The 1960 Major League Baseball expansion draft was held by Major League Baseball on December 14, 1960, to fill the rosters of the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators.
The Angels and Senators were new franchises due to enter the American League (AL) the following season as part of the 1961 Major League Baseball expansion. The Angels became the AL's first team to be based on the West Coast of the United States, while the Senators took the place of the league's original Washington Senators franchise, which had moved to Minneapolis–Saint Paul as the Minnesota Twins after the 1960 season.
The draft, held in Boston, site of AL headquarters, had been scheduled for Tuesday, December 13, 1960, but had to be postponed one day due to a heavy snowstorm that struck the New England region.
Ground rules As with all major-league expansion drafts prior to 1992, only players from the admitting league were eligible for selection. Each existing American League club had to make available for the draft seven players on their active rosters on August 31, 1960, and eight others from their 40-man rosters. The expansion clubs paid $75,000 for each of 28 players they drafted with a maximum of seven players drafted from each existing club, not including minor-league selections. They were required to take at least ten pitchers, two catchers, six infielders, and four outfielders. The clubs also had the option of drafting one non-roster player for $25,000 from each established franchise.
Hasty expansion sowed draft confusion
Reacting belatedly to the National League's July 1960 announcement that it would expand to New York and Houston to begin play in April 1962 (twenty months later), the American League suddenly declared in October 1960 it would add two new teams as well—and that the AL's expansion teams would take the field in only six months, in time for the 1961 season.
Playing catch-up to the National League, under a much tighter deadline with no ownership groups, management or stadia yet in place, the American League was forced to wait until November 17, 1960, to officially award an expansion franchise to Washington, D.C., to replace the recently relocated Twins. Because it also intended to enter the Los Angeles metropolitan market, then controlled by Walter O'Malley, principal owner of the Dodgers, the American League was compelled to negotiate an indemnification agreement with O'Malley before the Los Angeles franchise could be granted. Finally, on December 6, 1960—one week before the expansion draft was expected to be held—the Angels franchise was officially created and awarded to a group led by Gene Autry.
Because the new teams had not had the time to assemble a scouting department, they were forced to lean on scouting reports from National League franchises to select their full complement of new players. The Angels were aided by the San Francisco Giants, and the Senators by the Pittsburgh Pirates. The league's chaotic, eleventh-hour approach to expansion resulted, on the day of the draft, in the new teams' noncompliance with rules that governed the maximum number of players each new club could select from each of the eight established teams. As a result, several post-draft trades, ordered by American League president Joe Cronin, were necessary to rectify the problem.
Results +KeyAll-Star
PickPlayerPositionSelected fromSelected by 1 Pitcher New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels 2 Pitcher New York Yankees Washington Senators 3 Pitcher New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels 4 Pitcher Detroit Tigers Washington Senators 5 Pitcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels 6 Pitcher Cleveland Indians Washington Senators 7 Pitcher Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels 8 Pitcher Detroit Tigers Washington Senators 9 Pitcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels 10 Pitcher Cleveland Indians Washington Senators 11 Pitcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels 12 Pitcher Chicago White Sox Washington Senators 13 Pitcher Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels 14 Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators 15 Pitcher Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels 16 Pitcher Boston Red Sox Washington Senators 17 Pitcher Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels 18 Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators 19 Pitcher Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels 20 Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators 21 Catcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels 22 Catcher Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators 23 Catcher Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels 24 Catcher Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators 25 Third baseman Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels 26 Shortstop Detroit Tigers Washington Senators 27 Second baseman Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels 28 First baseman New York Yankees Washington Senators 29 Shortstop Kansas City Athletics Los Angeles Angels 30 Shortstop Boston Red Sox Washington Senators 31 Third baseman Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels 32 Shortstop Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators 33 Shortstop Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels 34 Second baseman Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators 35 First baseman/Outfielder New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels 36 Second baseman Minnesota Twins Washington Senators 37 Outfielder New York Yankees Los Angeles Angels 38 Outfielder Boston Red Sox Washington Senators 39 Outfielder Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels 40 Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators 41 Outfielder/Catcher Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels 42 Outfielder Cleveland Indians Washington Senators 43 Outfielder Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels 44 Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators 45 First baseman Chicago White Sox Los Angeles Angels 46 Catcher Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators 47 Infielder Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels 48 First baseman New York Yankees Washington Senators 49 First baseman Minnesota Twins Los Angeles Angels 50 Outfielder Cleveland Indians Washington Senators 51 Pitcher Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels 52 Outfielder Chicago White Sox Washington Senators 53 Pitcher Boston Red Sox Los Angeles Angels 54 Second baseman Kansas City Athletics Washington Senators 55 Catcher Cleveland Indians Los Angeles Angels 56 Pitcher Chicago White Sox Washington Senators 57 First baseman Detroit Tigers Los Angeles Angels 58 Third baseman Baltimore Orioles Washington Senators 59 Outfielder Baltimore Orioles Los Angeles Angels 60 Catcher Boston Red Sox Washington Senators 61 Pitcher Minnesota Twins Washington Senators
See also Continental League, a proposed third major league that had planned to begin play in the 1961 season
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