a solid 2016 in Cincinnati, Finnegan hasn’t accomplished much. He’s currently laboring in the minors, as are Lamb and Reed.

Brooks, meanwhile, hasn’t pitched in Oakland, or anywhere in the majors, since 2015. He was traded that winter and hasn’t resurfaced from the minors.

So the cost of the championship was essentially just Manaea. Unfortunately for Kansas City, however, other pitching prospects have failed to pan out, or have succumbed to injuries, leaving the Royals’ farm system nearly devoid of pitching prospects.

Now one of the worst teams in baseball, the shoe is on the other foot for the Royals. They are in a rebuilding process, with plenty of pieces to trade in Kelvin Herrera, Mike Moustakas, Lucas Duda and Jason Hamel, all of whose contracts are up after this season. The Royals might even decide to make others such as Whit Merrifield and Duffy available if the price is right.

Will any of these trade pieces bring a return like Oakland got in Manaea? One can only hope.