NEW YORK -- Don't count on going to a new Washington team's home opener against the Mets in April: A lawyer for the Montreal Expos' former minority owners promises a court fight if baseball tries to move the team.

The commissioner's office, still unsure whether it will attempt to move the franchise, submitted legal papers Friday to the lawsuit filed in July by the Expos' former limited partners.

After Thursday's meeting of baseball owners in Chicago, Expos president Tony Tavares said a move for the 2003 season was a possibility and said he'd like to know within 10 days whether major league baseball intends to keep the team in Montreal next season.

"If they try to move or sell the team, we already have said we will try to stop that,'' Jeffrey Kessler, who represents the former limited partners, said Friday. "All we can do is wait, like the rest of the world.''

Commissioner Bud Selig said in January that Washington was a "prime candidate'' for relocation but hasn't said whether he would push for a move.

The Expos were purchased by the other 29 teams earlier this year from Jeffrey Loria, who bought the Florida Marlins. Several owners of major league teams expressed concern at Thursday's meeting about the Expos' continuing losses, one baseball official said on the condition of anonymity.

Under the draft schedule given to teams in the past few weeks, the Expos are to open in Atlanta on March 31 and play their home opener against the New York Mets on April 4.

The Expos are then scheduled to go to Chicago and to the Mets. But if Washington needs an additional week to prepare RFK Stadium, the two series against the Mets could be reversed. Washington would then go to Shea Stadium for the first weekend, and open at RFK against the Mets on April 11.

RFK Stadium was the home for the expansion Washington Senators, who became the Texas Rangers after the 1971 season. If the Expos move to Washington, the team would play in RFK Stadium until a new ballpark is constructed, either downtown or in Northern Virginia.

Bobby Goldwater, president and executive director of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, said RFK Stadium could be ready for baseball by opening day if baseball wants to move the Expos.

"It certainly would be the goal for Washington, D.C., to be part of the solution,'' Goldwater said. "We certainly believe we are the most attractive and best solution.''

The 14 former limited partners of the Expos sued in July, accusing Selig and Loria of conspiring for more than two years to eliminate Montreal. Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, and Loria said at the time the suit was without merit, and moved Friday to have the suit dismissed.

"Their laundry list of requests to the court is typical of a defendant with something to hide,'' Kessler and partner James Quinn said in a statement. "They are praying this case will just disappear so that they won't have to respond to discovery requests.''

Copies of the papers were not immediately available, and baseball's lawyers were not available for comment, spokesman Pat Courtney said.

Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C., also have expressed interest in having a major league team, but Washington's planning appears to be the most evolved. Several groups have expressed interest in acquiring a team.

Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos doesn't want another team near his and he, too, could mount a court fight. Camden Yards is about 40 miles from Washington.