Let E ⊂ (−1, 1) be a compact set, let µ be a positive Borel measure with support supp µ = E, and let H p (G), 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, be the Hardy space of analytic functions on the open unit disk G with circumference = {z: |z| = 1}. Let n, p be the error in best approximation of the Markov functionin the space L p ( ) by meromorphic functions that can be represented in the form h = P/Q, where P ∈ H p (G), Q is a polynomial of degree at most n, Q ≡ 0. We investigate the rate of decrease of n, p , 1 ≤ p ≤ ∞, and its connection with n-widths. The convergence of the best meromorphic approximants and the limiting Date distribution of poles of the best approximants are described in the case when 1 < p ≤ ∞ and the measure µ with support E = [a, b] satisfies the Szegő condition b a log(dµ/dx)