The Rangers made headlines today by selecting Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Before going on to NFL stardom, Wilson was selected by the Rockies as a second baseman in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, and Colorado retained its rights to Wilson until this morning. Wilson will report to Spring Training and talk to the Rangers' minor leaguers in a motivational capacity. "We decided if he ever wanted to play again, he'd be a guy that we'd want with us," Texas assistant GM A.J. Preller told reporters, including MLB.com's Richard Justice. The Wilson selection isn't a gimmick, ESPN's Richard Durrett writes, and Jon Daniels is excited to have Wilson's winning qualities in the organization, though Daniels stressed that the club isn't trying to distract Wilson from his NFL goals. Here's more out of the AL West…
- Shin-Soo Choo and Nelson Cruz remain unsigned, which is good news for the Rangers, ESPN Dallas' Richard Durrett writes. The Rangers like both players and are hoping that their asking prices drop the longer they stay on the market. Daniels said that his team's pursuit of Choo was "unchanged" from yesterday.
- There is a chance that Michael Young could rejoin the Rangers if both parties see a fit, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez tweets. Texas dealt its longtime franchise staple to the Phillies last offseason and Young was subsequently dealt to the Dodgers in August.
- Despite recent rumors linking the Angels to Matt Garza and Raul Ibanez, general manager Jerry Dipoto told reporters (including Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times) that his team doesn't have any outstanding offers to free agents.
- In a special piece for FOX Sports, new Mariners first baseman/outfielder Logan Morrison wrote about the experience of being traded to a new team. Morrison's piece is particularly fascinating in that it was written prior to the trade that sent him to Seattle. LoMo says he doesn't have any ill feelings toward the Marlins organization, adding that contrary to public opinion, owner Jeffrey Loria was "great and generous" to Morrison and his family. Loria allowed Morrison and his family to use his personal plane to get to Kansas City for the funeral of Morrison's father.
- The Astros spoke to the Marlins about Morrison and also pursued Corey Hart and Mike Morse, MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports. Jose Veras rejected the Astros' initial contract offer but the two sides still share a mutual interest in a reunion.
- The Yankees, Indians, Braves, Phillies, Blue Jays, Twins and Indians were all involved in trade talks for Brett Anderson before the Athletics sent the right-hander to the Rockies, writes Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle.
MLBTR's Mark Polishuk also contributed to this post
Maybe Wilson can teach Romo a few thing about football while he is visiting Arlington too
Romo is fine. Maybe he can teach the defense what football is. And I’m using the term “defense” loosely.
Will the Rangers become the first MLB team to win a Super Bowl?
If Seattle wins the Super Bowl, expect Russell Wilson to throw out the Home Opener Ceremonial first pitch.
Reminds me that Rodney Pete was once drafted by the A’s. Still can’t beat Dave Winfield drafted by MLB, NBA, and NFL.
Wasn’t Glavine drafted by an NHL team as a goalie? I could understand an MLB caliber catcher being drafted as a goalie, but a Hall of Fame pitcher getting drafted as a goalie? Random. Also, I wish I were talented….
Pretty sure Tom was a center & it was the LA Kings who selected him.
Dave Debusschere, Rick Leach, and let’s not forget about the Rifleman, Chuck Connors who played in the NBA, drafted in the NFL and played in the MLB.
I think the Rangers are bidding against themselves with Choo. JD knows it and he’s not going to play the game. Give him a take or leave it offer and be done with it. He’s not worth anywhere near the money being talked about. Guy can’t even hit lefties.
He gets HBP quite a bit as well, which bothers me.
Anderson’s left handed.
The next Bo Jackson, except he’s a quarterback, and not in an awesome 8-bit form either (unless you play the Tecmo ROM hacks).
Is this the Rangers making amends for drafting Donald Harris and derailing his more promising football career?
Donald got paid after being taken at 1.5 & I don’t think the Rangers are to blame for him not ever becoming a regular. He’s a high school baseball coach in Waco if memory serves and hopefully he’s doing well.
This pick still confuses me… they knew he wasn’t going to play baseball and that he is entrenched in the NFL. Seems like a waste of $12K when it could have been spent on someone else who would eventually play at some point, even if that person remained in the minors (or used as a trade piece). Can’t do anything with this pick nor get anything out of it
It is not a traditional draft pick. They would have done nothing instead. They are basically paying $12k for a guy to come in that is just a good guy for young players to be around and see. A motivational or life coach so to say that young guys may listen to more than just another coach.
They’re doing it to Wilson around the young players in the organization and speak to them.
I doubt Wilson will ever be as bad as MJ trying his luck at baseball.
Jordan actually performed very well -in my opinion – when considering his development path and the fact that he started right in the Southern League.
Did you watch the same documentary I did? Because it did a great job explaining it.
I don’t think I ever saw a documentary about it but I think Jordan’s ‘struggles’ were more relative than any particular shortcomings on his part. He was a phenomenal athlete (obviously) and who knows what might have happened if he’d pursued baseball following his prep career.
Oh, OK. There was a documentary on it (it might have been a 30 for 30 actually) and the all the beat writers pretty much agree Jordan was really starting to come on. What people don’t realize about baseball is you can have every physical gift in the world and you won’t just make a seamless transition 99% of the time. Many believe had Jordan been developed (IE: another season or two) he could have been pretty good. I think it obviously makes a lot of sense.
Admittedly not baseball, but we all realize just how good is Russell Wilson, right? I understand that everyone who follows the Draft realized pretty much that if he were even 6’2″ he would’ve been a Top 5-10 pick, but those few inches dropped him into the middle of the third round? As far as the other 29 teams go, oops…
There are a ton of players you can say that in every draft about.
Few to this extent though considering the paramount importance of the position he plays and the high level at which he plays it. I can’t think of a good comp in the past decade or so really for just how undervalued Wilson (an excellent major college player) was.
Tom brady
This is the best example that I could think of too (granted, like Bo Jackson, it is more than a decade plus ago which falls outside the range I set forth). Brady had two offseasons of development time though & didn’t assume the starting Qb job until a couple games into his second year, but this is pretty much the all time story as far as good college QBs who were undervalued during the pre-draft process & the event itself.
Jones-Drew from Jacksonville
Bo Jackson
Jackson was the first overall pick in the NFL Draft by Tampa Bay after he finished his college eligibility. He did not sign because he decided to play baseball. He was later drafted in the middle rounds of the subsequent Draft by Al Davis & later decided to play both sports. Not really a match here, my man as there’s no way a guy like Jackson wouldn’t have been a top, top pick in any draft he was eligible for.
How in the world does it get missed that Brett Anderson is a lefty?