San Juan, Puerto Rico ? A plan for the Montreal Expos to play some of their home games in Puerto Rico next year is exciting island fans who for years have rooted for faraway teams.

Youth league baseball coach Carlos Diaz said the games should give a new boost to interest in the sport that historically has been the most watched on the Caribbean island.

“It’s good for the young people to become excited about baseball,” said Diaz, who added that he would attend the games.

Under plans developed by major league baseball officials, Montreal would open its new part-time home in Puerto Rico on April 11 against the New York Mets.

While the proposal still hasn’t been finalized, baseball officials are discussing having the Expos play 10 games in April at San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium against the Mets (April 11-14), Atlanta (April 15-17) and Cincinnati (April 18-20), several baseball officials said on condition of anonymity.

The second homestand would include World Series champion Anaheim (June 3-5) and Texas (June 6-8), and the last would have Florida (Sept. 5-7) and the Chicago Cubs (Sept. 9-11).