CHICAGO -- Don't bother applying to become manager of the Minnesota Twins: General manager Terry Ryan is no longer looking to fill the vacancy.

"We're in a situation where we're on hold," he said Thursday at the general managers' meetings.

Ryan can't replace manager Tom Kelly, who retired last month.

"We're not going to hire a manager if we don't have a team," Ryan said, adding he will try to conduct business as usual to the extent he can.

Baseball owners voted Tuesday to eliminate two teams by next season, and Minnesota and Montreal are the likely candidates.

While the Expos finished with baseball's lowest attendance at 619,000, an average 7,648 per game, the Twins surged at the box office as they led the AL Central for much of the season. Minnesota won 85 games, and increased attendance by 700,000 to 1.78 million -- its highest in eight season.

"We had a nice year, and we were hoping to go through a successful fall where you can build and sell some tickets," Ryan said. "When we put a decent club on the field in Minnesota, we've had the ability to draw. People in Minnesota have a fondness for our ballclub even though we've gone through some lean years."

Ryan, GM since 1994, just wants a chance to finish the job he started. Minnesota won the World Series in 1987 and 1991 and was the first team to draw 3 million in one season.

"If they allow us to function, we'll draw again," Ryan said.

Contraction has chilled the trade market because of uncertainty over which teams will fold and which players will become available either as free agents or in a dispersal draft.

"We're in a wait-and-see mode," White Sox GM Kenny Williams said. "There are some issues that have to be tabled."

Expos outfielder Vladimir Guerrero and Twins pitcher Brad Radke are among the players who could be available.

"I don't think anyone is doing a lot of preparing for a dispersal draft," Phillies general manager Ed Wade said. "We still have to get some explanations and marching orders from (the commissioner's office in) New York."

Ryan said he will remain on the job even though his contract expires in December.

"I'm going remain loyal to the owner and our organization. I'm not going to bail out on them," he said. "Unfortunately the people that work in the Metrodome, and the people that are on our major league staff, supplementary people -- they don't have deals for next year. That's my biggest concern."