Ah, baseball spring training is in the air

Forget the trees blossoming and the flowers blooming.

Forget hayfever.

Forget not having to wear your coat.

Forget the stupid groundhog.

By the way that's a myth. The groundhog isn't out to make any predictions about the change of seasons.

He's out looking for a mate when that pompous-looking guy in the funny hat grabs him and pull him out of his groundhog hole. You would be ticked off enough not to see your shadow if someone did that to you.

There are two sure signs of when spring arrives:

* When those famous words "pitchers and catchers report" are uttered.

* The new baseball magazines are out! The new baseball magazines are out! Sorry.

Spring is also a time when all 30 Major League Baseball teams are extremely optimistic about the upcoming 2003 season.

They all think they will finish 162-0.

For about 12 teams, this feeling lasts about two days into spring training.

Other teams figure out how long this season will last when the home plate umpire yells "play ball" to start the first game of the season.

With the glory days of 1975-85 long behind them, the Kansas City Royals enter not just another rebuilding year, but a crossroads year.

That makes things tough for long-suffering Royals fans like myself who have watched current management continually gut this team's players in the name of fiscal responsibility.

Under the luxury tax agreement in the new basic labor plan, the Royals earned about $19.1 million. But management cited losses of $20 million and stuck the money in their pockets apparently.

So the Royals chopped their payroll to about $39 million and are trying to slice another $2 million.

By comparison, the New York Yankees' payroll is estimated from $155 million to $175 million.

Kansas City lost its best pitcher Paul Byrd, a 17-game winner, to free agency and the Atlanta Braves.

Then they jettisoned starting pitcher Jeff Suppan, closer Roberto Hernandez, outfielder Chuck Knoblauch, shortstop Neifi Perez and utility infielder Luis Alicea.

Kansas City also tried to trade third baseman Joe Randa to the Chicago Cubs, but the Cubs thought the Royals were desperate and offered nothing in return. So Randa is still a Royal.

Rumors were swirling that the Royals were trying to trade Carlos Beltran, arguably the most underrated center fielder in the game.

First baseman Mike Sweeney has a clause in his contract that says if the Royals don't finish .500 in each of the next two seasons, he can demand a trade.

Outfielder/designated hitter Raul Ibaņez had a career season last year with 24 home runs and 103 RBI and he is becoming too expensive for the Royals, having signed a $3 million a year contract.

For the last 4-5 seasons, the Royals have traded away several of their best and highest-price talent to contending teams with fatter wallets.

Imagine a Royals team featuring the likes of Jermaine Dye (Oakland) in right field, Johnny Damon (Boston) in center field, Jeremy Giambi (now with Boston) coming off the bench, Rey Sanchez (now with the Mets) at shortstop and Mark Ellis (Oakland) at second base.

If Ellis is unfamiliar to baseball fans, he was a throw-in player in the bad trade that sent Dye to Oakland and brought Perez to Kansas City.

This is the same Perez who told manager Tony Peņa he would not enter a game last year as a defensive replacement.

The Royals haven't had a winning season since 1994 and things look fairly bleak. Kansas City lost 100 games for the first time in 2002.

The biggest question mark with the Royals is obviously the pitching staff.

Kansas City and the New York Yankees have something in common in that they could both trot out a seven-man starting rotation.

But while the Yankees could start a Hall of Famer in Roger Clemens and back him up with Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, Jeff Weaver, Jose Contreras (Cuban defector) and others, the Royals will be starting the likes of Jeremy Affeldt, Miguel Asencio, Chris George, Runnelvys Hernandez, Darrell May, Shawn Sedlacek and Kris Wilson.

Just who the heck are these guys?

Wilson was a six-game winner a few years ago. None of the others have won more than four games in a season.

Clemens wins four games a month.

The Royals also don't have a "turn out the lights" closer. The top candidate for the top relief role is Mike MacDougal, whose fastball has been clocked at 103 miles an hour (no joke) and his slider has been clocked at 97.

The Royals have potentially one of the best lineups in baseball from the No. 3 spot in the order (Beltran) through No. 7. Sweeney would bat cleanup, followed by Ibaņez, Randa, Mark Quinn and rookie DH Ken Harvey.

Sweeney was second in the American League batting race last year with a .340 average and two years ago he drove in 144 runs.

Beltran had 29 homers, 44 doubles, 104 RBI and 39 stolen bases last season. He is also one of the top fielding center fielder in the majors.

Randa is the only third baseman in the American League to drive in 80 or more runs in each of the last four seasons.

Most magazines pick the Royals to finish fourth or fifth in the American League Central. Baseball Weekly projects Kansas City as the No. 28th-ranked team (out of 30).

And believe it or not, the first game of the season is usually an indication of things to come for the Royals.

Kansas City is 11-23 in its first game of the season through the franchise's history. It's the worst percentage (.324) of all the Major League teams.

The Royals open the season at home March 31 against the Chicago White Sox.

John J. Mesh is the sports editor of the McCook (Neb.) Daily Gazette. He has been writing about the Kansas City Royals for nearly 20 years and is a fan for life. Next week, he will preview the St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies and some of the other Major League teams. He can be e-mailed at sports@mccookgazette.com.