AMERICAN LEAGUE: INSIDE THE A.L.: WINNING STRETCH RAISES ROYAL DILEMMA.

Byline: Gabe Lacques Staff Writer

It was looking so simple for the Kansas City Royals. They were fading from the American League Central race, which meant trading outfielder Carlos Beltran would be less painful than they figured.

Then, the Royals won two of three games from San Francisco. And then they won three of four from first-place Minnesota and closed within a game of the Twins entering Saturday.

And now, they are faced with a quandary every contending middle-market team faces: trade Beltran, who already has rejected a three-year, $25.3 million contract offer, or keep him and hope to squeeze a playoff run out of the current core of players.

Ideally, general manager Allard Baird would like to deal Beltran, a free agent after 2004 who figures to make a killing in arbitration this winter, and receive players who can help the Royals stay in contention this season. That would be an acrobatic maneuver, to say the least.

``Nothing has changed,'' Baird told the Kansas City Star in regard to his desire to trade Beltran. ``But I'm not going to take a couple of A-ball prospects in return. We need people who can help us this year and next year.''

Trading Beltran could have a ripple effect on the Royals, because first baseman Mike Sweeney can opt out of his long-term deal if Kansas City doesn't finish .500 or better over the next two years, a record that would be much harder to achieve without their current core.

For now, Beltran has handled his uncertain situation with aplomb. He went on a recent 25-for-55 stretch and entered Saturday hitting .312.

``I know the situation that I'm in,'' he said. ``I know this is a business, and players have to realize that you usually don't play your whole career with one team. Trade rumors are something that happen all the time. As a player, you've got to realize that sooner or later, you might get traded. So that doesn't bother me.''

--Rising star: Several viable candidates have emerged to start the All- Star Game next month, but none are as unlikely as hometown favorite Esteban Loaiza. The Chicago White Sox claimed Loaiza off the scrap heap this offseason when Toronto let him go. He pitched his way onto the roster in the spring, and now his 10 victories and 2.15 ERA lead the American League.

On Wednesday, he held the Boston Red Sox, who led the AL in hits and were second in runs scored, to six hits and one run in eight innings to win his 10th.

``He pretty much has dominated the opposition,'' White Sox manager Jerry Manuel said. ``That's a good-hitting club. These guys have an offense that can do a lot of different things. For him to keep that type of offense to one run is quite an outing.''

--Baffling himself: Ichiro Suzuki has had some outstanding stretches in his three seasons with the Seattle Mariners, but this might be his most impressive to date. Hitting .243 at the end of April, he has pushed his average up 109 points the past six weeks and now is second in the league in hitting, at .352.

``I was a pitcher,'' said Suzuki, who pitched in high school in Japan. ``And if I pitched to me now, I don't think I would get this guy out.''

Gabe Lacques, [phone]

gabe.lacques(at)sgvn.com