Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been selected by the Texas Rangers in the Triple-A portion of Major League Baseball's winter draft.
Wilson, who played minor league baseball for parts of two seasons before becoming an NFL star, will be placed on Texas' restricted list.
The 25-year-old was drafted as a second baseman by the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round of the 2010 amateur draft out of North Carolina State University, where he excelled at both baseball and American football.
In two seasons at the Class A level he hit .229 with five homers and 26 RBIs.
In 2011, he left the Rockies for American football at the University of Wisconsin and was required to return to the Rockies a portion of his $US200,000 ($A222,000) signing bonus.
Triple-A is the highest level of minor league baseball and Wilson said he was stunned when he got the phone call from Texas general manager Jon Daniels on Thursday.
"It's a pretty cool thing. It's my third time being drafted in baseball so it's a blessing for sure," Wilson said.
"At the same time my focus is on football. Mr Daniels and I talked about that obviously. He knew that my focus is on football and what we're doing here."
Wilson was taken in the third round of the 2012 NFL draft. He led Seattle to the playoffs in his rookie year and the Seahawks are 11-2 this season.
The Rangers thought the $US12,000 ($A13,000) fee they will have to pay the Rockies was worth the investment.
