BALTIMORE -- Cal Ripken Jr. is seeking to land a front-office job in the major leagues -- ideally with his former team, the Baltimore Orioles.

Syd Thrift still holds the title of vice president of baseball operations for the Orioles, but his contract expired at the end of the season.

Ripken isn't openly campaigning for the job. But he said on numerous occasions that he would like to have a hand in the personnel decisions of a major league team, and there's nowhere he'd rather do it than in Baltimore.

"I don't want to manage right now, and coaching doesn't appeal to me,'' Ripken said last week. "But if there was a job that I could shape a baseball organization or help shape a baseball organization, I certainly would look at that.

"The Orioles are my first choice. ... Before I looked at options elsewhere, I'd like to know whether that opportunity would be available to me here.''

Ripken was not available for comment Thursday. But John Maroon, a spokesman for Ripken Baseball, said that if the Orioles' job opened up, "Cal would certainly be all ears.''

Angelos did not immediately return phone calls to his law office Thursday. Orioles spokesman Bill Stetka said the club would not comment on Ripken's pursuit or Thrift's status with the team.

The Washington Post, citing unidentified team sources, reported Thursday that Ripken recently told Angelos of his interest in working in the team's front office.

Angelos told the newspaper that Ripken is being considered for a role with the team, but he did not elaborate.

Ripken starred with the Orioles from 1981 to 2001, earning respect and popularity while playing in 2,632 consecutive games, breaking Lou Gehrig's previous record.

Although Ripken has a rich knowledge of baseball, his only front office experience is as owner of the Aberdeen IronBirds, a Class A team in the short-season New York-Penn League that made its debut this summer.