# 1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft

On November 18, 1997, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft to allow two expansion teams, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League West and American League East divisions, respectively, in the 1998 MLB season. The draft took place in the Phoenix Civic Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

## Background

Following the success of the 1993 expansion, which added the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins, MLB in 1994 set up an expansion committee to add two expansion teams. Tampa Bay and Phoenix were chosen for the two expansion franchises.

## Procedures

Similar to the 1992 expansion draft, both expansion teams selected 35 players. The draft was divided into three rounds. Each team would select 14 players in round 1, 14 players in round 2, and 7 players in round 3. Tampa Bay general manager Chuck LaMar and Arizona general manager Joe Garagiola Jr. oversaw their teams' selections.
The Devil Rays and Diamondbacks could pick any player not on the protected lists of the 28 other teams, although no team could lose more than one player in a given round. The protected list for each team consisted of:
* For the first round, 15 players from the rosters of their entire organization—both their 40-man roster, plus all minor league affiliates.
* Each team could add three more players to its protected list after each round.
* All players in an organization were eligible to be drafted, except those with no prior major league experience who had less than three years service if signed at age 19 or older, or had less than four years of service if signed at age 18 or younger.
* Players who were free agents after the end of the 1997 season need not be protected.
As with the 1992 expansion draft, the order was determined by a coin toss. The winner of the toss could choose either: (a) The first overall pick in the expansion draft or (b) allow the other team to pick first and receive both the second and third overall expansion draft picks and the right to pick first in the subsequent rounds of the expansion draft. Arizona won the toss and chose to select second.

## Results

The Devil Rays reportedly considered trading the player they were to select first. They chose Tony Saunders from the Florida Marlins.
Key :
| ‡ | All-Star |
Note, each noted All-Star player achieved that status in later season(s).
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | From | To |
| 1 | 1 | Tony Saunders | Left-handed pitcher | Florida Marlins | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 2 | Brian Anderson | Left-handed pitcher | Cleveland Indians | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 3 | Jeff Suppan | Right-handed pitcher | Boston Red Sox | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 4 | Quinton McCracken | Outfielder | Colorado Rockies | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 5 | Gabe Alvarez | Third baseman | San Diego Padres | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 6 | Bobby Abreu$^‡$ | Outfielder | Houston Astros | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 7 | Jorge Fábregas | Catcher | Chicago White Sox | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 8 | Miguel Cairo | Second baseman | Chicago Cubs | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 9 | Karim García | Outfielder | Los Angeles Dodgers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 10 | Rich Butler | Outfielder | Toronto Blue Jays | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 11 | Edwin Díaz | Infielder | Texas Rangers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 12 | Bob Smith | Third baseman | Atlanta Braves | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 13 | Cory Lidle | Right-handed pitcher | New York Mets | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 14 | Jason Johnson | Right-handed pitcher | Pittsburgh Pirates | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 15 | Joel Adamson | Left-handed pitcher | Milwaukee Brewers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 16 | Dmitri Young$^‡$ | First baseman | Cincinnati Reds | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 17 | Ben Ford | Right-handed pitcher | New York Yankees | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 18 | Esteban Yan | Right-handed pitcher | Baltimore Orioles | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 19 | Yamil Benitez | Outfielder | Kansas City Royals | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 20 | Mike DiFelice | Catcher | St. Louis Cardinals | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 21 | Neil Weber | Left-handed pitcher | Montreal Expos | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 22 | Bubba Trammell | Outfielder | Detroit Tigers | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 23 | Jason Boyd | Right-handed pitcher | Philadelphia Phillies | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 24 | Andy Sheets | Infielder | Seattle Mariners | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 25 | Brent Brede | Outfielder | Minnesota Twins | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 26 | Dennis Springer | Right-handed pitcher | Anaheim Angels | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 1 | 27 | Tony Batista$^‡$ | Infielder | Oakland Athletics | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 1 | 28 | Dan Carlson | Right-handed pitcher | San Francisco Giants | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 29 | Tom Martin | Left-handed pitcher | Houston Astros | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 30 | Brian Boehringer | Right-handed pitcher | New York Yankees | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 31 | Omar Daal | Left-handed pitcher | Toronto Blue Jays | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 32 | Mike Duvall | Left-handed pitcher | Florida Marlins | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 33 | Scott Winchester | Right-handed pitcher | Cincinnati Reds | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 34 | John LeRoy | Right-handed pitcher | Atlanta Braves | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 35 | Clint Sodowsky | Right-handed pitcher | Pittsburgh Pirates | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 36 | Jim Mecir | Right-handed pitcher | Boston Red Sox | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 37 | Danny Klassen | Infielder | Milwaukee Brewers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 38 | Bryan Rekar | Right-handed pitcher | Colorado Rockies | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 39 | Matt Drews | Right-handed pitcher | Detroit Tigers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 40 | Rick Gorecki | Right-handed pitcher | Los Angeles Dodgers | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 41 | Todd Erdos | Right-handed pitcher | San Diego Padres | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 42 | Ramón Tatís | Left-handed pitcher | Chicago Cubs | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 43 | Chris Clemons | Right-handed pitcher | Chicago White Sox | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 44 | Kerry Robinson | Outfielder | St. Louis Cardinals | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 45 | David Dellucci | Outfielder | Baltimore Orioles | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 46 | Steve Cox | First baseman | Oakland Athletics | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 47 | Damian Miller$^‡$ | Catcher | Minnesota Twins | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 48 | Albie Lopez | Right-handed pitcher | Cleveland Indians | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 49 | Héctor Carrasco | Right-handed pitcher | Kansas City Royals | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 50 | José Paniagua | Right-handed pitcher | Montreal Expos | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 51 | Hanley Frias | Shortstop | Texas Rangers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 52 | Carlos Mendoza | Outfielder | New York Mets | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 53 | Bob Wolcott | Right-handed pitcher | Seattle Mariners | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 54 | Ryan Karp | Left-handed pitcher | Philadelphia Phillies | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 2 | 55 | Mike Bell | Third baseman | Anaheim Angels | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 2 | 56 | Santos Hernández | Right-handed pitcher | San Francisco Giants | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 57 | Joe Randa | Third baseman | Pittsburgh Pirates | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 58 | Randy Winn$^‡$ | Outfielder | Florida Marlins | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 59 | Jesús Martínez | Left-handed pitcher | Los Angeles Dodgers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 60 | Terrell Wade | Left-handed pitcher | Atlanta Braves | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 61 | Russ Springer | Right-handed pitcher | Houston Astros | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 62 | Aaron Ledesma | Infielder | Baltimore Orioles | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 63 | Bryan Corey | Right-handed pitcher | Detroit Tigers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 64 | Brooks Kieschnick | Outfielder | Chicago Cubs | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 65 | Kelly Stinnett | Catcher | Milwaukee Brewers | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 66 | Luke Wilcox | Outfielder | New York Yankees | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 67 | Chuck McElroy | Left-handed pitcher | Chicago White Sox | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 68 | Herbert Perry | Infielder | Cleveland Indians | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |
| 3 | 69 | Marty Janzen | Right-handed pitcher | Toronto Blue Jays | Arizona Diamondbacks |
| 3 | 70 | Vaughn Eshelman | Left-handed pitcher | Oakland Athletics | Tampa Bay Devil Rays |

