1997 Major League Baseball expansion draft

Background

Procedures

• 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.

Results

Post-draft trades

• 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