SAN FRANCISCO -- As many as 20 Montreal Expos home games could be moved to Puerto Rico next year under a plan baseball officials discussed Thursday before Game 5 of the World Series.

Boston Expos? Think again

The Expos won't be playing at Fenway Park. Officials from Major League Baseball, the Montreal Expos and the Red Sox shot down a report Thursday that said the Expos were considering a move to Boston for the 2003 season, the Boston Herald reported Friday. The New York Daily News had reported talks were being held about having the Expos share Fenway with the Sox next season, but executives from all three groups called the report inaccurate. The report said the Sox supported having the Expos as tenants because the team's new owners were leveraged after paying $700 million for the team, stadium and NESN -- and could use the rent money. "There is no truth to it,'' Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino said through a spokesman. "There is absolutely no truth to it.'' Rich Levin, MLB's executive vice president for public relations, said the story didn't even merit an official response from commissioner Bud Selig. "It's nonsense,'' Levin said. "That's all that needs to be said.'' Expos officials were asked by MLB, which runs the team, not to comment on the matter but one team official said the report was "wild speculation.'' "There were a dozen scenarios thrown out there at one point and Boston was one of them,'' the official said. "But so was Yankee Stadium, Shea Stadium, San Juan (Puerto Rico) and a lot of other places. It's just pure speculation.''

In addition, management and union officials discussed the possibility of moving the season-opening series between the Seattle Mariners and Athletics from Oakland to Japan.

The commissioner's office operates the Expos on behalf of the other 29 teams, which bought the franchise earlier this year from Jeffrey Loria, who purchased the Florida Marlins. Baseball officials want to move the team from Montreal, where the Expos drew just 812,000 fans this season, but have pretty much ruled out a relocation for 2003.

Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C., have also been considered for Expos' home games, but the focus is on Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan, one lawyer familiar with the discussions said Thursday on the condition of anonymity.

The shift of games was discussed Thursday during a meeting that included Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer; Rob Manfred, the owners' top labor lawyer; and three officials of the players' association.

"The discussions are ongoing,'' said Gene Orza, the union's No. 2 official. "They'll be some information sharing going on. It's a complicated subject. It's one of those subjects that when you delve into it, you realize it's more complex than would otherwise appear to be the case.''

Manfred and Expos general manager Omar Minaya declined comment, and DuPuy did not return a telephone call seeking comment.

Puerto Rican officials would like the Expos to play three six-game homestands in San Juan, in April, May and August, the lawyer said. The other alternative would be to play two 10-game homestands, he added.

On Oct. 3, officials of the Expos and the commissioner's office toured Bithorn Stadium and discussed the possibility of playing Expos' games there with Ramon Cantero Frau, Puerto Rico's economic development secretary.

DuPuy plans to start discussions after the World Series for a permanent owner for the Expos. Commissioner Bud Selig said in January that he would be open to considering a relocation after a new labor contract -- which was agreed to in August. He called Washington "the prime candidate.''

Baseball officials intend to have additional discussions on moving the Mariners-Athletics series to Japan when a team of major league All-Stars goes there next month.

An Oakland-Seattle series would be the second time regular season games are played there. The Chicago Cubs and New York Mets split a two-game series at the Tokyo Dome two years ago.