When the San Francisco Giants announced on Wednesday that they had cut off contract negotiations with longtime manager Dusty Baker, no one who had been around the team the past few years could have been particularly surprised.

Baker had been feeling under-appreciated for quite some time and owner Peter Magowan had done little to convince him otherwise. The disappointment of losing a World Series that appeared to be in hand simply made it easier to end a dysfunctional relationship that had become uncomfortable for both parties. Magowan cut the cord, but it clearly was a mutual parting.

Even so, it is an outcome that the Giants almost certainly will come to regret.

During Baker's 10 seasons as manager, the team has enjoyed its greatest period of sustained success since the franchise moved to California for the 1958 season, winning two National League West titles and finishing lower than second only twice. The 2002 National League title run was just the latest example of Baker's steady leadership, but a dramatic comeback by the Anaheim Angels in Game 6 of the World Series left Magowan with just enough wiggle room to rationalize a managerial change.

The Giants can make the case - legitimately - that they needed to move forward and Baker wanted to explore other job opportunities, but the situation never would have gotten to that point if ownership had recognized his value early on and extended his contract. It shouldn't have been a tough call.

The situation is reminiscent in some ways of the managerial change in Cleveland that led to Mike Hargrove's arrival in Baltimore. Indians management somehow reached the conclusion that Hargrove was holding the team back, even though he had presided over a string of postseason appearances that transformed the Indians from perennial doormat to perpetual playoff team.

The Indians of the late 1990s, at least, had a right to expect their talented roster to carry them through the regular season in a very winnable division. The Giants have been the most consistent team in the NL West, a division that features two of the biggest-spending franchises (Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks) in baseball.

Baker may be the best active manager never to have won a world title, but he did a great job with a modestly talented ballclub while holding together a clubhouse that easily could have been split by years of friction between superstars Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

The best testimonial to Baker's leadership skills may have come indirectly from Bonds last month when the mercurial slugger publicly called on ownership to re-sign Kent. Bonds and Kent have seldom made a secret of their differences, yet Baker never allowed them to lose sight of their mutual interest in making the Giants a championship-caliber team.

Kent likely will sign elsewhere, freeing the next Giants manager of that clubhouse tension, but also leaving a team with marginal pitching to face the 2003 season with a diminished offense.

Some time next summer, when the Giants are looking way up at the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, they'll realize that letting Baker go was a big mistake. And Baker, who seems likely to land with the Chicago Cubs, may eventually come to the conclusion that being unappreciated in Pacific Bell Park wasn't such a bad deal after all.

Ripken's ambition

Congratulations to Cal Ripken for making a graceful exit. It took a week or so, but he finally realized that he had put everyone - including himself - in a very difficult and uncomfortable position when he spontaneously threw his hat in the ring for the Orioles' general manager job, which wasn't officially open yet.

Ripken has never been known to act on impulse, which is why his impromptu radio comments and subsequent inquiries about the GM position seemed so out of character. The Orioles are at a sensitive juncture in the team's rebuilding effort - a time when the franchise needs strong nuts-and-bolts leadership. Ripken, despite his great playing career and tremendous popularity in Maryland, was not the right man for the huge and complex job of restoring the club's credibility and renewing the player development system.

Flanagan's 'inexperience'

Ripken may originally have felt that a previous front office resume was not necessary because owner Peter Angelos is known to be seriously considering Mike Flanagan for the job, but Flanagan's supposed lack of experience is deceiving.

He has played a variety of roles in the Orioles organization, from pitching coach to broadcaster to front office advisor in the decade since he finished his playing career. He has worked hard to familiarize himself with every level of the Orioles player development system and has the business acumen to assemble an effective team to address the club's problems.

In short, he has paid his dues, even if he has not held the title of general manager or assistant general manager.

Angelos is doing the right thing by carrying out an exhaustive search for the best candidate to replace Syd Thrift at the top of the club's baseball operations department, but he may find that the best candidate is the one who has been under his nose all along.

GM meetings

Don't be surprised if Thrift tries to make one last big splash at this week's general managers meetings in Tucson. He already has telegraphed his intent to move center fielder Chris Singleton, but could try to pull off a bigger deal if the opportunity arises.

Pitcher Sidney Ponson, with salary arbitration pending, could be attractive to a team willing to gamble on all his untapped potential. It would be a nice way to go out, if not a ploy to convince Angelos that he deserves to stay.

Compiled from interviews, wire services and reports from other newspapers.