## Post-draft trades

Once the draft was completed a number of trades were made. Teams had to wait until after the draft or risk losing their newly acquired players because they were not on their protected lists.
* The Devil Rays traded Bobby Abreu to the Philadelphia Phillies for Kevin Stocker
* The Devil Rays traded Andy Sheets and Brian Boehringer to the San Diego Padres for John Flaherty
* The Devil Rays traded Dmitri Young to the Cincinnati Reds for Mike Kelly
* The Devil Rays purchased Fred McGriff from the Atlanta Braves
* The Diamondbacks traded Gabe Alvarez, Joe Randa, and Matt Drews to the Detroit Tigers for Travis Fryman
* The Diamondbacks traded Scott Winchester to the Cincinnati Reds for Félix Rodríguez
* The Diamondbacks traded Jesus Martinez to the Florida Marlins for Devon White
* The Diamondbacks traded Chuck McElroy to the Colorado Rockies for Harvey Pulliam

## Aftermath

The Diamondbacks intended to spend money. The day prior to the expansion draft, they signed Jay Bell to a $34 million contract across five years. Two weeks following the draft, the Diamondbacks traded Fryman and Martin to the Indians for Matt Williams.
The Devil Rays and Diamondbacks had differing results in their first years in MLB. Both teams altered their initial plans of developing youth; the Devil Rays acquired future Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and pitcher Wilson Alvarez along with sluggers Jose Canseco, Vinny Castilla, and Greg Vaughn while the Diamondbacks added Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, Luis Gonzalez, Todd Stottlemyre, Steve Finley, Armando Reynoso, Greg Swindell, Tony Womack, Mark Grace, Reggie Sanders, Craig Counsell and Greg Colbrunn.
While the Devil Rays consistently finished last in the AL East for the next decade, the Diamondbacks won the NL West title in 1999, 2001, and 2002, and won the 2001 World Series.