Expos Will Stay Through ’99

The Expos will be back in Montreal for the 1999 season. Their future beyond that date is still uncertain.

Expo President Claude Brochu said that the team made a commitment to the league to play baseball in Montreal in 1999. But he added that the team will decide by September whether to stay in the city for the year 2000.

Brochu and his partners had previously set a June 30 deadline to decide whether they would proceed with the construction of a proposed downtown stadium or move the franchise.

*

Left fielder Al Martin, forced into a platoon role for the first time, said he recently suggested the Pittsburgh Pirates consider trading him.

Martin has since talked to his agent several times to gauge if a deal might be a possibility, but he is not demanding a trade.

*

The Cincinnati Reds put right-handed reliever Stan Belinda on the 15-day disabled list because of an inflammation of the spinal cord.

Belinda, the setup man for closer Jeff Shaw, was 3-6 with a 3.32 earned-run average and one save.

He was replaced on the roster by right-handed reliever Marc Kroon.

Kroon had been on the disabled list since May 7 because of shoulder tendinitis. He has a 7.36 ERA in 7 1/3 innings in five appearances.