It's all over the news. Rafael Palmeiro, the Baltimore Orioles star who just joined the elite 500 home run/3,000 hit club, tested positive for steroid use and has been suspended.

Palmeiro, of course, was outspoken on the issue when he testified before Congress earlier this year while Mark McGwire was being evasive.

Well, the Royals hired their new manager today. I didn't feel like they got the best guy available last time around when they hired Tony Pena, and I really don't feel like they got the best guy available now with Buddy Bell.

So let's look at the situation.

I remember back when the words "Jose Canseco money" meant something, even among people who weren't really all that interested in baseball.

You see, Jose Canseco was a huge name. He hit long home runs in large quantities, and people paid him huge amounts of money to do it. For a time, he was the most popular and highest-paid player in the game.

Today, the money's gone and he can't get a job, and reading about his tell-all book is pretty sad.

This is too weird. The Red Sox sign the Cardinals' shortstop, then the Angels sign the Red Sox's outgoing shortstop and cut their shortstop, who then signs with the Cardinals.

David Eckstein is overpriced at $3.25 million, but he's by far the best deal of the bunch, and the best fit for the Cardinals.

Well, the Royals finally did something today.

They traded aging catcher Benito Santiago to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a pitching prospect, and they traded a pitching prospect to the Atlanta Braves for Eli Marrero.

It's a start.

The Boston Red Sox just won a World Series.

A lot of people won't understand the irony of that. But lots of baseball fans are shaking their heads with me.

I watched the Yankees' 19-8 trouncing of the Red Sox on Saturday, all 96 hours of it. Well, I guess that game only seemed 96 hours long. Officially it was only four hours and 20 minutes.

A brave sportscaster interviewed Stephen King during the game. King insisted the Red Sox could come back. David Ortiz would win it with a homer if he was writing it, he said.

It didn't happen. They were down 3 games to 0 and coming off a game where the Yankees broke almost every conceivable postseason record, and the only bright spot was they were headed back to Boston, so at least they could face insurmountable odds at home.

Curt Schilling didn't read the script tonight. I don't know where this Yankees-scoring-twice-in-the-first business came from.

Here's how it was supposed to go.

I spent some time in Kansas City this weekend. If I had any doubts this season, where the Royals went from favorites to win the division to worst team in the league in a matter of about a week, had eroded fan support, that doubt is gone now.

So now what?

So, the St. Louis Cardinals are traveling across the state for a much-anticipated series with the Kansas City Royals. Even when the series was meaningless, it could always be counted on for at least a few potshots, or something.

Not this year. I was born a Royals fan and I'll die a Royals fan, but this year, I find myself agreeing with the St. Louis columnist.