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The story behind the Yankees leaving Mickey Mantle unprotected in the 1968 expansion draft

Mickey Mantle, Kansas City Royal could have happened. Imagine if the Yankees left Derek Jeter unprotected, even if it was after 2014?

Last week I wrote about who the Yankees could hypothetically protect if Major League Baseball held an expansion draft this past offseason. While reading up on the topic, I stumbled across an article from 1968 that led to a shocking discovery. When MLB held its third (out of six ever) expansion draft in 1968, the Yankees chose not to list Mickey Mantle as one of the players they would protect.