The Los Angeles Rams of the NFL probably will decide whether to leave southern California, and possibly move to Baltimore, in the next four to six weeks, a top team official told Gov. William Donald Schaefer last night.

Schaefer, on a business promotion trip in California, held nearlythree-hour dinner meeting with Rams president John Shaw and a pair of team attorneys in Beverly Hills, Calif., said Mark Wasserman, secretary of the Maryland Department of Economic and Employment Development, who was also there.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who has offered to purchase minority stake in the team if it is moved to Baltimore, also participated.

"It was a good, useful exchange. There's no substitute tmeeting their decision-makers face to face," Wasserman said.

"The governor and Peter Angelos put on the best possible case."

The governor pressed the Rams' officials on how quickly thewill chose between competing bids from Baltimore, St. Louis, Hartford, Conn., and a hometown effort in Anaheim. He was told a decision will likely be made in the next four to six weeks, Wasserman said.

"John Shaw is very much struck by the potency of the Baltimore market but he has many, many issues to sift through," Wasserman said.