1997 Expansion Draft

From SoSH

November 18, 1997: An expansion draft was held. The Devil Rays selected pitcher Tony Saunders from the Florida Marlins with their first pick, while the Diamondbacks took pitcher Brian Anderson from the Cleveland Indians with their first selection.

With the expansion, there was also a realignment of leagues. The Milwaukee Brewers moved to the National League. Without this move, each league would have 15 teams, necessitating interleague play every day of the season. Currently, the National League has 16 teams and the American League 14.

Tampa Bay Rays				Arizona Diamondbacks
##	PLAYER	POS	PREVIOUS TEAM	##	PLAYER	POS	PREVIOUS TEAM
1	Tony Saunders	LHP	Florida Marlins	1	Brian Anderson	LHP	Cleveland Indians
2	Quinton McCracken	OF	Colorado Rockies	2	Jeff Suppan	RHP	Boston Red Sox
3	Bobby Abreu	OF	Houston Astros	3	Gabe Alvarez	3B	San Diego Padres
4	Miguel Cairo	2B	Chicago Cubs	4	Jorge Fabregas	C	Chicago White Sox
5	Rich Butler	OF	Toronto Blue Jays	5	Karim Garcia	OF	Los Angeles Dodgers
6	Bobby Smith	SS	Atlanta Braves	6	Edwin Diaz	2B	Texas Rangers
7	Jason Johnson	RHP	Pittsburgh Pirates	7	Cory Lidle	RHP	New York Mets
8	Dmitri Young	1B-OF	Cincinnati Reds	8	Joel Adamson	LHP	Milwaukee Brewers
9	Esteban Yan	RHP	Baltimore O's	9	Ben Ford	RHP	New York Yankees
10	Mike Difelice	C	St. Louis Cardinals	10	Yamil Benitez	OF	Kansas City Royals
11	Bubba Trammell	OF	Detroit Tigers	11	Neil Weber	LHP	Montreal Expos
12	Andy Sheets	SS	Seattle Mariners	12	Jason Boyd	RHP	Philadelphia Phillies
13	Dennis Springer	RHP	Anaheim Angels	13	Brent Brede	OF-1B	Minnesota Twins
14	Dan Carlson	RHP	San Francisco Giants	14	Tony Batista	SS	Oakland A's
15	Brian Boehringer	RHP	New York Yankees	15	Tom Martin	LHP	Houston Astros
16	Mike Duvall	LHP	Florida Marlins	16	Omar Daal	LHP	Toronto Blue Jays
17	John LeRoy	RHP	Atlanta Braves	17	Scott Winchester	RHP	Cincinnati Reds
18	Jim Mecir	RHP	Boston Red Sox	18	Clint Sodowsky	RHP	Pittsburgh Pirates
19	Bryan Rekar	RHP	Colorado Rockies	19	Danny Klassen	SS	Milwaukee Brewers
20	Rick Gorecki	RHP	Los Angeles Dodgers	20	Matt Drews	RHP	Detroit Tigers
21	Ramon Tatis	LHP	Chicago Cubs	21	Todd Erdos	RHP	San Diego Padres
22	Kerry Robinson	OF	St. Louis Cardinals	22	Chris Clemons	RHP	Chicago White Sox
23	Steve Cox	1B	Oakland A's	23	David Dellucci	OF	Baltimore O's
24	Albie Lopez	RHP	Cleveland Indians	24	Damian Miller	C	Minnesota Twins
25	Jose Paniagua	RHP	Montreal Expos	25	Hector Carrasco	RHP	Kansas City Royals
26	Carlos Mendoza	OF	New York Mets	26	Hanley Frias	SS	Texas Rangers
27	Ryan Karp	LHP	Philadelphia Phillies	27	Bob Wolcott	RHP	Seattle Mariners
28	Santos Hernandez	RHP	San Francisco Giants	28	Mike Bell	3B	Anaheim Angels
29	Randy Winn	OF	Florida Marlins	29	Joe Randa	3B	Pittsburgh Pirates
30	Terrell Wade	LHP	Atlanta Braves	30	Jesus Martinez	LHP	Los Angeles Dodgers
31	Aaron Ledesma	SS	Baltimore O's	31	Russ Springer	RHP	Houston Astros
32	Brooks Kieschnick	OF-1B	Chicago Cubs	32	Bryan Corey	RHP	Detroit Tigers
33	Luke Wilcox	OF	New York Yankees	33	Kelly Stinnett	C	Milwaukee Brewers
34	Herbert Perry	1B	Cleveland Indians	34	Chuck McElroy	LHP	Chicago White Sox
35	Vaughn Eshelman	LHP	Oakland A's	35	Marty Janzen	RHP	Toronto Blue Jays