Baseball Notebook | M's offer Bowa coaching position

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Trey Hillman has a daunting task: Lead the Kansas City Royals back to respectability.

A winner in Japan and in the minor leagues with the Yankees, Hillman was hired to take over a long-struggling Royals team that hasn't been to the playoffs since the late Dick Howser guided Kansas City to the 1985 World Series title.

The 44-year-old Hillman has never played, coached or managed in the majors. But he was always successful as a minor-league manager, and his Nippon Ham Fighters are playing in the Japan Series for the second consecutive year.

"There is not a more qualified person out there to lead," Royals GM Dayton Moore said by teleconference. "He's been a winner his whole life."

Hillman, given a multiyear contract, will be introduced at a news conference Monday.

Notes

• Mets RHP Orlando Hernandez had surgery on his right foot Friday, and is expected to be ready for spring training. El Duque had a bunion removed from his second toe.

• Corey Koskie became eligible for free agency when the Brewers declined his $6.5 million option for 2008. The 34-year-old third baseman, who gets a $500,000 buyout, did not play this season after dealing with the effects of a concussion he received in 2006.

• The Reds drew acclaim as one of baseball's greatest teams when they swept through the 1976 playoffs without a loss, going 7 for 7 on their way to a World Series title. No other team had won its first seven games in the playoffs until the Rockies this postseason.

Members of the Big Red Machine appreciate Colorado's playoff perfection, even if there are differences.

"In some ways, what they did is more impressive," Hall of Famer Joe Morgan said. "I say that because in this day and age, most of the teams are equal. ... Our team was head-and-shoulders above most of the teams, the best team in the game."