KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Friday afternoon, Royals general manager Dayton Moore sat on the top step of the home dugout at Kauffman Stadium. The day, Bubba Starling’s debut, was a boon for business. Starling was the focus among the reporters’ questions.



But the July 31 trade deadline loomed, so a reporter asked how active the Royals would be.



“If teams are interested in our players, we’ll be more active than less active,” Moore said. “We are not motivated to move any of our players that we have under control. So the players that would be most appealing for us to possibly move are players who are in the final years of their contracts.



“It’s just a matter if we can strike the right deal or not.”



Evidently, the Royals found the right deal for 33-year-old starter Homer Bailey. On Sunday, they traded Bailey to the Oakland Athletics for a piece that meets the team’s No. 1 goal this season:...