HOUSTON (AP) – Baseball’s No. 2 official expressed confidence Monday that the Montreal Expos will move before the 2005 season but wouldn’t set a new deadline for a decision.

The Expos were bought by the other 29 teams before the 2002 season, and baseball at first hoped for a decision by July 2002 but later pushed it back to the 2003 All-Star break and then to this year’s break. The bidding areas have said in recent weeks that they think a decision could be made by late July or early August.

“I’ve been hanged out to dry by coming out with proposed dates,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating office, said. “The sooner we get it done the better. I believe it will happen this summer. I believe it’s very important we get this done this year.”

Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, near Dulles International Airport, appear to be the top contenders to land the Expos. Also bidding are Las Vegas, Monterrey, Mexico; Norfolk, Va.; Portland, Ore., and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Downtown Washington is about 40 miles from Baltimore’s Camden Yards, and DuPuy acknowledged that Orioles owner Peter Angelos has openly opposed having a team move that close to his franchise. If the Expos move to either Washington or Northern Virginia, they would play at RFK Stadium, home of the expansion Washington Senators, before moving to a new ballpark in 2007 or 2008.

Commissioner Bud Selig said in May that he was concerned about the effect an Expos move to the nation’s capital would have on the Orioles.

DuPuy also said it’s possible baseball will decide where the Expos move before finalizing a deal to sell the team, a process that could extend into early 2005. He said that areas that don’t wind up with the Expos could become contenders for other franchises.

“That’s an inevitable conclusion you can draw if you’re having eventual relocation,” DuPuy said.

Selig says the Florida Marlins and Oakland Athletics need new ballparks to survive in their areas.