We interrupt this marvelous postseason for a cold brace of real world economics.

Before the long, difficult labor (talks), there's talk of contractions. And now, they're being timed just a few minutes apart.

A report earlier this week suggested that commissioner Bud Selig will eliminate the Montreal Expos and another team (likely either the Florida Marlins or Tampa Bay Devil Rays) at a scheduled owners meeting two days after what would be Game 7 of the World Series.

There are, of course, a seemingly endless list of questions to be answered before contraction becomes a reality.

A few of them:

	If the Expos fold, Vladimir Guerrero will be a coveted player.

Q: What would happen to the players whose franchises have folded?

A: They would likely be made available to the 28 remaining teams in a dispersal draft.

As is the case with the amateur draft every June, teams would draft in reverse order of their finish from the previous season.

In the 2000 season, the two worst records were compiled by the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Devil Rays themselves. A coin toss would presumably determine the first pick -- unless the Devil Rays were being folded and picked from. Next in line would be Baltimore, then Kansas City, Detroit and Cincinnati.

Q: Would a dispersal draft help level the playing field?

A: Somewhat. But just as happens with the amateur draft, there's no guarantee that the best players will go to the worst teams.

In June, some of the high-profile high school and college players drop to later in the first round because they have a notoriously difficult agent or some bargaining leverage.

The same potential problems exist here. The best player may have a salary too big for the likes of the Pirates, Royals or Reds to absorb. So they may select younger, cheaper players to keep their payroll load down.

Q: In the event of a dispersal draft, who would be the first player selected?

A: On talent alone, any draft involving Montreal would almost certainly involve Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero being taken first. He's young (25), skilled ( .307, 34 HR) and under contract for two more seasons at fairly reasonable dollars.

Other top picks would be Montreal second baseman Jose Vidro and Montreal right-handers Javier Vazquez and Tony Armas Jr; from Florida, A.J. Burnett, Brad Penny, Josh Beckett and Ryan Dempster; Tampa Bay's best players haven't made it to the big leagues, including outfield prospects Josh Hamilton and Carl Crawford.

Q: Why Montreal?

A: As Bud Selig so delicately put it last week: "I don't know there's much I can add to the Montreal situation. I mean, the numbers are there for everybody to see."

The Expos, except for two brief periods -- in the early 1980s and again in 1994, pre-strike -- have never really captured sports fans in the city or province. Their pitiful attendance this season (less than 8,000 per game) ranked them behind several minor-league franchises.

But there's another reason. Unlike 28 of its 29 major-league brethren, the Expos reside outside U.S. borders, and thus, beyond the reach of political figures.

If the Expos fold, some diehard hardball fans may protest, but no members of Canada's parliament can threaten to take away baseball's prized antitrust exemption.

Q: What of the political ramifications in the U.S.?

A: They're considerable. In fact, according to more than one industry source, Selig is adamant about not wiping out a Florida-based team for fear of angering Florida governor Jeb Bush, brother of former Texas Rangers owner -- and current commander in chief -- George W. Bush.

The last thing the owners want, with labor armageddon on the horizon, is a hostile White House.

Q: If the Marlins and Devil Rays get spared, who will the Expos dance partner be?

A: It has to be someone, since the game can't exist with an odd number of franchises.

Best bet: Minnesota.

In fact, the scouting department of one AL team was recently told to concentrate on Twins' prospects in the Arizona Fall League and winter ball.

Twins owner Carl Pohlad may have lost patience with the system after failing to win stadium approval in Minnesota and getting only a second-place finish out of an increased payroll this season.

Q: Could this get more complicated than simply folding two franchises?

A: In a heartbeat. In fact, according to some reports, there are already plans for the bought-out owners -- Jeffrey Loria in Montreal and John Henry in Miami -- to buy into other franchises.

Under this plan, Loria would become owner of the Devil Rays and Henry would buy the Anaheim Angels.

Q: What affect will all of this have on realignment?

A: Ah, realignment -- baseball's longest running story line.

If Montreal and Florida both fold, that would leave the National League with 14 teams, just like the current AL setup. No teams would have to change leagues.

But because the Expos and Marlins play in the same division (NL East) and that division would be left with just four teams, while the crowded Central has six. Moving Pittsburgh back to the East would be the simple solution.

If it's Montreal and Tampa folding, however, all bets are off, since both leagues would be left with an odd number of teams -- 13 in the AL and 15 in the NL.

Baseball still has until later this fall to randomly assign the two most recent expansionites -- Tampa and Arizona -- without the consent of the franchises. But would it be smart for MLB to take a team which just won the NL pennant (Arizona) and move it to the other league?

Another solution would be to have an interleague matchup every day, with crossover games lasting throughout the season. But owners believe this would dilute the impact of interleague play and it could create massive scheduling headaches.

Q: What would happen to the minor leaguers playing for folded franchises?

A: It's impossible to tell for now. But logic dictates that some sort of mechanism would have to be put in place to move players to existing franchises. Perhaps there would be a separate minor-league dispersal draft.

A number of wildly successful minor-league franchises such as the Marlins' Eastern League affiliate, the Portland Sea Dogs, would also be jeopardized.

Q: What will the Players Association have to say about this?

A: Plenty, as always.

MLB believes it can contract without consent of the union. The Players Association argues otherwise, noting that a minimum of 50 jobs would be lost. (Even if players are absorbed by other clubs, they would take roster spots away from current players).

Owners could offer to expand rosters to 27 players per team -- making up the 50 lost jobs and then some -- but the union would argue that those extra spots will go to minimum-salaried players rather than established players.

Q: If contraction happens, will it achieve its intended goal?

A: That depends on what the goal is.

If the thought is to create more competitive balance, the answer is likely 'no.'

For many of the same reasons that the amateur draft doesn't now address inequities, this draft could also fall short. If, say, the Royals can't afford Vladimir Guerrero but take him and deal him to the New York Yankees for Nick Johnson and two other prospects, nothing much will have changed.

The rich will get richer, and the poor will be stuck on the same old treadmill of developing young players, only to find themselves unable to afford to keep them.

If, on the other hand, the owners wants to stop the dilution of talent and demonstate to the Players Association their resolve, contraction could be an important first step.

Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal covers baseball for ESPN.com.