This started out as a "How were they built?" article about the surprising Royals and the surprising Pirates, but it didn't take me long to discover that neither team's roster has been constructed according to some sort of over-arching philosophy (or at least not so's you can tell on the field). Rather, players have arrived through a variety of means, with economy and expediency the only guiding principles.

So instead of looking for themes, I'm just going to list the ways that teams get players, and how the Royals' and Pirates' key contributors fit.

First, my Royals ...

	Mike MacDougal is 16 of 21 in save opportunities this season.

Trade: C Brent Mayne, SS Angel Berroa, 3B Joe Randa, OF Michael Tucker.

Mayne actually began his career with the Royals, reaching the majors for good in his first full season as a professional. Five years later, in 1995, the Royals traded him to the Mets ... and six years later, the Royals got him back, from the Rockies.

Similarly, Joe Randa and Michael Tucker both started their careers with the Royals, were traded away, then reacquired. Randa's been pretty good since coming back to the Royals prior to the 1999 season, but Tucker's been a disaster. The Royals didn't have to give up much for him -- minor-league pitcher Shawn Sonnier in a trade with the Cubs -- but the Royals have been on the hook for Tucker's ridiculous contract: $5 million over 2002 and '03.

Like the others, Angel Berroa is a product of the Royals' farm system, but he began his professional career with the Athletics. Early in 2001, the Royals sent Johnny Damon and Mark Ellis to the A's for Berroa, A.J. Hinch, and Roberto Hernandez (with Hernandez coming from the Devil Rays in the three-team deal). GM Allard Baird recently said that he'd do that deal again, because of Berroa's potential. This seems a bit questionable, however, considering that 1) it turned out that Berroa was two years older than he'd been telling everybody, 2) Hernandez didn't pitch well for the money he made, and 3) at this moment, Mark Ellis is essentially the same age as Berroa, and a better player.

Rule 5: SP Miguel Asencio, RP D.J. Carrasco.

Hey, free major leaguers! Well, almost free. When you select a player in the Rule 5 draft and decide to keep him, you owe his old team $50,000 ... which, these days, is something like two months of meal money for your utility infielder.

In 2001, Asencio pitched well for the Phillies' affiliate in the Florida State League. The Royals saw something, picked him up in the Rule 5 draft, and he posted a 4.51 ERA as a starter last season. His command remains shaky, but baseball people love his stuff.

A year after selecting Asencio, the Royals grabbed D.J. Carrasco, a hard-throwing Pirates farmhand who saved 29 games with Class A Lynchburg in 2002. To this point, Carrasco's been dominating, striking out eight hitters while allowing just one hit in seven innings.

Free Agency: RP Jason Grimsley, OF Raul Ibanez.

How bad was the Royals' bullpen in 1999? It might have been the worst bullpen in major-league history. The bullpen was better in 2000, but still terrible. Which is why the Royals traded for Roberto Hernandez (to close) and signed free agent Jason Grimsley (to set up). Over the next two seasons, Grimsley pitched better than Hernandez at about one-fifth the price. Hernandez is gone, but the Royals have Grimsley under contract for one more season.

But if Grimsley's been a bargain, Raul Ibanez ranks as a steal. A product of the Mariners' farm system, Ibanez always hit in the minors but generally struggled in the majors, and eventually the M's gave up on him. Baird saw something in Ibanez -- actually, what Baird saw was a solid minor-league track record -- and two years ago the Royals signed Ibanez as a minor-league free agent. At that point, Ibanez was 28 years old and sported a .241 career batting average in the majors.

Since then, he's been fantastic (at least if you consider his salary). Last season Ibanez batted .294 with 24 homers and 103 RBI, and he's off to a good start this season. Signing Ibanez easily ranks as Baird's best move.

Farm System: 1B Mike Sweeney, 2B Carlos Febles, OF Carlos Beltran, DH Ken Harvey, SP Runelvys Hernandez, SP Jeremy Affeldt, SP Chris George, RP Mike MacDougal.

Sweeney and Beltran (who hasn't played this season, but should be back in action this weekend) are legitimate stars, but the jury's still out on everybody else. Two weeks just isn't enough to tell us anything truly instructive about young pitchers like Hernandez and MacDougal.

Next, the Buccos ...

	Jeff Suppan is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in three starts this season.

Trade: 1B Randall Simon, OF Brian Giles, SP Josh Fogg, SP Kip Wells, SS Jack Wilson.

Randall Simon came over from the Tigers this winter in a deal for an obscure minor-league pitcher and two obscurities to be named later. Simon's no Hall of Famer, but even as Simon continues to swing at everything, he also continues to bat .300 with enough power to be useful.

Nice deal.

But nothing compared to the trades that netted Wilson, Giles, Fogg, and Wells. In December of 2001, the Pirates got Fogg and Wells (and Sean Lowe) from the White Sox for Todd Ritchie (and a minor-league catcher). In 2002, Fogg and Wells won 24 games; Ritchie won five. And lost 15.

Ritchie left as a free agent after the season -- the "winning" bidder for his services were the Brewers -- which means the Pirates got two good pitchers pretty much for free.

That deal was made by Pirates GM Dave Littlefield.

The 1998 deal for Brian Giles, on the other hand, was made by then-GM Cam Bonifay. Considering that the Pirates got Giles from the Indians for left-handed reliever Ricardo Rincon, the deal serves as a solid piece of evidence that Bonifay was not completely clueless.

Bonifay also made the deal for Jack Wilson in 2000, sending lefty reliever Jason Christiansen to the Cardinals. Bonifay did make a lot of mistakes during his tenure, but he does deserve credit for turning a couple of relief pitchers into Giles and Wilson.

Free Agency: 1B Kevin Young, 2B Pokey Reese, OF Reggie Sanders, OF Kenny Lofton, SP Jeff Suppan, SP Jeff D'Amico, RP Salomon Torres, RP Mike Williams.

There's Jim Thome free agency, and there's Reggie Sanders free agency. None of these guys were hot properties when the Pirates signed them. Sanders, who's been a real fine hitter for a real long time, could be -- and was -- had for a song. Suppan, who's won all three of his 2002 starts, also came cheap. The only expensive property here is Kevin Young, a holdover from Bonifay's infamous Five-Year Plan.

Salomon Torres is a fun story. Once a top prospect with the Giants, Torres didn't pitch at all from 1998 through 2000, and pitched in Korea and the Dominican Republic in 2001. Last year he got back to the majors with the Pirates, pitched effectively in five starts, and this year he's been effective coming out of the bullpen.

Farm System: C Jason Kendall, 3B Aramis Ramirez, SP Kris Benson.

Not a bad group, but the Pirates obviously have to do better when it comes to developing their own players. Reggie Sanders and Kenny Lofton are fine, and if Littlefield can find hitters like them every year, the Pirates will be competitive. Not competitive enough, though. They need to come up with some of their own players, and they've been making good progress since Littlefield took over. With hitters like Jose Castillo, Tony Alvarez, and Jose Batista knocking on the door, the Pirates should be a lot younger -- if not necessarily better -- in 2004.

There's a significantly better chance that both the Royals and Pirates will finish fourth rather than first or even second. But Allard Baird and Dave Littlefield both deserve credit, because at least they've got their teams headed in the right direction.

Senior writer Rob Neyer, whose Big Book of Baseball Lineups will be published in April by Fireside, appears here regularly during the season. His e-mail address is rob.neyer@dig.com.