By The Associated Press

BALTIMORE – Mike Flanagan will replace Jim Beattie as the Baltimore Orioles’ executive vice president for baseball operations, a move that puts the former Cy Young award winner in charge of ending the team’s run of eight straight losing seasons.

The announcement was made Tuesday, one day after Orioles owner Peter Angelos dismissed Beattie as the team’s executive vice president. Beattie has been offered a position to remain with the organization as a consultant.

Beattie and Flanagan were hired as a tandem on Dec. 4, 2002, to replace Syd Thrift. Flanagan, who received the title of vice president of baseball operations, and Beattie served as co-general managers, finding talent, stocking the farm system and hiring the manager and coaches.

Pirates name Tracy manager

PITTSBURGH – Jim Tracy is moving from one of baseball’s biggest markets to one of its smallest, from a team that spends big and thinks big to one with more modest expectations following 13 consecutive losing seasons.

To Tracy, hired Tuesday as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ manager after five mostly successful seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s not the size of the city or the payroll that matters most but the available talent.

And he sees the same kind of young talent in Pittsburgh that he saw in Los Angeles in 2001.

Some might view the Pirates’ situation as hopeless following a 67-95 season, but Tracy sees players such as Jason Bay, pitchers Zach Duke, Paul Maholm and Oliver Perez, center fielder Chris Duffy and second baseman Jose Castillo as being ready to win.

Real soon, too, once they learn the difference between what he calls “the teams that go out and play baseball and those that go out and play winning baseball.”