Mets Dismiss Howe; He’ll Finish Season

The New York Mets fired Manager Art Howe on Wednesday but left him in the dugout for the last 2 1/2 weeks of the season.

General Manager Jim Duquette said he wanted to announce the firing after the season but was forced to act this week after news broke of his plan. He said he asked Howe to stay for the last 17 games, and the manager agreed.

“The fact is, I’m not fired now. I’m leaving after the season,” Howe said during an awkward day at Shea Stadium. “I’m not a quitter.”

Howe’s contract runs through the 2006 season, and he’s still owed $4.7 million. But with the Mets at 63-83 -- after a 66-95 finish last year in his first season -- management decided it was time for a change.

“I don’t want to get into an evaluation of Art,” Duquette said. “It wasn’t working.”

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San Diego Padre rookie shortstop Khalil Greene has a broken bone in his right index finger that is expected to keep him out of the starting lineup for the rest of the regular season.

Greene was injured in the fifth inning of the Padres’ 9-7 victory over the Dodgers on Monday while fielding Antonio Perez’s hard grounder.

“That’s going to be it for him for the rest of the season,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. “It’s a tough break for Khalil and for us. He’s had a tremendous year. I hope this doesn’t affect any rookie-of-the-year voting.”

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St. Louis Cardinal third baseman Scott Rolen is expected to be sidelined another week because of a strained calf.

“If you push it, you’re liable to really blow it out,” Manager Tony La Russa said. “We’re going to be careful with him. So he’s just not available.”

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Lawyers for the former limited partners of the Montreal Expos plan to ask a federal judge to block Major League Baseball from moving the team.

“We have already informed baseball orally that it will be the intent of my clients to seek a preliminary injunction to preserve the status quo,” Jeffrey Kessler, a lawyer for the limited partners, said Wednesday. “We probably will look for a schedule for a hearing to be held in November.”