KANSAS CITY -- The Trade Deadline message is clear: The Cubs are sellers.

General manager Jed Hoyer conveyed a similar message Monday, barring a last-minute winning streak. But after Chicago’s 6-0 loss to the Royals on Friday at Kauffman Stadium, time appears to have run out.

The Cubs (49-56) were shut out for the third time in their past six games, dropping the North Siders to 2-5 in the second half and 6 1/2 games out of the third and final NL Wild Card spot.

Hoyer’s message was that Chicago expects to compete in 2025 with much of the same core it has in ‘24, so the Cubs aren’t looking to get rid of impact bats or arms. But where they need to improve is clear.

Chicago entered Friday with an MLB-worst .204 batting average with RISP since May 1 before an 0-for-7 mark against the Royals. And post-All-Star break, the club's offensive numbers have taken an even bigger dip. The Cubs rank last in the National League in average (.184), home runs (two), RBIs (eight), runs (nine) and OPS (.500). Chicago’s nine runs since the All-Star break are 12 behind the next closest NL squad (the Braves).

On Friday, the Cubs had runners on second and third in the fifth and first and second in the seventh, with nobody out in both situations, and failed to score each time.

“You could kind of point to everything,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We haven’t slugged enough, we haven’t got enough hits, we haven’t hit with runners in scoring position. So there hasn’t been anything that’s been really good about it.”

The Trade Deadline can fix some of those issues, whether it's a prospect or a piece that can help immediately in 2024 and ‘25. Catcher has been the biggest offensive hole this season, with Miguel Amaya -- who is slashing .219/.286/.301 with three homers and 18 RBIs in 73 games -- struggling at the plate since taking over for Yan Gomes. Tomás Nido, who has served as Amaya’s backup, was placed on the 10-day IL on Friday with a right knee sprain, further depleting an already weak group.

But some of those fixes will have to come internally, as well. Former top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong is hitting .180 while filling in for an injured Cody Bellinger (who has a player option for 2025), while Dansby Swanson is hitting just .218 with a .633 OPS in 94 games this season. Both players are pieces to the ‘25 puzzle that Hoyer expects to build around.

However, with a plethora of potential high-leverage arms -- and Chicago’s recent history of flipping relief arms for talented prospects -- the Cubs could find the answers to their offensive woes in the bullpen. Héctor Neris, Mark Leiter Jr., Julian Merryweather, Tyson Miller, Drew Smyly and Jorge López, who tossed a scoreless inning of relief Friday, are all possible targets to be dealt.

López, who the Cubs signed on June 11 after he was released by the Mets, is one of the most intriguing trade chips. The 31-year-old righty has found a groove in the Cubs’ bullpen, pitching to a 0.84 ERA with seven strikeouts in nine games (10 2/3 innings) with Chicago.

López, a former All-Star, has closing experience, but on Friday he came in facing a 6-0 deficit after Kyle Hendricks allowed the Royals to strike for six runs -- all with two outs -- in the fifth inning. Seiya Suzuki had a chance to get Chicago out of the inning unscathed on a shallow fly ball to right, but an initial step back caused him to come up short on his sliding attempt, allowing two runs to score.

“I feel like that fly ball in the fifth, if I caught that, the home run [from Salvador Perez] wouldn’t have happened and we would have built momentum into the next inning,” Suzuki said through interpreter Edwin Stanberry. “I think reflecting back, I should have caught that fly ball.”

Hendricks added: “Just getting outplayed. Just getting beat, and that’s the bottom line. Not doing the right things to win ballgames, and those teams we are playing against, they’re really good teams. They’re doing the right things right now.”

Whether the Cubs go on a frantic run similar to last season to make a push for the playoffs is still unknown. But for now, Chicago is focused on winning baseball games whether pieces get dealt away or not. The postseason is unlikely, but that’s not the club’s mindset.

“Going the wrong direction right now, but again, there’s nothing we can do about that,” Hendricks said. “We focus on what we can control -- coming to the ballpark tomorrow. Luckily, we got Shota [Imanaga] out there, so set the tone and just try and get that one tomorrow.”