New York ? Jeffrey Loria doesn’t have a signed agreement to buy the Florida Marlins from John Henry, but baseball’s ownership committee already has recommended approval of the sale.

In another unusual development in baseball’s bizarre offseason, the ownership committee convened by telephone conference call Friday and unanimously agreed that owners should vote in favor of a deal hasn’t even been finalized.

Henry, who heads the group that was given approval by major league owners on Jan. 16 to buy the Boston Red Sox from the Jean R. Yawkey Trust for $660 million, intends to sell the Marlins to Loria for $158.5 million.

Loria plans to sell the Expos for $120 million to a new entity either a corporation or a partnership that is owned by the other 29 major league teams.

“Jeffrey Loria is very excited at the opportunity,” Expos executive vice president David Samson said after the ownership committee’s one-hour call. “He is pleased and happy with the ownership committee’s decision. He looks forward to a vote to as soon as practicably possible.”

Both Henry and Samson said an agreement on the Marlins’ sale was close to being finalized and they were confident it would get signed early next week.

Major league owners are to consider both deals when they meet Feb. 11, 12 or 13, probably in the Chicago area. The commissioner’s office won’t pick the date until after the Senate Judiciary Committee decides whether its hearing on baseball’s antitrust exemption will be Feb. 12 or 13.

“I’m glad that it’s moving forward,” Henry said. “The Marlins needed resolution everyone in the organization needed resolution and now it looks like we have one.”

Usually, sales are approved 6-to-12 months after they are agreed to. But spring training starts Feb. 14 and Loria intends to bring key Expos staff members with him to Florida, including manager Jeff Torborg, acting general manager Larry Beinfest and Samson.

“This is different, it’s not new people coming in,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said.

Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, vice president for discipline in the commissioner’s office, is likely to become the Expos’ manager, baseball officials have said. The commissioner’s office has not decided on a chief executive officer/general manager for Montreal.

All three deals are expected to close in late February.

Back on Nov. 6, baseball owners voted to eliminate two teams, and their labor negotiators later told the players’ association the Expos and Minnesota Twins were the targets.