<table> </table> Royals owner David Glass has only one barometer as he views the soap opera that forever seems to surround mercurial outfielder Jos&#233; Guillen.</p><p>&#8220;The one thing that I&#8217;m satisfied with,&#8221; Glass said, &#8220;is that he does care. He wants us to win. He wants us to be better. I like all of that.</p><p>&#8220;I understand why some people have trouble with him because he says things, sometimes, that I&#8217;m not sure he actually even means.&#8221;</p><p>So when Guillen stirs the pot by calling out teammates, challenging coaches and criticizing fans?</p><p>&#8220;I can handle that,&#8221; Glass maintained, &#8220;as long as I know that he really cares, wants to win and wants us to get better. Those things are really important to me. I&#8217;m satisfied that he feels all of those things.&#8221;</p><p>Glass is in his ninth season as the club&#8217;s owner after serving the seven previous years as its interim chairman and chief executive officer following the death of Ewing Kauffman.</p><p>This season, Glass suggests, is the hardest to evaluate in that entire span.</p><p>&#8220;I get encouraged,&#8221; he said, &#8220;and then we go through a period of time when it just isn&#8217;t happening. What I&#8217;m looking for, more than anything else, is improvement. I just want to see the young ones get better, and the veteran players play up to their capabilities. A lot of the time, you see that.</p><p>&#8220;Early on, the pitching looked like it was going to be real solid. Then the pitching kind of faltered. This may be the toughest year to assess that I&#8217;ve ever been involved with.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals carry a four-game winning streak into tonight&#8217;s series opener against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Their 50-59 record is two victories better than last year&#8217;s record through 109 games, but Glass, like many fans, believes the Royals should be better.</p><p>&#8220;In spring training,&#8221; he said, &#8220;everyone whom I talked to, without exception, said this team is better than it was last year. It&#8217;s not showing it in wins and losses, but this team is better. We should be playing better.&#8221;</p><p>Glass curbs his disappointment through his belief that general manager Dayton Moore, hired in June 2006, has the club pointed in the right direction.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really pleased by what he&#8217;s done,&#8221; Glass said, &#8220;and I&#8217;m really pleased by the quality of the people he&#8217;s brought into the organization. I believe if we can be patient &#8212; and that&#8217;s tough; tougher for me than anybody else &#8212; we&#8217;ll see the benefits.&#8221;</p><p>That plea for patience is a tough sell, even for Wal-Mart&#8217;s former chief executive, to a fan base scarred by a generation of losing. Barring a remarkable turnaround over the final two months, the Royals will finish with a losing record for the 13th time in 14 years.</p><p>&#8220;The only answer for the fans is to produce some results,&#8221; Glass agreed. &#8220;The people who I talk to around town, they want to see improvement. They want to know that we&#8217;re headed in the right direction. They want to win enough games that it&#8217;s fun to come to the ballpark.</p><p>&#8220;If this team would jell and finish with a better record than last year &#8212; not just a game better but much closer to .500 &#8212; then I feel people would feel like we&#8217;re making progress and that next year is going to be even better.&#8221;</p><p>The Royals must go 20-33 to eclipse last season&#8217;s 69-93 finish and reach 70 victories for just the second time in eight years.