On November 17, 1992, during the 1992–93 offseason, Major League Baseball (MLB) held an expansion draft in New York City to allow two expansion teams, the Florida Marlins and Colorado Rockies, to build their rosters prior to debuting in the National League's (NL) East and West divisions, respectively, in the 1993 MLB season.

In June 1991, MLB accepted bids of groups from Miami, Florida, and Denver, Colorado, with debuts set for 1993.

[1] With the first pick, the Rockies chose David Nied, who had a 3–0 win–loss record with a 1.17 earned run average in six MLB appearances with the Atlanta Braves.

[10] The Marlins' first selection, Nigel Wilson, spent the 1992 season with the Double-A Knoxville Smokies of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, and had no MLB experience.

Jack Armstrong,[13] Bryan Harvey,[14] and Danny Jackson[15] had been All-Stars before the expansion draft, while Andy Ashby,[16] Brad Ausmus,[17] Vinny Castilla,[18] Jeff Conine,[19] Carl Everett,[20] Joe Girardi,[21] Harvey,[14] Trevor Hoffman,[22] Jackson,[15] and Eric Young[23] became All-Stars later on in their careers.

The following trades were announced at the conclusion of the expansion draft:[27] Several older star players who were left unprotected, including Danny Tartabull, Jack Morris, and Shawon Dunston, were not selected due to their high salaries and advanced age.

Invoking the "best interests of baseball" clause, Commissioner Bud Selig and the major league executive council affirmed the draft results.

[30] In the 1993 Major League Baseball season, the Marlins and Rockies both finished sixth out of seven teams in their respective divisions.

)[33] Ritz and Painter, both selected in the expansion draft, started Games 1 and 2 of the 1995 National League Division Series for the Rockies.

[32] The Rockies added free agent acquisition Larry Walker to a lineup of power hitters in Galarraga, Bichette, and Castilla, known collectively as the "Blake Street Bombers".