Angels Lose Harvey, Felix to Expansion

Call it a chess game. Call it a crap shoot. That’s what Tuesday’s baseball expansion draft amounted to as the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies began to stock their rosters for the 1993 season.

It was Major League Baseball’s first expansion draft in 16 years, and there was no shortage of hype leading up to it. But at the outset of the three-round player auction, the two new National League franchises defied predictions and generally opted against paying huge sums for players. Instead, the teams focused on young prospects or steady veterans who will be the foundations for the future. In all, 72 players were selected from among about 2,500 available major and minor leaguers.

The first two players selected were David Nied, a right-handed pitcher from the Atlanta Braves taken by the the Rockies; and Nigel Wilson, a Toronto Blue Jays outfielder tabbed by the Marlins. The biggest names taken in the first two rounds were New York Yankees third baseman Charlie Hayes, the second pick for the Rockies; and Angels pitcher Bryan Harvey, at $3.1 million, one of the highest-paid relievers in the majors, who was drafted 10th by the Marlins.

The Marlins also chose pitcher and traded Greg Hibbard of the Chicago White Sox and the Rockies did the same thing with Kevin Reimer, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers, and infielder Jody Reed of the Boston Red Sox. Colorado also selected infielder Eric Young of the Dodgers and veteran catcher Joe Girardi of the Cubs.

“I think we’re going to have a pretty damn good lineup on opening day,” Marlin President Carl Barger said.

The marathon draft, in which the Marlins and Rockies each picked 36 players, was historic in several respects. There had not been a draft since the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners raided American League rosters in 1976. This time, the new franchises were allowed to select players from both leagues. In addition, the event was on television.

But while it had an Academy Awards-like feel to it, with names read over a loudspeaker and flashed on a large board behind the podium, there were few household names mentioned during the tense opening round.

Each of the existing 26 teams was allowed to protect 15 players before the draft started. After each round--in which one player was selected from each team--National League teams protected three players and American league teams protected four. Yet even with an abundance of available stars--including pitcher Jack Morris, infielders Kelly Gruber and Glenn Davis and outfielder Danny Tartabull--Colorado opened the draft by building a lineup of modest veterans who will give the team immediate experience. Florida, by contrast, collected young prospects who could develop into significant forces in the future. Seven of the Marlins’ first-round choices have never played in a major league game.

The Marlins, owned by Blockbuster Video founder Wayne Huizenga, were expected to splurge for a few big stars, like Florida native Tartabull, but clearly chose a long-term strategy instead.

“We don’t have any intention of spending $40 million or $50 million,” Barger said.

In reality, the draft was only the first stage of what is likely to be a torrid period of bartering during the offseason. Developing a trading pool was part of the overall draft strategy. The Rockies, for example, used four of their first 15 picks for second basemen, some of whom were sure to be traded as soon as the draft ended.

Similarly, the Marlins chose 16 pitchers among their first 26 picks, including a bullpen full of reliable middle relievers such as Jim Corsi of the Oakland Athletics.