Expansion Teams’ Futures Begin Tuesday
The Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies had done their homework, convinced they had scoured the lists completely and come up with the best possible players.
So on Nov. 17, 1992, when baseball last held an expansion draft, the Rockies stepped up to the microphone and confidently made David Nied the No. 1 choice. The Marlins followed by proudly picking Nigel Wilson.
Zoom ahead five years. Nied, beset by injuries, is already retired at age 28 and working for the family business back home in Dallas. Wilson, who never got a hit for the Marlins, led his league in home runs last season - in Japan, that is.
Suffice to say, there’s no telling what may happen Tuesday when the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Devil Rays both take 35 players in this expansion draft.
Yet even if some big names are selected - be it Eric Karros, Fred McGriff or Geronimo Berroa - don’t look for either of baseball’s two new teams to instantly duplicate the success of the Marlins, who took only five years to go from franchise rookies to World Series champions.
“No matter how good the draft is and how well you’ve prepared, it’s only a small part in the development of a team,” Devil Rays general manager Chuck LaMar said. “You’re not going to come out of it with a championship or competitive team.”
Agrees his Arizona counterpart, Joe Garagiola Jr.: “It would be folly to say you can go into the draft thinking other teams are going to make available large numbers of players on whom you can build a future.”
Still, it’s a place to start.
But, where to start?
Pitching is as good a place as any, and young arms might be the way to go. That may mean 25-year-old Brian Anderson, who pitched well for Cleveland in the postseason, or 22-year-old prospect Jeff Suppan of Boston.
Devil Rays manager Larry Rothschild, the pitching coach of the Marlins until last week, may want one of his own - Florida rookie Tony Saunders appears to be available.
Of course, Devil Rays owner Vince Naimoli may have the final say when his A.L. East team makes the overall No. 1 pick. Being a Notre Dame alum, he likes someone who shares those Golden Dome roots, Marlins second baseman Craig Counsell, who drove in the tying run and scored the winner in Game 7 of the World Series.
Arizona manager Buck Showalter has had nearly two years to prepare for this moment. He may figure a catcher is important to handle a young staff, and the N.L. West Diamondbacks will have their choice of a couple - Joe Girardi of the New York Yankees and Tom Pagnozzi of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Or Showalter may want to opt for a budding talent. The Rockies did that last time, taking a young third baseman from Atlanta who turned out to be an All-Star, Vinny Castilla.
The Diamondbacks won a coin toss to determine the picking order, and chose to make the No. 2 and No. 3 selections. After that, Arizona will make all the odd-numbered choices and Tampa Bay will make the even-numbered picks in the three-round draft, which is expected to start around 1 p.m. PST and take about seven hours.
xxxx EXPANSION DRAFT RULES Rules for Tuesday’s expansion draft in Phoenix. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks will pick 35 players each:
Eligible Players All players in an organization are eligible to be drafted, except those with no prior major league experience who have less than three years of service if signed at age 19 or older and those with less than four years of service if signed at age 18 or younger.
Protected Players Each major league team may protect 15 players prior to the draft. Players with no-trade clauses in their contracts for the 1998 season and 10-5 players (10 years in the majors, the last five with the same team) must be on the protected list unless they waive those rights. Protected lists were submitted at 11 a.m. PST on Nov. 11. Free agents signed after that time are automatically protected and do not count against the 15-man limit.
How It Works The draft will last three rounds (ESPN will televise the first round; ESPN2 will televise the second and third rounds). The Devil Rays will have the first pick in the first round. The Diamondbacks will have the second and third picks, then the teams will alternate. For the rest of the draft, the Diamondbacks will make the odd-numbered choices and the Devil Rays will make the even-numbered selections. A total of 28 players will be taken in the first round, one from each major league team. Both the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks will pick 14 players in the first round. Before the second round, each major league team will be able to protect three additional players. The second round will proceed in the same manner as the first round, with the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks each selecting 14 more players. Each major league team will lose one player. Before the third round, each major league team will be able to protect three additional players. In the third round, both the Devil Rays and Diamondbacks will select seven more players. Seven A.L. teams and seven N.L. teams will lose one player.
Schedule First Round - 1:08-2:56 p.m. PST. Second Round - 4:11-5:59 p.m. p.m. Third Round - 7-7:52 p.m. -Associated Press