OAKLAND, Calif. | First baseman Ross Gload appears to be a fixture in the Royals&#8217; lineup even if it means keeping a gimpy Jos&#233; Guillen in the outfield.</p><p>Manager Trey Hillman remains disinclined to shift Guillen to designated hitter and replace Gload at first with Billy Butler.</p><p>&#8220;Ross is very good around the bag,&#8221; Hillman said, &#8220;very sure-handed and more experienced. And Ross has been swinging the bat pretty good, both against left- and right-(handers). He&#8217;s had quality at-bats.</p><p>&#8220;Defensively, I don&#8217;t think the trade-off is good enough to make that trade-off defensively.&#8221;</p><p>Gload carried a .269 average into Tuesday&#8217;s game against the A&#8217;s at McAfee Coliseum but was batting .316 over his previous 33 games. He had one homer and 25 RBIs in 89 games.</p><p>Guillen played right field Tuesday despite a strained left groin. Butler served as the DH.</p><p>Hillman said Butler could play first in the future.</p><p>&#8220;Nobody is done anywhere,&#8221; Hillman said. &#8220;I&#8217;m not going to say you&#8217;re not going to see Billy (at first) but, for today, you&#8217;re going to see Ross at first.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ll see about (today). It&#8217;s a right-handed pitcher, so you&#8217;ll probably see (Gload), barring any injury, there again.&#8221;</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Skinned again</span></strong></p><p>Catcher John Buck underwent another head shaving by pitcher Gil Meche prior to Tuesday&#8217;s game.</p><p>&#8220;Yep, every fifth day until we lose,&#8221; Buck said. &#8220;I needed it. The growth was starting to define my receding hairline.&#8221;</p><p>Meche shaved Buck&#8217;s head last Thursday before he pitched seven shutout innings in a 4-2 victory over Tampa Bay.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Deadline approaching</span></strong></p><p>All appears quiet with the Royals as they approach the non-waiver trading deadline at 3 p.m. Thursday.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re filtering through potential opportunities,&#8221; general manager Dayton Moore said. &#8220;None at this point in time seem very appealing. We like our current club, and we don&#8217;t see anything happening at this point in time.&#8221;</p><p>Moore dismissed an ESPN.com report of a possible deal to send lefty reliever Ron Mahay to the Phillies for minor-league infielder Jason Donald.</p><p>Several teams have inquired about Mahay, who is 5-0 with 17 holds and a 1.81 ERA in 45 games. His two-year, $8 million contract runs through next season.</p><p>Donald, 23, is a shortstop whom many scouts believe projects better as a second baseman. He is batting .308 in 86 games at Class AA Reading with 14 homers and 54 RBIs.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Kaaihue promoted</span></strong></p><p>First baseman Kila Kaaihue&#8217;s breakthrough season at Class AA Northwest Arkansas earned him a promotion to Class AAA Omaha after Monday&#8217;s 10-4 victory over Springfield.</p><p>Kaaihue, 24, batted .314 in 91 games for the Naturals with 26 homers and 79 RBIs. He went two for five in Monday&#8217;s game.</p><p><strong><span class="subhead">Moustakas on tear</span></strong></p><p>Third baseman Mike Moustakas continued his recent hot streak Monday by going two for three with a homer in Class A Burlington&#8217;s 5-0 victory at South Bend. He has homers in three of his last four games and is batting .405 in his last nine games.