Kansas City, Mo. ? Whoever becomes the next manager of the Kansas City Royals would do well to study the lineup card from last Saturday night’s game against Cleveland, paying special heed to power stats.

Number of starting players with at least 21 home runs for the first-place Indians: five. For last-place Kansas City: none.

Without a doubt, the Royals took some important steps in 2007 toward respectability, with pitching in particular making strides, both in the rotation and the bullpen.

But Western Missouri’s American League franchise still has far to go before it plays hardball with the big boys.

Tossing out that mirage of a 2003 season when they feasted on a Detroit team that was in the process of losing 119 games, the Royals have not even looked like they might contend since the early 1990s. But the 2007 Royals showed progress in general manager Dayton Moore’s first full season and field manager Buddy Bell’s last. They couldn’t avoid a fourth straight last-place finish. But they were 69-93 and avoided 100 losses for the first time in four seasons.

Between a seven-game losing streak at the end of May and a seven-game losing streak at the beginning of September, they were 43-40 – three games above .500 in the shank of the season. Moreover, they beat some good teams in that stretch.

Gil Meche – whose $55 million, free-agent contract signaled an important shift in owner David Glass’s tightfisted ways – had the worst run support of any starter in the American League, which translated to a win-loss record of 9-13. But his earned-run average of 3.67 would have made him a big winner on a team like Boston or New York that scored plenty of runs. The owner’s big investment was sound. Maybe Meche will encourage more forays into the free-agent market.

In a steal of a trade with the Mets, Moore picked up a very promising young right-hander in Brian Bannister. Until hitting the wall with the rest of the team during a woeful September, Bannister was a rookie-of-the-year candidate. He faded down the stretch and was 12-9 – still not bad for a team 24 games below .500.

In addition, Zack Greinke showed flashes here and there of becoming a dominant pitcher, whether in the starting rotation or the bullpen, and right-hander Joakim Soria, another rookie, had a 2.48 ERA in 69 innings.

Can’t-miss third base prospect Alex Gordon did not miss exactly in his rookie year. But his numbers – .247 average, 15 home runs, 60 RBIs – were disappointing. However, like many young players – pitchers and position players alike – he showed promise of better things to come.

Billy Butler, the 21-year-old slugger who’ll probably be Mike Sweeney’s permanent replacement as DH, was the most exciting player the Royals put on the field. Up and down twice from the minors, the high-energy Butler wound up hitting .292 with eight home runs and 52 RBIs. Leading the team in RBIs for the third consecutive year was left fielder Emil Brown, with 62.

The question looming over the entire organization as the postseason gets started without the Royals for the 22nd straight year is who will replace Bell.

It may be the most important decision Moore ever makes in Kansas City. Obsessively secretive, Moore has said almost nothing on the subject since Aug. 1 when Bell announced he was stepping aside at the end of the year.

“I just want somebody who has a passion to lead,” is about all Moore will say when asked what qualities he’s looking for.

“There is no perfect manager, no perfect baseball person. The important thing is they have a passion to lead and do things the right way. There are just a lot of different qualities.”

A protege of Atlanta general manager John Schuerholz, Moore raided the Braves for several front office positions and may wind up getting a manager out of Georgia. Terry Pendleton often is mentioned as a possibility.