They had a surprisingly good year in '03, but this franchise has usually been dreadful since the early 90's. They play in a very small market, and can't hold on to the talent they have produced (like Beltran and Damon) because they can't afford them. This team was as bad as any other recent Royals squad, and it's too bad because they had had a good year before. They are getting a little bit better now, but very slowly. It's like Sisyphus rolling the stone up the hill- you develop some talent but can't hold on to it and go downhill again. In the 70's and 80's this was a very good team, a dangerous club- and small markets could even have dynasties- the A's, Reds, Pirates were all powerful clubs too. But now, there are about a half dozen or so teams that are ahead of everyone else- the 2 N.Y. teams, Boston, Los Angeles Dodgers,Chicago Cubs and a few others and the parity has certainly decreased, at least financially. I'd like to see a more even playing field, though I don't know how that could be.