The 1961 MLB expansion draft was held by

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

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 National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

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 drafts

Expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or sports franchising, franchises. This occurs mainly in Sports in North America, North American sports and closed leagues. O ...

New York Mets Houston Astros Major League Baseball expansion draft