On Thursday morning, MLB held the annual Rule 5 draft. In the AAA phase of the draft, the Texas Rangers selected a familiar face – superstar Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
With the 15th pick of the Triple-A phase, the @Rangers select 2B Russell Wilson from the @Rockies.
— MLB Draft (@MLBDraft) December 12, 2013
Wilson was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB Draft, and he played with Tri-City of the Northwest League in 2010 and Asheville of the South Atlantic League in 2011 before returning to school to play football each fall. The Seahawks drafted Wilson in the third round of the 2012 Draft, he won their starting job in the preseason, and any hopes of him returning to baseball have disappeared.
If you're not going to make a Rule 5 pick that could help your team for 2014…why not make a pick that will at least get some ink spilled, like this one? Wilson was never going to return to baseball anyway, so it's not as if the Rockies losing his rights is a huge loss to them. And hey, this is probably going to lead to a plethora of jokes about Tony Romo – it's win/win for everyone!
But Wilson's drafting might be more than just a ploy, according to Fox's Ken Rosenthal.
Mark Rodgers, agent for Russell Wilson, says QB will want to be more than motivational speaker for #Rangers in spring training. MORE
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 12, 2013
Rodgers said, “Russell will want to take BP and ground balls. He loves baseball. This is 3d time he has been drafted.” Rule 5 pick for 12.5K
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 12, 2013
I'm sure the Seahawks will be holding their breaths at the possibility of an errant ground ball smashing Wilson in the face.
