Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie had a chance to get to know each other a little better yesterday as the Orioles moved closer to handing them the top two positions in the baseball operations department.
Flanagan and Beattie met with Orioles owner Peter Angelos and general legal counsel Russell Smouse, while the rest of the organization eagerly anticipated the announcement, which could come as soon as today.
"This is definitely a positive development with Beattie and Flanagan," one high-ranking Orioles official said. "We're just waiting to find out what their roles will be."
Sources close to the discussions said Flanagan and Beattie had productive sessions with Angelos and Smouse yesterday, and the talks were expected to resume this morning.
The team's media relations staff started preparing a press release with background information on Beattie and Flanagan, and continued making plans for a news conference sometime this week.
Beattie, 48, spent six years as the Montreal Expos' general manager before resigning in 2001. Before that, he spent six years as the Seattle Mariners' farm director.
Flanagan, who will turn 51 this month, has spent 25 seasons in and around the Orioles' organization as a pitcher, pitching coach, broadcaster and consultant to Angelos.
It remains uncertain who will rank above whom, but together, Flanagan and Beattie are expected to expand upon the role held by vice president for baseball operations Syd Thrift, whose contract expires Dec. 31.
In other Orioles news:
The team's interest in free-agent slugger Frank Thomas seems to have cooled.
Orioles officials spoke with Thomas' agent, Arn Tellem, this week and were told it would take a lot to get him to leave the Chicago White Sox.
Under a unique clause in his contract - the "diminishing-skills clause" - Thomas has until Saturday to explore the free-agent waters or return to the White Sox with a large portion of his salary deferred. He has four years and $40 million remaining on that deal, and it would take a similar offer to get him to leave.
Thomas hit .252 this season, but in September, he batted .359 with six home runs and 18 RBIs.
The Orioles have until Saturday to offer salary arbitration to free-agent shortstop Mike Bordick. If they let the deadline pass, they won't be able to sign him until after May 1 and would lose draft-pick compensation if he signs with another team.
If they offer him arbitration, he would have increased financial leverage coming off a season in which he made $5 million.
That decision, like so many others facing the team right now, is pending until the Beattie/Flanagan regime takes over. The San Diego Padres are one of the teams that have expressed interest in Bordick, but he wants to stay in Baltimore.
The Texas Rangers face the same Saturday deadline with catcher Ivan Rodriguez, and they are expected to let it pass. That would be a boost for the Orioles, who still have a strong interest in signing Rodriguez as a free agent.
Japanese slugger Hideki Matsui hired Tellem as his agent. Tellem also represents Albert Belle, who still collects a paycheck from the Orioles, even though he hasn't played since 2000, and Mike Mussina, who left the Orioles as a free agent to sign with the New York Yankees.