Back in 1997, Bobby Abreu was an Astro, a Ray and a Phillie all on the same day
Bobby Abreu was an Astro, Ray and Phillie in one day
Baseball fans and pundits love to debate who they'd like to build a franchise around, if they were given the opportunity to do so. But on this day in 1997, the D-backs and the Rays actually had that opportunity in the MLB Expansion Draft.
With the sixth pick in that draft, the then-Devil Rays selected a Venezuelan outfielder named Bobby Abreu (the Astros left him unprotected in favor of fellow Venezuelan outfielder Richard Hidalgo).
Before Abreu could even pack his bags for sunny Tampa, however, the Rays turned around and traded him to the Phillies for shortstop Kevin Stocker. Within the span of about four hours, Abreu was an Astro and then a Devil Ray and then a Phillie.
Over the next nine seasons, Abreu played in 1,353 games for the Phils and accumulated 1,474 hits before he was traded to the Yankees in 2006. He finished his career with 2,470 hits, 288 home runs, two All-Star appearances, a Gold Glove Award, a Silver Slugger Award and one incredible Home Run Derby performance: