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Kansas City Royals
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com In a classic chicken-egg kind of thing, fans in Kansas City are left to ponder whether the Royals are so bad because of manager Tony Muser, or whether Muser has been so bad because of the Royals. Like the chicken and the egg, we may never find the answer to that one. As it is, the Royals are coming off another 97-loss season and their manager is still around. It's the second 97-loss season in four-plus years for Muser (309-416, a .426 winning percentage, which equals about 69 wins a year), which is sitting none too well with fans. Still, when the front office trades away all the good talent (see Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye) before it gets too pricey, when its idea of restocking is signing Chuck Knoblauch, when the pitching staff is a bunch of guys named "Who?" … well, who you gonna blame? The fact is, this is a team with two decent players, a bunch of guys who might be, some day, and quite a few who are role players and little else. The best of the Royals are Mike Sweeney, the team's saintly yet scrappy first baseman, and solid center fielder Carlos Beltran. Sweeney hit .304 with 29 homers and 99 RBIs (to go with 46 doubles, second in the AL) and remains a steadying force on this shaky team. Beltran doesn't get his due. The guy hit .306, drove in 101 runs, scored 106 runs (ninth in the AL), hit .387 with runners in scoring position and was among the best outfielders (14 assists, tied for second) in the AL. After Sweeney and Beltran, there's no one that threatens opponents. Lefty-swinging Raul Ibanez (.290 with 13 homers in 279 at-bats) may do some damage, but he's hardly proven. And, as far as the Royals' pitchers … let's just say the rest of the AL isn't exactly shaking in its cleats. Last year's Royals had a nasty 4.87 team ERA, a whopping 5.01 among the starters. Righty Jeff Suppan (10-14, 4.37) is the ace -- and he gave up 227 hits in 218 1/3 innings. Not a good sign. After Suppan, Chad Durbin, Jose Rosado and Chris George will fight for the right to get spanked. Roberto Hernandez, who had 28 saves last season, remains the closer. All of it adds up to trouble, again, for the Royals. By the end of the 2002 season we may well have the answer to another chicken-egg question: Which came first? Another losing season in Kansas City or Tony Muser's firing? Up for grabs: Mark Quinn shows as much patience at the plate as, say, David Wells does at dinner. For a guy who hit only .269 and had only 17 homers, 12 measly walks with 453 official at-bats is miserable. Quinn's problems at the plate will have him fighting for a job in right field with Michael Tucker, grabbed in a trade from the Reds. If Quinn can't take something given to him, Tucker (who had 46 walks with 436 official at-bats with the Cubs and Cincinnati last season) will take it for him. Spring chicken: Angel Berroa is the team's shortstop of the future, and with the Neifi Perez becoming increasingly expensive -- he'll play for at least $4 million this season -- the sooner Berroa makes it up to the bigs, the better. The Royals will give him a long, hard look this spring to see if he's ready.
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