Baseball postpones the elimination of teams until 2003

NEW YORK - Faced with a string of courtroom losses, baseball Commissioner Bud Selig on Tuesday put off until next year a move to eliminate two teams. <br> <br> Baseball had wanted to get rid of the Minnesota Twins and Montreal Expos before the start of the upcoming season but was thwarted by the Twins&#39; landlord, which obtained an injunction that forced the team to honor its 2002 lease. <br> <br> &#34;Events outside of our direct control, including yesterday&#39;s court decision in Minnesota, have required us to move the date of contraction to 2003,&#34; Selig said. <br> <br> On Monday, the Minnesota Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal of the injunction. <br> <br> Baseball&#39;s team owners voted Nov. 6 to eliminate two ballclubs but did not specify which ones. Their labor negotiators later told the players&#39; union the Twins and Expos were targeted. <br> <br> Selig, without specifying teams, vowed to press forward with the elimination of some teams for 2003. <br> <br> &#34;The clubs recognize that our current economic circumstance make contraction absolutely inevitable, as certain franchises simply cannot compete and cannot generate enough revenues to survive,&#34; he said. <br>