TEAM IN LIMBO Expos still surrounded by unknowns

They are embarking on their third season without independent ownership.
VIERA, Fla. (AP) -- Montreal players aren't thinking about their uncertain future.
For the second straight season, the Expos will play 22 home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The franchise, which is owned by the other 29 teams, may be moved before the 2005 season.
"I haven't heard too much about it this year," outfielder Brad Wilkerson said. "It's just a thing we've got to do. This team is focused on going out there and winning ballgames."
Turnaround
Montreal has finished with winning records in the two seasons since manager Frank Robinson was hired by commissioner Bud Selig to run a team coming off five straight losing seasons, including four in a row with 94 losses or more.
"They want to prove to them that we are above being distracted by these things that we have really no control over," Robinson said. "They've been very good about it, and they just focus on winning baseball games, and I think they take a lot of pride in that. We show the people that we're the Montreal Expos and we're very proud of the uniform we put on each day. We're not going to be the laughingstock of baseball."
St. Louis reliever Steve Kline played four years in Montreal before he was traded to the Cardinals following the 2000 season. Married to a Montrealer, Kline lives there with his wife and 2-year-old daughter during the off-season.
"It's remarkable what they've been able to do, especially under those circumstances," he said. "It just never seems to end. Somebody's got to do something about it."
The Expos are embarking on their third straight season without independent ownership.
"We should be treated as major league ballplayers," second baseman Jose Vidro said. "We should get that respect.
"We need somebody to make a decision and tell us this is what it is and that's how it's going to stay because it's not fair. We're human beings too. We've got families, we've got to find places to live and a lot of other things."
Gone elsewhere
Vladimir Guerrero left as a free agent and signed with Anaheim. Because of payroll constraints, the Expos dealt staff ace Javier Vazquez.
Vidro, Orlando Cabrera and Livan Hernandez are all eligible to become free agents following the season.
"We're here to play baseball and that's the only thing we can control," Vidro said. "This other stuff around the team has been around now for who knows how long, and then every year we come back to Montreal."
Thirty-one of the 59 games in Montreal drew fewer than 10,000 fans. New first baseman Nick Johnson is gearing up for the adjustment after spending his entire career with the New York Yankees.
"It's fun playing in front of 50,000 people," Johnson said. "You can't control it. You've just got to go out and play hard and hopefully they come."
Ownership issue
Catcher Brian Schneider, the team's player representative, is all-too familiar with negotiations between the players' association and management about handling the unprecedented ownership situation.
After Expos players complained about the way games were scheduled in Puerto Rico last season, they were accommodated by ensuring that all 22 games in San Juan would be played before the All-Star break.
"All we can do is just try to win on the field and ignore everything else that's going on around us," Schneider said. "Basically, you've got to just ignore everything now because no matter what, until it comes down to choosing a place, everything's out of our hands."