There are only five players currently on the Diamondbacks roster who were among the original 30 that were picked up in the 1998 expansion draft. When I was the Diamondbacks manager in their inaugural year, we heard over and over from the Marlins and Rockies to not fall in love with expansion-draft players.

	Showalter had a 563-504 combined record with the Yankees and D-Backs.

We were told that we'd very quickly find out what the club who had the player already knew -- there is a reason these guys were left unprotected. After seeing the protected list, you realized it would be slim pickings.

Drafting pitchers with arm strength and position players with tools who we could turn over before their value went away was the best course of action for Arizona. Tampa Bay may have held on to some of their expansion draftees for a little too long and their value ultimately went down. We wanted to draft people that we knew other clubs coveted.

We acquired Matt Williams by using players from the expansion draft, and Tony Womack for one player from the expansion draft and a minor leaguer. Danny Bautista came indirectly via the very last pick in the draft -- Marty Janzen was traded for Andy Fox who we traded for Bautista. Luis Gonzalez was acquired for Karim Garcia, another player taken in the expansion draft. Damian Miller, one of the top five catchers in the National League today, came through the expansion draft, as did David Dellucci and Brian Anderson.

Of course, owner Jerry Colangelo allowed the club to fill in the holes with free agency, but one thing is for certain -- the D-Backs would not be getting ready for Game 1 of the 2001 World Series in their fourth year of existence had they not done such an efficient job with their expansion draft.

The Yankees, too, have constructed a team from the wise, efficient use of a system. In their case, it was the farm system.

	Looking back
	Before the season, many of ESPN's analysts gave their predictions for the 2001 season. And Buck Showalter was the only one who correctly predicted the Diamondbacks and Yankees would meet in the World Series. Click here to see how everyone did.

Jorge Posada, Alfonso Soriano, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera all came from the Yankees farm system. In addition, they acquired Tino Martinez using players who were in their system (Russ Davis, Sterling Hitchcock); Paul O'Neill was acquired through Roberto Kelly, who came from the farm system; and David Justice came in a trade for Ricky Ledee, who came from -- you guessed it -- the farm system.

There are a lot of avenues through which a team can acquire players, among them drafting cleverly. But there is no doubt -- and the Yankees are proof -- that long-term success still is dictated by the strength of your minor-league system. If the Diamondbacks want to maintain their recent success, they will have to take a page from the Yankees' book. When Steve Finley, Randy Johnson, Jay Bell, and Matt Williams are unable to perform at their current level, the D-Backs farm system better be ready.

Unfortunately for both teams, there is no advantage in this World Series based on how the team was constructed. This is simply a great matchup of two great teams going mano-a-mano for seven games, racing to be the first to win four. I wish them both all the luck in the world.

Buck Showalter was the manager of both the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks prior to their current respective managers. He is currently an analyst for ESPN.