1976 Major League Baseball expansion draft
The 1976 Major League Baseball Expansion draft was held November 5, 1976. This expansion draft was conducted by Major League Baseball to stock the major league rosters of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, new American League franchises established via the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion that were set to start play in the season.
Background
Seattle was promised a franchise by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. During the summer of 1975, there was speculation that the Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, or San Francisco Giants could move to Seattle. When none of these plans proved successful, the American League added a team in Seattle. With 13 teams in a league creating scheduling problems, the league awarded a franchise to Toronto over Washington, D.C. in March 1976.Both Seattle and Toronto had purchased or otherwise acquired a handful of players shortly before the draft, but nowhere near enough to fill a roster. Drafted players were selected only from American League teams, in keeping with the practices of the American League expansion of 1961, the National League expansion of 1962, and the expansion of both leagues in 1969. Beginning with the next expansion, in 1993, the new teams would select players from teams in both leagues.
Danny Kaye, part-owner of the Mariners, announced the club's first selection.