Cal Ripken ain't ready to ride in on a white horse and save the struggling Orioles -- he tells TMZ Sports he's happy right now and doesn't want a front office role in Baltimore ... yet.
"I don't know about this phase of my life," the Hall of Famer says ... "I kind of like relaxing a little bit."
It's almost like Cal watched the whole Magic Johnson experiment with the Lakers and decided, "Hey, that's not for me!"
Of course, the Orioles are the second worst team in baseball this season ... and haven't been a threat in the AL East since in years.
They've traded away Manny Machado and Zach Britton, dropped Adam Jones ... and have one of the worst rosters in the sport today.
But, Cal tells us he ain't ready to be a part of the front office that fixes it all ... saying he's happy with what he's doing these days -- which is basically being an unofficial ambassador for the sport.
Ya gotta see the way Ripken still signs autograph after autograph ... just like he did when he played.
Cal does have hope for Baltimore nonetheless ... he says he "kind of likes" these rebuilding periods, telling us, "Every time this happens, young guys get an opportunity."
As for his advice to those currently running the team ... he says they've just gotta have the patience to ride through it!!!