Off-season Moves

WHAT THEY NEEDED: A shortstop to replace Jay Bell, a slugger to replace Chili Davis, proven starting pitching and a closer so they can put a fork in slumpadelic Jeff Montgomery.

WHAT THEY GOT: Former Marlin Jeff Conine for the outfield, reliever Lee Smith, DH-first baseman Hal Morris.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS: K.C. didn't pick up any quality arms ( Smith had one—once upon a time), and Davis's power was not replaced. Conine and Morris are the vanilla wafers of baseball, which means they'll hit .280, drive in 70 runs and won't excite anyone but their accountants. On a good team, they're perfect plug-ins; on the doomed Royals, they're stars. This is a bad thing.