MESA, Ariz. (AP) -With his contract set to expire after the upcoming season, Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker is adamant.

He wants to stay.

``I am more convinced now than ever,'' Baker said Saturday. ``I'm more determined than ever.''

The Chicago Cubs finished with a losing record last season, and rumors that he was looking to leave circulated. Now, he's entering the fourth and final year of his contract.

He knows it's an uncertain time, but Baker isn't too concerned. He said he hasn't discussed his status with management.

``My thing is I've got work to do,'' Baker said. ``I do my job. If we win, everything will take care of itself. That's how I live. If I'm approached, then we'll deal with that. But right now, I can't be worried about that.''

The Cubs were buried by errors last season and finished 79-83. There were baserunning blunders, batters missing signs, pitchers failing to cover first. They lacked a leadoff hitter, were thin in the bullpen and lost starting pitchers Mark Prior and Kerry Wood to injuries at various points.

And while the Cubs struggled, the White Sox captured the city's first World Series championship since 1917.

Baker is a California guy who hasn't been warmly embraced in Chicago. He was born in Riverside and lives in San Francisco. He played eight seasons with the Dodgers, after breaking in with Atlanta, and finished his career in San Francisco and Oakland.

His time in Chicago is marked by success, disappointment and criticism.

Baker has taken heat for the Cubs' collapse against in the 2003 NLCS - when they were five outs from the pennant before losing Games 6 and 7 to the Florida Marlins - and for various comments he has made.

``Nobody likes to be maligned,'' he said. ``Nobody likes to be booed. That comes sometimes with the territory. Sometimes, I might have chosen the wrong forum on some things, but I'm the same dude, with the same ambitions and desires, as when I came here.''

As he has done in the past, Baker pointed out that he spent 15 years with San Franciso - 10 as manager, five as a coach - before taking the Cubs job in November 2002.

``I don't like to move a lot,'' said Baker, who led the Giants to first or second-place finishes in his last six seasons. ``My last stop, I was there 15 years. My house, I've been there 15 years. I'm not crazy about moving.''

Which is why the reports last season surprised him.

``I've never had any doubt that Dusty wanted to be here,'' Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. ``All those things that were going around last year - he felt bad about it. He talked to me on two or three occasions and never expressed anything to me but that he wanted to be here.''

For that matter, Hendry wants to stay, too.

Hired as the Cubs' director of player development in 1994, Hendry became general manager in July 2002. And, like Baker, he has an expiring contract.

``Obviously, we both feel it's a great situation, a great city,'' Hendry said. ``We feel like we had a couple good years and had a hiccup last year.''

Yet, there are questions about the future.

Baker heard them recently at dinner with ESPN analyst Joe Morgan, former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh and president Carmen Policy, sportscaster Ron Barr and former Oakland Athletics executive Roy Eisenhart. And Baker's answer was the same.

``I told them, 'Hey, I came here to win,''' he said. ``I haven't changed my mind. I've hit some bumps in the road. There've been some things great and so-so. But the ending's gonna be great. That's what I'm convinced of.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.