NEW YORK -- Nothing unexpected appeared at the physical tests for the five umpires baseball plans to take back, and their rehiring could be announced Thursday.

"At this stage, it's going through," Sandy Alderson, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner's office, said Wednesday. "Our assumption is they will pass their physicals and start work next week."

Alderson was in New Orleans, where the five umpires, who lost their jobs in a failed mass resignation three years ago, took their physicials and underwent reorientation.

"My purpose was to meet them and greet them and welcome them back to the staff," he said.

Gary Darling, Bill Hohn, Larry Poncino, Larry Vanover and Joe West have not umpired since Sept. 2, 1999, when 22 umpires were terminated by baseball after their failed mass resignation.

As part of the agreement with baseball, four other umpires -- Drew Coble, Greg Kosc, Frank Pulli, Terry Tata -- will retire and get back pay and benefits.

Because of the deal, umpires no longer will seek to enforce a Dec. 14 decision by U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III in Philadelphia. Bartle upheld a decision made last May by arbitrator Alan Symonette, who ordered the nine rehired.

Both sides asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decision, and baseball owners had asked Bartle to stay his ruling. The sides will continue with their appeals.

The 22 umpires had submitted their resignations as part of a bargaining strategy devised by Richie Phillips, head of the Major League Umpires Association.

After the season, umpires voted in a federally supervised election to replace the MLUA with a new union, the World Umpires Association. While the MLUA was run primarily by National League umpires who supported Phillips, the WUA is heavily influenced by American League umpires who opposed Phillips. After gaining power, the WUA negotiated a new labor contract that allowed baseball to merge the umpiring staffs of the two leagues.

Bartle also ordered new arbitration hearings for Paul Nauert, Bruce Dreckman and Sam Holbrook, and upheld the termination of 10 umpires -- Bob Davidson, Tom Hallion, Jim Evans, Dale Ford, Richie Garcia, Eric Gregg, Ed Hickox, Mark Johnson, Ken Kaiser and Larry McCoy.

In a separate lawsuit, the umpires let go are seeking their termination pay and pensions.