<table> </table> Look for the Royals to begin browsing today &#8212; bargain hunting more than power shopping &#8212; when the free-agent market officially opens. Not just because of a limited payroll and an uncertain economic forecast, either.</p><p>The bigger issue is the lack of a natural fit for the club, given its needs and resources, and the talent available. Today is the first day that teams can negotiate, and sign, free agents from other teams.</p><p>&#8220;At this time in 2006,&#8221; general manager Dayton Moore said, &#8220;we were focused and locked in on Gil Meche. This time last year, we were focused and locked in on Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones and Jos&#233; Guillen.</p><p>&#8220;You look at the free agents who are out there this year, it&#8217;s just not as clear. I can look at our team, and I know where the holes are&#8230;&#8221;</p><p>But finding a fit is much tougher.</p><p>The Royals&#8217; payroll figures inch up this winter from $58.2 million to a little more than $60 million. Moore acknowledges he has the flexibility from owner David Glass to approach $70 million but cautions he is unlikely to do so &#8212; at least not right away.</p><p>&#8220;Unless it makes great sense,&#8221; he said, &#8220;you don&#8217;t want to go to the maximum of where your number is (in the offseason). You can make trades in spring training and throughout the course of the season.</p><p>&#8220;So you&#8217;d like to hold on to a little flexibility.&#8221;</p><p>Moore also wants to retain sufficient cash to pursue any promising international prospects or take lower-round gambles in the draft &#8212; much as the Royals did last June in selecting college-bound pitcher Tim Melville in the fourth round and lured him into pro ball with a $1.25 million signing bonus.</p><p>&#8220;What we&#8217;ve got to make sure we always do is build that farm system,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;I don&#8217;t want to get in a situation where we can&#8217;t do something internationally or we can&#8217;t do something extra in the draft that we&#8217;d like to do.&#8221;</p><p>None of this means the Royals won&#8217;t explore the free-agent market in their search for a run-production outfielder and a veteran middle infielder. Secondary needs include help in middle relief and at the back of the rotation.</p><p>Club officials continue to view former Royal Raul Iba&#241;ez as the best outfield fit &#8212; but not necessarily a sound risk. Iba&#241;ez batted .293 last season for Seattle with 23 homers and 110 RBIs while playing in all 162 games.</p><p>But Iba&#241;ez turns 37 in June, and his average defensive skills, which continue to diminish, would be exposed in Kauffman Stadium&#8217;s spacious outfield. He is also drawing interest from several other clubs, including the Cubs, Mets and Rays. That suggests the bidding could easily top three years or more at $10 million-12 million a year.</p><p>The Royals are unlikely to go that high.</p><p>The steep cost of obtaining a run-production bat was a big reason the Royals moved last month to acquire first baseman Mike Jacobs from Florida for reliever Leo Nu&#241;ez. Jacobs batted just .247 last season in 141 games but had 32 homers and 93 RBIs.</p><p>Club officials saw only four free agents as a definitively better fit than Jacobs in terms of adding midlineup muscle: Mark Teixeira, Manny Ramirez, Bobby Abreu and Iba&#241;ez. They saw little or no chance of being able to afford &#8212; let alone interest &#8212; the first three.</p><p>The Royals believe Jacobs can match or exceed Adam Dunn or Pat Burrell in production at a far lower cost. Burrell made $14 million last season; Dunn made $13 million. Jacobs figures to make about $3 million through arbitration.