The Orioles officially ended the Syd Thrift era yesterday, handing the top two positions in their baseball operations department to former Montreal Expos general manager Jim Beattie and ex-Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan.

A much-maligned target during his three-year stewardship of the team, Thrift stepped aside during an afternoon news conference at Camden Yards, where the Orioles presented Beattie and Flanagan as a tandem devised to turn around the struggling franchise.

Flanagan, who turns 51 this month, inherited Thrift's title as vice president of baseball operations. Beattie, 48, received a slightly grander title - executive vice president of baseball operations - because he has more front-office experience.

Sharing a role most teams give to a single general manager, Flanagan and Beattie said their duties haven't been clearly defined. But the two former big-league pitchers, both raised in New England, insisted there won't be a power struggle.

"I sort of see us being almost attached," Flanagan said. "If I'm out of the office and Jim is answering the phones, he can handle it, and vice versa. We're not looking for the credit. We want to be a part of something. We want the Oriole organization to get the credit. If the club is winning, there will be plenty of credit to go around."

Beattie said he had a similar arrangement when he first became Montreal's GM in 1995 and worked with Bill Stoneman, who was then the Expos' vice president of baseball operations. Stoneman went on to become the Anaheim Angels' general manager, and Beattie resigned from his post after the 2001 season.

Pointing to another example of joint decision-making, Beattie noted the New York Yankees, who have Mark Newman and Gene Michael working behind the scenes to support general manager Brian Cashman.

"The bottom line for us is we don't really have the egos to say we have to be the guy," Beattie said. "Someone asked me, 'What should people expect from you?' and I said, 'Hopefully they don't see too much of me.'

"My job is to stay out of the papers and let the people on the field do their job. I'm a support staff for the guys trying to get their job done."

5 losing seasons

After a fifth consecutive losing season and a year in which the organization's top three minor-league affiliates finished a combined 109 games under .500, Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos decided it was time to replace Thrift, who had worked in the front office for eight years.

"Syd's official duties have ended," said Orioles Vice Chairman Joe Foss. "I'm sure he'll be called upon by Peter and others, as they look to Syd for background or advice or perspective. But on a day-to-day basis, his duties have ended."

Asked what he'd like to do next, the 73-year-old Thrift pointed to Beattie and Flanagan and said, "Make their life better."

Thrift paused for a moment, then added, "I never asked [Angelos] once, during the whole process, 'What about me?'"

The Orioles began searching for Thrift's replacement shortly after the World Series. Flanagan, who has spent 25 years with the Orioles as a pitcher, pitching coach, television commentator and consultant to Angelos, was considered the in-house favorite from the start.

Former Orioles great Cal Ripken, a longtime teammate of Flanagan's, threw his name into the running and then pulled out. The Orioles asked for and were denied permission to speak to Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane and New York Mets Senior Assistant GM Jim Duquette.

Angelos and the team's general legal counsel, Russell Smouse, conducted seven interviews and narrowed the field to Flanagan, Beattie and former Chicago White Sox GM Ron Schueler.

Too complex for one

Feeling the job was too complex for one person, Angelos decided to hire two: Beattie, once a right-handed pitcher, and Flanagan, a lefty. Beattie has the experience; Flanagan has the fresh ideas. Beattie knows what it's like to be a GM; Flanagan knows the Orioles inside and out.

"They're working together," Angelos said. "Their goal is to make the team competitive every season. They're committed to it. Jim Beattie is a tremendous resource. He has functioned at every level of a baseball operations department, and combined with Mike Flanagan, who has been with the club and has some very good baseball ideas, I have complete confidence that this will work."

So, if an opposing general manager wants to talk trade, whom should he call?

"The phone will ring in the office," Flanagan said, "and one of us hopefully will get it as quickly as possible."

Judging by his experience, Beattie figures to set the team's immediate agenda, helping the Orioles get up to speed. Flanagan might find himself in the spotlight more with the media, having been behind a microphone for six of the past seven years.

But, Flanagan and Beattie both stressed, the final baseball decisions will be made with a team approach.

"It won't so much be one voice," Flanagan said "but really a chiming of the organization from the scouts all the way up, to try to make the best decision we can possibly make with the focus being to have the best possible team we can possibly have year after year."

Key decisions

With baseball's winter meetings starting Dec. 13 in Nashville, time is short. The Orioles have to make a decision this week on whether to re-sign free agent shortstop Mike Bordick. The contracts of several key members of the front office, including special assistant Ed Kenney, scouting director Tony DeMacio and farm director Don Buford, expire Dec. 31.

"We're not looking to blow this thing up," Beattie said. "I don't want to give anybody the idea this is totally a troubled organization. There are good things going on, and there are good baseball people here."