With Joakim Soria basking in the All-Star spotlight and the rest of the Royals scattered on their leisurely ways, let&#8217;s put on Dayton Moore&#8217;s proverbial hat and make some big-picture assessments.</p><p>As hungry as Royals fans are for a playoff run, we have to face up to the fact that this year isn&#8217;t going to be the dream season for which we&#8217;ve been waiting. The team is 10 games under .500 at the break, 12 games behind the White Sox in the division and even further behind in the wild-card standings.</p><p>It&#8217;s not as if the team has been unlucky, either. The Royals have been outscored by 61 runs this season and are actually a couple of games better off than they should be, given their runs scored and allowed. If anything, lady luck has been on their side.</p><p>Moore essentially has five core talents around which any future roster is going to be constructed: Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Zack Greinke, Soria and Luke Hochevar. With the trade deadline approaching, you view these players as your virtual untouchables. So are your top minor-league prospects like Dan Cortes, Mike Moustakas, et al.</p><p>With this in mind, let&#8217;s touch upon some players that I see as prime trade candidates in the upcoming trade season.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">David DeJesus</span></strong></p><p>Except for his disappointing 2007 season, DeJesus has been a remarkably consistent big-league player. There are only two differences between his borderline All-Star performance this season and his 2004 to 2006 seasons. First, he&#8217;s hitting more home runs. Second, he&#8217;s hitting an incredible .460 with runners in scoring position.</p><p>Is this the best season DeJesus is ever going to have? That&#8217;s the core question about DeJesus. He&#8217;s going to be a big-league ballplayer for a long time to come, but his value is never going to be higher than it is right now. At the same time, the fundamental paradox about DeJesus still exists. He&#8217;s not the dynamic defensive center fielder the Royals need at Kauffman Stadium, and he&#8217;s not the kind of power bat a contending team needs at a corner outfield position.</p><p>Moving DeJesus, packaged with a pitcher (or two), is the Royals&#8217; best chance at bringing in an impact young talent.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Mark Grudzielanek</span></strong></p><p>Grudzielanek is still an ever-so-slightly-above-average offensive performer for his position. His performance has remained steady well past the age when most middle infielders falter. But at 38, Grudzielanek is about as out of place on a noncontending team as Johnny Rotten at a quilting bee.</p><p>What market is there for Grudzielanek, who is in the final season of his contract? Probably not much. Among contenders, the Yankees have gotten a dismal season from Robinson Cano but certainly aren&#8217;t likely to give up on him. The Brewers may be ready to upgrade from the disappointing Rickie Weeks.</p><p>Nevertheless, anything you can get for Grudzielanek would be better than what you&#8217;ll have after his contract expires: nothing.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Gil Meche</span></strong></p><p>I get the feeling that the Royals are invested in Meche and not just in terms of dollars. His contract, which seemed outlandish when it was signed, doesn&#8217;t seem too bad considering the current going rate for starting pitchers. Meche is a solid league-average or above pitcher but is not an ace. As such, if you could move him in a DeJesus package for a true impact prospect, you&#8217;d have to do it. Besides the talent influx, you&#8217;d be freeing up a lot of dollars to boot.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Ron Mahay</span></strong></p><p>Mahay&#8217;s been terrific, no doubt about that. Middle relievers are the most fungible of assets and, generally speaking, you can get more for them from a desperate contender at the in-season deadline than you can over the winter. He&#8217;s another asset that could be part of an attractive trade package.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Zack Greinke</span></strong></p><p>What?! Nooo &#8230; we don&#8217;t want to really trade Greinke, do we? Certainly not &#8212; he&#8217;s emerged as one of the league&#8217;s best starters, and his prime seasons are still ahead of him. Here&#8217;s the question that only Moore can answer: Is there any hope of locking Greinke into a long-term contract? If the answer is a clear and emphatic no, then the time to start offering him is now. You don&#8217;t have to do it now, but it pays to be proactive in these matters.