MONTREAL EXPOS Robinson: I would sign to manage again in 2005

But the Montreal Expos' manager said he has to be wanted back on the team.
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Even though he doesn't know where the team will play or who will own it, Frank Robinson said Saturday he'd be willing to come back and manage the Expos again next season.
"It's only May, but right now, if you asked me to sign a contract to manage this club, I'd sign a contract," Robinson said. "Of course, you've got to be wanted."
The 68-year-old manager took over one of the most daunting jobs in baseball in 2002 -- guiding a team owned by the other 29. The Expos have a limited budget, an uncertain future and they play 103 games away from their home in Montreal.
For the second straight year, the Expos are playing about a quarter of their home games in Puerto Rico in an effort to boost revenue.
Demanding job
"It's daunting. It's exhausting," Robinson said. "I laugh when I hear someone say they had a tough grind, 16 games on the road. Heck, we're not even warmed up by then."
But Robinson doesn't want to use the uncertainty or the travel as an excuse. Last year, he guided the Expos to their second straight 83-79 record in what was largely considered one of the best managing feats of the year.
Montreal isn't playing well this season, though. The Expos were 14-28 heading into Saturday's game against San Francisco, the worst record in the National League.
Asked for his No. 1 complaint about the team, Robinson cited the hitting. The Expos are batting .226, last in the major leagues and a full 16 points worse than 29th-ranked Cincinnati.
But what to do?
"Am I going to change three, four, five players?" he said. "Where do you go?"
Jose Vidro, who recently signed a four-year contract extension that many view as a sign the Expos are building for the future, was mired in a 2-for-31 slump. Carl Everett is just coming back from an injury. Brad Wilkerson is hitting .230 and catcher Brian Schneider leads the team with six homers.
Years ago, during his stints managing the Indians, Giants and Orioles, Robinson might have torn up a clubhouse, but he's not about to now. Remember, he was the guy who took over five games into Baltimore's 0-21 start in 1988. The next season, the Orioles went 87-75.
He thinks patience is the key, and doesn't think the Expos are as bad as their record. The future, though, remains uncertain.
Robinson said he doesn't shirk from reading the almost daily stories about where the Expos might play next season, although he doesn't need to be in the loop.
"If they feel like they want me to know something, they tell me," he said. "But I don't ask them."
He would like to manage three more years, which would be long enough for the new ownership to get the team established in a new city and build on the core of players already being assembled by general manager Omar Minaya.
"But it's up to new management," Robinson said. "They may want someone who has more fire than I have. Some people say I've gone soft."
Group unveils plans
CHANTILLY, Va. -- An investment group hoping to bring a major league baseball team to Northern Virginia unveiled plans for a stadium near Dulles International Airport.
The stadium would be part of a complex that would include restaurants, hotels, condominiums and offices surrounding a man-made lake, the group said. It hopes to make the projected development a year-round attraction in order to defray some of the construction costs.
"It's going to be a beautiful development," Jerry Burkot, a spokesman for the group, told The Washington Post for Saturday editions.
The proposal is the latest from the Virginia Baseball Stadium Authority, which is hoping to bring a baseball team to Northern Virginia. The site is not the only one the group has presented to Major League Baseball, but it is the preferred one.
Relocation efforts
Baseball has been trying to relocate the Montreal Expos since the struggling franchise was purchased by the 29 other teams before the 2002 season. The Expos are splitting their schedule between Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico, for the second consecutive year in order to ease the club's debt.
Las Vegas; Monterrey, Mexico; Washington; San Juan; Norfolk, Va.; Portland, Ore.; and Northern Virginia are all possible relocation candidates. The latest deadline for a decision is the All-Star break in July, but league officials have repeatedly missed similar deadlines in the past as they search for an acceptable deal.
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