Longtime Major League outfielder Shin-Soo Choo has re-signed for a third season with the KBO League’s SSG Landers, according to reports out of South Korea (hat tip to MyKBO.net’s Dan Kurtz). Choo will receive 1.7 billion won, or roughly $1.32MM in U.S. dollars. This represents a significant pay cut from Choo’s 2.7 billion won/$2.3MM salary in 2022, but the two sides agreed to the deal to help the Landers stay under the KBO’s new salary cap.
Choo (who turned 40 in July) will be entering his 23rd season in pro baseball. Signing an amateur deal with the Mariners as an 18-year-old Choo had never actually played in the KBO League until he joined SSG Landers in the 2020-21 offseason. Even at his increased age, Choo has still been productive in his home country, hitting .261/.397/.441 with 37 home runs over 1074 plate appearances and 248 games with the Landers since the start of the 2021 season. This run in the KBO was highlighted by the Landers’ triumphant 2022 campaign, which saw the club post a league-best 88-52 record in the regular season and then capture its fifth Korean Series title.
Over 16 seasons of Major League ball, Choo was usually a very productive hitter, posting a .275/.377/.447 slash line over 7157 career PA in the Show with Seattle, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Texas. Choo’s defensive struggles limited his overall value, though he still posted 34 fWAR over his MLB tenure, and his career 123 wRC+ was solidly above average. There was some speculation last winter that Choo might be considering a return to the majors, but no such news publicly surfaced this winter, and Choo will now return to the Landers in search of another championship.
Now these are the kind of write ups I love!
Dude stepped up and gave all the Rangers minor leaguer players money during the Covid season when MLB wouldn’t do it and he’s always had my respect for that.
Can’t believe he’s been out of the show 3 years already. Still kicking a$$ though!
Said we’re still kicking @$$
Still making scratch on the Choo Choo train at 40.
WoooOooOoo!!! Long time to be playing pro ball!! Hope he kills it next season!
Career MLB OBP is .377, not .337
I thought that sounded weird. He was always known as being an OBP machine so the BA and OBP difference didn’t seem like enough.
noted
On base machine always thought he would of gotten one more shot in the show.
I don’t think he wanted it. I’m pretty sure going back to Korea was his choice.
I also believe he wanted to play in KBO for his final playing days
Ahhh okay so they won title, yeah I’d take a 1 million pay cut to play on a championship team at age 40 that’s for sure
taking one for the team
So he gave $1,000 to each Rangers minor leaguer for a total of $190,000. That should have helped out each one a great deal.
How much did you give each ranger minor leaguer to help them out a great deal?
Are you saying they didn’t appreciate $1k? I happily would’ve taken $1k.
I mean, he gave 1k to that many people all without having absolutely any obligation to do so or anyone expecting him to. That’s still a class act, regardless as to how you feel the amount is. As someone who struggled to keep up with my bills during it, if I were one of those minor leaguers and someone with zero obligation to help me gave me a thousand dollars, I’d of been appreciative.
And the vast majority of players gave nothing to minor leaguers.
@believeitornot there’s always someone like
You on the website . How much money have you donated recently ?
When your currency gets out of the barn…
“Choo will receive 1.7 billion won, or roughly $1.32MM in U.S. dollars. ”
How much is this Snickers Bar? $115,000.00 won, please.
It’s not that complicated. Generalized 1000 won equals 1.00 usd. Think of it as not using dollar but stating amounts in cents. And exchange rate is 10 won per cent.
Is there an actual coin or bill worth 1 won?
Can I hand someone a few million coins to buy a slice of pizza?
They have 10, 50, 100, and 500 won coins. A 1 isn’t used in transactions anymore and appears only in foreign exchange rates.
What’s the argument against re-calibrating and eliminating some of those zeros?
Do they need that much precision in their pricing?
“I’ll pay $354,935.54 won, but not a won more”?
Choo is soo boring. Hes put up the same numbers since he was 17
That’s a good thing dude, he’s consistent.
I think they were being sarcastic.
Recalibration wouldn’t happen without having to remove all currency in circulation and cause other problems with inflation and currency exchanges with nearby countries. As for precision, tax is already included on the prices of all goods.