Rockies, Marlins Are Gearing Up : Expansion: Lessons of the past indicate that drafting young players is the key to success.

For the past few days, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies have been mapping out their expansion strategies. It seems they have both decided to go for youth and economy.

Both teams have the right to go after big-ticket free agents such as Barry Bonds, Kirby Puckett and Joe Carter. But they have chosen to spend their millions carefully at the start and will depend on Tuesday’s draft to build their teams.

The expansion teams can go after players such as Carlton Fisk, Eddie Murray, Danny Tartabull, Vince Coleman, Shawon Dunston and Bob Walk. But even they might be too expensive for the expansion clubs.

More likely, the Marlins and Rockies will go after the top available prospects left unprotected by the other 26 major league teams.

When Houston and New York entered the National League in 1962, the Colt .45s went for youth while the Mets chose to pick older players with name recognition.

The Mets selected Gil Hodges, 37 at the time, Roger Craig, Ed Bouchee and Don Zimmer. Later, they added Duke Snider and Frank Thomas.

Houston finished eighth in their first season at 64-96, while New York finished last with an all-time worst record of 40-120 under manager Casey Stengel.

The last expansion came in 1976, when the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners joined the American League.

The Blue Jays selected several players who went on to have respectable major league careers, including Bob Bailor, Jim Clancy, Pete Vuckovich, Ernie Whitt and Garth Iorg.

The Toronto organization has been more successful than Seattle’s from the start, culminating with this season’s World Series title, and it all started with the expansion draft.

The most successful expansion team at the start was the 1961 Angels, who finished eighth at 70-91 under manager Bill Rigney. The next season, the Angels stunned baseball by finishing third at 86-76.

One of the Angels’ selections was 18-year-old shortstop Jim Fregosi from the Boston Red Sox. Fregosi went on to set most of the club’s offensive records before he was traded to the Mets in 1971 for Nolan Ryan.

“It was a chance to play with a lot of veteran players,” Fregosi said. “Rocky Bridges, our second baseman. . . . Eddie Yost was at third base. Ted Kluszewski and Steve Bilko were at first, those kind of guys. I was like the kid. They took care of me.”

With their 26th pick, the Angels selected 19-year-old Dean Chance out of the Baltimore organization. In 1964, Chance was 20-9 with a 1.64 ERA and was voted the Cy Young Award winner. He pitched 11 shutouts that season, including six 1-0 victories.

The other AL expansion team in 1961 was the Washington Senators. The Senators drafted for experience and got burned when players such as Dave Sisler, John Klippstein, Tom Sturdivant, Dale Long, Bobby Klaus and Gene Woodling didn’t produce.

The Senators never really recovered from their poor start, and in 1972 moved to Arlington, Tex. The Senators finished 63-96 under manager Ted Williams in their final season in Washington.

The Senators did, however, do a lot better than the expansion Seattle Pilots. Baseball expanded by four teams in 1969, when Seattle and Kansas City joined the AL and Montreal and San Diego joined the NL. Only the 1985 Kansas City Royals have won a World Series title from that group.

The Pilots selected outfielder Lou Piniella with their 14th pick, but then traded him to the Royals on April 1, 1969, for outfielder Steve Whitaker and John Gelnar. It was the worst trade the Pilots ever made.

Piniella (Mariners), Craig (Giants), Fregosi (Phillies), Buck Rodgers (Angels) and Cito Gaston (Blue Jays) are the current major league managers who were drafted by expansion teams.

Seattle finished last in the AL West with a 64-98 record and then moved to Milwaukee to become the Brewers.

In 1969, the Padres used their last pick, No. 30, to select Gaston from Atlanta. The next season, Gaston hit 29 homers and drove in 93 runs.

The Expos made pitcher Carl Morton their 23rd pick in the draft, also from the Atlanta organization, and the right-hander was named Rookie of the Year in 1970 after posting an 18-11 record.

The Marlins and Rockies should have an advantage over past expansion teams because both leagues are contributing to the draft pool this time.

Each existing major league team placed 15 players on a protected list for the first round. The Rockies and Marlins choose alternately, until the clubs lose one player each in the first round. After the first round, NL teams protect three more players and AL teams protect four before the Marlins and Rockies draft again. The protection process is completed after the second round.

The draft is completed when NL teams lose three players each, and eight AL teams lose three and six lose two for a total of 72.