Apparently, Super Bowl Champion quarterbacks, at least ones named Russell Wilson, like to work year round. It was reported today, by Fox Sports’ Jon Morosi, that yesterday’s Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback will still be reporting to the Texas Ranger’s Spring Training camp. He was taken by the Rangers in this winter’s Rule 5 Draft and is considered one of their second base prospects.
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Wilson was originally drafted in the 41st round of the 2007 amateur draft by the Baltimore Orioles. He attended Collegiate High School in Richmond, Virginia but he did not sign with the team; instead he chose to attend North Carolina State University.
He was drafted a second time by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round of the 2010 amateur draft and played two seasons in the Colorado farm system. In his 93 professional games Wilson put up a .229 batting average with five home runs and 19 stolen bases.
Of course the Rangers don’t exactly need a second baseman and it is unlikely that Russell would play even if he was given the opportunity to make the team. One reason is because, well, he is a professional football player in the National Football League and two, because the Rangers did just trade star second baseman Ian Kinsler to the Detroit Tigers this off-season to acquire Prince Fielder. Besides making this move due to Fielder’s exemplary ofensive capabilities, it is also being seen as a chance to give former top prospect Jurickson Profar everyday playing time at second.
Last season, as a rookie, Profar played in 85 games with the Rangers splitting his playing time between the outfield, the designated hitter position and every position in the infield except for first base. He still managed to put up decent numbers and showed great defensive skills despite moving around so much and not playing everyday. The Rangers obviously, after trading Kinsler, are ready to see how he will produce with a steady spot at second base and some everyday playing time. The kid is good and the odds are the steady work will help him improve.
The Rangers have also been reported as saying that they would like to keep Wilson around at spring training camp to continue to emphasize a “winning environment,” which is a pretty good deal for the Super Bowl Champion. He will make $12,000 just to hang out with some Major League Baseball players for a month. So while it doesn’t look like Wilson will be playing second base in the majors anytime soon it is still very interesting to learn that a Super Bowl Champion might be seen in some spring training games during the next month.
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