The Rule V Draft culminated the 2012 Major League Baseball Winter Meetings and the Houston Astros, the worst team in baseball that is making the move to the American League in 2013, had a busy day.

Israel’s Adam Greenberg, Eric Berger, and Nate Freiman at the press conference via @WBCBaseball on Twitter

They took Boston Red Sox reliever Josh Fields with the first pick. With their second pick, leading off the second round of the MLB phase, the Astros took former Duke great Nate Freiman.

The two players have to stay on the Astros 40-man roster for the entire season or be offered back to their original team. That means that Freiman could be the Astros starting first baseman in 2013, be their DH, come off the bench, or be sent back to San Diego and be playing in the minors.

MLB.com expected Freiman to be selected and included him in their prospect watch leading up to the draft.

Freiman had a busy 2012 season. During the regular season, the first baseman played with Double-A San Antonio and was named both a Mid- and Post-Season Texas League All-Star. He led the league in RBIs with 105, while striking out less than 100 times (95 to 49 walks). He hit .289 with 31 doubles and 24 homeruns.

After the regular season ended, he headed to the World Baseball Classic Qualifier in Jupiter, Florida as a member of Team Israel. He was THE man there, despite the fact that Israel lost in the finals to Spain. He had a pair of two homer games there.

After the WBC Qualifier, Freiman head to the Arizona Fall League, where he was nominated for the Dernell Stenson Award. With Peoria, he hit .266 in 21 games. He had five doubles and drove in 14. He walked nine times compared to 12 strikeouts.

Astros Director of Pro Scouting Kevin Goldstein said the team would have passed on their first pick of the second round if Freiman was not available:

 

“This is a guy who’s worth taking a chance on, a guy we’ve like since his days at Duke,” Goldstein said. “He was great in Arizona and played well for Israel as well. Right-handed guys with that kind of power are not normally available in the Rule 5. You think about what we have right now. He destroys left-handed pitching, and he’s a guy you give an opportunity to him in the spring and see what he can do.”

It has been a whirlwind season for the former Blue Devil, but now he has a great shot at making his big league dream come true.

After playing in 137 games for Double-A San Antonio in the San Diego Padres organization, former Duke baseball player Nate Freiman then headed to Jupiter to play in the qualifying games of the World Baseball Classic for Team Israel.

Israel’s Adam Greenberg, Eric Berger, and Nate Freiman at the press conference via @WBCBaseball on Twitter

Freiman was THE man for Israel, as he went 4-for-8 with four homeruns and six RBIs in Israel’s first two wins to reach the finals. However, in the elimination final, Spain pitched around him a bit. He went 1-for-3 with two walks, a run scored, and an RBI. Unfortunately, Israel lost.

The baseball season wasn’t over quite yet for the first baseman, as he then headed to Peoria to participate in the Arizona Fall League.

Freiman hit .298 during the regular season with the Missions with 31 doubles, 24 homeruns, and 105 RBIs. As you can expect, he was a Texas League Mid and Postseason All-Star. Those numbers are why he was picked for the prestigious AFL.

So far with the Javelinas, he is hitting .257 over nine games (35 at-bats). He has hit one homerun and three doubles, while driving in five. Freiman is currently in the midst of a six-game hitting streak.

The AFL season continues until November 15th, with the championship game being held on November 17th. Hopefully, Freiman will be selected to the Rising Stars Game (which is usually televised) on November 3rd.

Former Duke baseball player Nathan Freiman was named to the Texas League All-Star team on Thursday. The first baseman with the San Antonio Missions was named as a starter for the South Division.

Freiman is having a very solid season so far for the Missions (Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres). He is second in the TL in homeruns (15) and RBIs (52). Freiman is hitting .289 with 15 doubles and 22 runs scored in 249 at-bats (64 games).

The TL ASG will be held on June 28th in Tulsa.

Duke freshman first baseman/outfielder Chris Marconcini was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American. He started 55 of Duke’s 56 games this year and led the team in numerous offensive categories: doubles (15), triples (6), homeruns (4), RBIs (39), runs scored (41), slugging percentage (.481), and total bases (99). He batted .291 overall and was 8-for-10 in stolen base attempts. His 39 RBIs were the most by a Duke freshman since 1999. He is only the 7th player in the history of Duke’s 122-year program history to lead the team in RBIs, runs scored, and extra-base hits.

Marconcini was also Duke’s best hitter in the clutch, as he hit .383 with runners in scoring position. He led Duke with 19 RBIs and a .386 batting average with two outs. He hit .448 with men on base and two outs.

Marconcini is one of four Duke players to be named to the Freshman All-American team in the last five years (Michael Seander in 2007, Will Piwnica-Worms in 2009, and Marcus Stroman in 2010). He joined fellow ACC freshman Colin Moran of UNC and Kyle Wren of Georgia Tech on the list.

He is currently playing summer ball in the Valley Baseball League with the Harrisonburg Turks.

Senior right-hander Dennis O’Grady heard his name called (or hopefully at least saw his name on the MLB draft tracker) on Day 3 of the MLB draft. O’Grady went to the San Diego Padres (the same team that drafted former Blue Devil Greg Burke).

He was 6-3 with a 3.66 ERA, 75 strikeouts, and 38 walks in 86.1 innings pitched during his senior season.