As you know by now -- or as you should know by now -- Russell Wilson has a background in professional baseball.
The Baltimore Orioles selected the Seattle Seahawks quarterback out of high school in 2007, but Wilson opted to go to N.C. State instead. The Colorado Rockies invested a fourth-round draft pick in Wilson three years later, and he spent two seasons as a middling second baseman in their minor league system before turning his attention to football.
(In retrospect, this is what you classify as a wise life choice.)
The Rockies owned the rights to Wilson's baseball career until Thursday, when the Texas Rangers selected Wilson in the Rule 5 Draft -- an annual MLB winter meetings event in which teams can pluck "unprotected" players from other clubs at a modest cost.
Wilson's baseball agent, Mark Rodgers, told NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport the transaction "has very little consequence to Russell or the Seahawks" and added that he "couldn't imagine a scenario" in which Wilson becomes the Bo Jackson of the millennial set.
He did say that Wilson "misses" baseball and added that the quarterback accepted an invite from Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to come to spring training to "hit BP, take grounders and pretend he's a baseball player again."
"Russell was thrilled and honored they would draft him, that they thought enough of him," Rodgers said. "But when I talked to (Seahawks GM) John Schneider, I assured him Russell would show up for work at 1 p.m. against the Giants on Sunday."
So there you have it. For the transaction fee of $12,000, the Rangers get some publicity -- and if everything breaks right -- the Super Bowl XLVIII MVP in their building next March.
This is what you would call a "home run" in the parlance of the sport.
We preview "Thursday Night Football" and play another round of "Win Wess' Toaster" on the latest "Around The League Podcast."
