Kansas City, Mo. ? It’s a faint note of optimism that seems to echo every time any slumping player or over-the-hill has-been changes teams:

Maybe a change of scenery is all this guy needs.

Well, if it can work for a player, why not an entire organization? Even one that’s been as sorry as the Kansas City Royals, who hope they bottomed out last year with a franchise-record 100 losses and their poorest attendance in 27 seasons?

So the Royals are changing spring training sites, going from Florida, where they’ve encamped every February since 1969, to a brand new facility gleaming in the sunshine of Surprise, Ariz.

Nobody, not even the most optimistic among the Royals’ dwindling fan base, believes a new spring-training location is all they need. But, hey, maybe it will help a bevy of young players find their strokes and perfect their pitches and get the Royals moving back toward their lost respectability.

“You’re looking at a situation where it’s new, it’s fresh,” said general manager Allard Baird. “It presents an energy. I think it will be good for our major-league and minor-league players.”

Manager Tony Pena scheduled the first workout for Saturday in the new facility the Royals will share with the Texas Rangers. Several players, however, reported early with the aim of setting up a spring-training plan. Among them was first baseman Mike Sweeney, the Royals’ only marquee player.

“That game plan is to inject winning, from day one of spring training,” said Sweeney, who’s been to three straight All-Star games. “In my eyes, 2003 is going to be a great year. I’m excited. We have new life.”

It will be Pena’s first chance to put his own stamp on the club he was placed in charge of last May. The feisty optimist, forever emphasizing enthusiasm, plans a lot of work on fundamentals.

“I feel real good about my players,” he said. “There’s no way we’re going to look back. We lost 100 games last year, but that’s not going to stop us. The only way we’re going is forward.

royals manager tony pena walks to a practice field with catcher Mike DiFelice. Kansas City's spring training began Saturday in Surprise, Ariz.

“It might be dreaming. But I’ll tell you what — every time I dream, I make my dreams come true.”

A chief spring training goal will be to sort out a starting rotation and a new bullpen closer from among a stable of young and mostly unproven arms. Needed are replacements for relief ace Roberto Hernandez and starter Paul Byrd, who somehow won 17 games last season and moved on to greener pastures in Atlanta.

Main candidates for the closer job are three inexperienced but strong young arms, Ryan Bukvich, Mike MacDougal and Jeremy Hill.

Also new will be shortstop Angel Berroa. He’s been slow to develop since the Royals tabbed him as their shortstop of the future, but this will be his first clear shot at the job. Second base will also be a battle ground between disappointing veteran Carlos Febles, once considered a crown jewel in the player pipeline, and veteran newcomer Desi Relaford.

Getting a handle on who’ll populate the roster when they open the season March 31 against the Chicago White Sox is impossible, however, until the Carlos Beltran situation is worked out.

One of the most talented players the Royals have developed in 15 years, the switch-hitting outfielder has refused to sign a contract one day beyond the two years he’s already obligated to stay. So Baird took him off the “untouchable” list and is listening to trade offers. If Beltran is traded for a swarm of young prospects, the dynamics of the team could change significantly.

“We would talk about him in a deal that was right for the ballclub, to address short- and long-term needs,” Baird said. “We’re rebuilding this ballclub for the long term.”