The 1961 MLB Expansion Draft was held by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

on October 10, 1961, to fill the rosters of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

and the Houston Colt .45s, the new franchises which would enter the league in the 1962 season. The pool of players out of which they could select was limited to the existing

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

ballclubs. Due to the poor performance of the Mets and Colt .45s after two seasons, another draft was held for the teams. The other existing National League clubs made four players from their 40-man roster available at $30,000 apiece. Only eight players could be selected between the two clubs.

1961 Draft

''* All-Star only before 1961 Expansion Draft''

1963 Draft

References

External links

Major League Baseball Historical Expansion Drafts

baseball-reference.com

Starting Fresh – The Expansion of 1962
{{DEFAULTSORT:1961 Major League Baseball Expansion Draft Major League Baseball Expansion Draft, 1961 Major League Baseball expansion drafts

Expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

New York Mets Houston Astros Continental League