Commentary: Dusty Baker seems aloof from boss

DENVER — Veteran Dustyologists may one day look back on the final months of Dusty Baker's tenure as manager of the Cubs and discover hidden clues that ultimately led to his departure.

But for now it doesn't take a lot of digging to theorize that Baker is becoming increasingly disconnected from management.

While Baker's status for 2007 is unresolved, comments he has made over the last week suggest a widening gulf that could lead to a nasty split come October.

For instance:

In response to a question about the possibility of a contract extension, Baker said, "I've got a choice, too."

In response to a question about the fairness of evaluating him on an injury-plagued season, he said, "You should've been judging me on the last 13 or 14 years versus these last three or four months."

So it has been obvious that Baker and general manager Jim Hendry aren't exactly on the same page.

Before the Cubs' 8-7 victory over Colorado on Sunday, Baker answered the question, "How've you been?" with a cryptic response.

"I'm good, I'm good," he replied. "I mean, I could be better. Been better. But, I mean, this is part of the process of life. You want to be on top all the time. You want to be good all the time. Sometimes it's not like that. So you deal with it. You deal with it as a man. No complaints.

"You look around, I'm watching Bill Parcells with the Cowboys. It's very similar. He went to the playoffs his first year there [as coach], and they haven't been back in a couple of years, right? It's part of life, part of the process.

"You've got to treat yourself better. You've got to eat better. You've got relieve the stress. You've got to drink less, you've got to drink more water, you've got to take care of yourself.

"Everything passes. It's very stormy when you're in it, I'm not going to lie to you. I talked to my sister the other day. Not to get biblical, but she said, 'Sometimes God delivers you from the desert, and sometimes he walks with you in the desert.' That kind of put things in perspective to me."

Whether Baker will find his way out of the desert is up to Hendry. The two have not spoken in the last few days.

Hendry could not have been happy with Baker's challenge to evaluate him on his entire career instead of 2006 alone. Hendry's carefully chosen response — "When you're in the situation that we're in, a lot of things go into play when you're evaluating field personnel" — suggested Baker will be evaluated on what has transpired this season, as well as how the season ends.

Only Hendry knows what criteria he'll use to evaluate Baker, who now has four rookies in the rotation and Derrek Lee back on the disabled list. But on June 27, Hendry said that having young pitching was no excuse for losing.

"A lot of other clubs we've seen [have young pitchers]," he said. "I don't want to fall into the pattern of making any excuses. We've got young pitchers that can pitch."

But the Cubs' young pitchers have not fared well, and if their development is part of Hendry's evaluation process, Baker is in trouble.