Longtime big league veteran Shin-Soo Choo announced earlier this week (hat tip to Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News) that 2024 will be his final season in pro baseball. The 41-year-old Choo has played with the Korea Baseball Organization’s SSG Landers for the last three seasons, and he’ll spent one more year with the Landers before hanging up his cleats. Choo is essentially playing for free in 2024, as he re-signed with the Landers for a KBO-minimum salary and will donate the sum to charity.
“I decided it was time for me to put a period on my baseball journey that started in 2001,” Choo said in a team statement to the Korea Times and other outlets. “Since the 2024 season will be my last one, I want to show my gratitude to baseball fans, both at home and on the road, and give them long-lasting memories throughout the year.”
Choo hit .275/.377/.447 over 7157 plate appearances and 1652 games in the majors from 2005-20. A “professional hitter” type, Choo delivered a very solid 123 wRC+ over his 16 MLB seasons, always showing a knack for getting on base even in his less-successful seasons at the plate. Choo was also something of an underrated threat power-wise (218 home runs) and on the basepaths (157 steals in 212 chances), as he authored three 20-20 seasons during his big league career.
An international signing for the Mariners in 2000, Choo spent parts of his first two Major League campaigns in Seattle before being traded to Cleveland in July 2006. It was a shrewd acquisition for the Indians, as Choo went on to become a lineup fixture over seven seasons with the Tribe. However, as the team fell out of contention and Choo’s arbitration numbers began to increase, Cleveland dealt Choo to the Reds as part of a three-team, nine-player trade also involving the Diamondbacks in December 2012.
Choo’s lone season in Cincinnati was the best of his career, as he hit .285/.423/.462 with 21 homers and 20 stolen bases over 712 PA for a Reds team that reached the postseason. This great platform year led to a big free agent payday for Choo in the form of a seven-year, $130MM deal with Texas. Such a contract inevitably comes with high expectations, and unfortunately for both Choo and the Rangers, the deal didn’t really work out.
Between injuries and a declining glove, Choo’s value became entirely tied to his bat, and thus producing only good (111 wRC+) numbers in Texas wasn’t enough. Choo ended up generating only 7.5 fWAR over the length of that seven-year deal, and it didn’t help that the franchise as a whole went into a rebuild period during Choo’s tenure. After a pair of tough playoff losses to the Blue Jays in 2015-16, the Rangers didn’t post another winning record for the remaining four seasons of Choo’s deal.
After garnering only limited interest from big league teams during the 2020-21 offseason, Choo decided to head back to his native country and sign with the Landers (then known as the SK Wyverns). Since Choo had signed with the Mariners as an amateur, he had never played in the KBO League prior to 2021, and his homecoming has been a successful one. Choo has hit .259/.391/.427 over his three seasons with the Landers, and the team won the Korean Series in 2022.
Outside chance at the Hall of Fame. Around 40%
No way. Hall of Very Good perhaps.
34 WAR? Nah, not even close. Good underrated player, though.
are you nuts? guy never even had MVP caliber season let alone a HOF career lol…. I think he was a 15/70 guy his career…. what is wrong with today’s fans. Is JD Drew a HOFer? Is Juan Encarnacion? geesh lol
I think Harold Baines lowered the bar to the point that anyone seems to have a chance to get in.
Harold Baines was 10 times the player of Choo. Baines’s WAR gets knocked down 20 just because he was a DH. Which is ridiculous. Seriously, how can you negative impact a victory if you are not even on the field?
The man had well over 2800 hits. You don’t get that by being a bum and MLB team will not keep poor players on the team just so they can accumulate numbers. There are far worse players in the Hall than Baines.
Agreed about Baines. He was around 150 hits away from 3,000. That has to count for something right?
There are players worse than Baines in the Hall of Fame… They don’t belong in there and neither does Baines.
Well since he isn’t going anywhere, it sounds you have a problem that you will just have to get over.
Never said he was. Still, it’s a fact that that there are undeserving players in the HOF, and Baines is one of them. Definitely not the worst of the bunch, though.
That is NOT a fact. That is the absolute definition of your opinion.
Relax
I forgot all about Juan Encarnacion. 2 rings! 154 home runs 127 steals, 33 million career earnings.
Encarnacion could have been even more if his career were not ended at age 31 by that freak foul ball injury when he was in the on deck circle.
RE Jeremyn
” I think he was a 15/70 guy his career”
What is wrong with yesterday’s fans?
If you based your entire knowledge of a sport based on a literally MADE UP STAT (war) that changes based on BS rather than literal stats…. you’re an AI not a fan lol…. there have been statistical metrics for baseball greatness that date back over 150 years dude.
Won’t even make it to year two of ballot
Closer to 0%
First ballot name hall of fame for sure.
Weirdly specific troll bro
Lupica, Plaschke.
Yes. The Korean Baseball HOF is set to open in 2024. He’d be a good inductee for his accomplishments in MLB as a Korea-born international player. I’d put his odds at better than 40%.
Zero chance. Fewer than 1,700 hundred hits and less than 35 bWAR. That’s just not good enough for a player in the modern era.
your username contains WAR but I don’t think you know how to use it
Always liked Choo. A true professional.
Another trade fiasco for the Mariners. Who did we get for him ? Henry Cotto ? All I remember was that it was a bust.
Henry Cotto was a decent player that stayed in MLB for a decade, It is very insulting to even think about him as a bust.
BTW, Seattle got Ben Broussard for Choo. And Broussard was also a decent player that stayed in MLB for a while. Not as good as Choo, but not a bust either.
Yes, Henry Cotto is a name from the remote past for me. Always was a mainstay on those really bad 80’s Mariners teams. I was just a wee lad sitting up in the 300 section in the Kingdome. I didn’t mean any disrespect though.
I understand. I just really get triggered by the overuse of the word bust. To me, that word should be saved for the worst prospects like Brien Taylor or other top prospects that didn’t even make the majors. To me, if you actually make the major leagues at all, then you are not really a bust anymore. Because the odds of any minor league player making it that far are pretty bleak.
Broussard/Nottingham for Choo was a terrible trade for Seattle. Broussard put up a negative WAR across 2 half seasons and Nottingham never made it to the Majors. Meanwhile, Choo gave the Indians 21.8 WAR across 7 seasons.
Henry Cotto was an original Marlin in 1993.. I think he was a Mariner in 1994….. you’re only a good 20 years off lol
They def underrated him as a Ranger. Lead off homerun menace.
Yes, he was a Choo professional indeed. Ugh, sorry. Couldn’t stop myself.
One of the most underrated players of my generation. Similar to Adrian Gonzalez, Adam Jones, Carl Crawford, Allen Craig, Michael Young
Agreed except for Craig. He only played six years.
I may have confused him with David Freese lol
Young belongs in the Hall no doubt!
Adrian should have been 1st ballot.
Adrian first ballot? Based on what is he even remotely a HoF player? His closest comp on BR is Derrick Lee…
400+ HR and a proud Believer.
Since his first ballot is this year and results haven’t even been announced yet, how exactly would that have worked?
what are people smoking here lol… he averaged 21hr, 77rbi, and batted .275 for his career. He was an all-star ONCE, and never had anything close to an MVP caliber season.. come on lol
TBF 122 career OPS+ and one ADG generally means you were snubbed a lot.
MLB Network was talking about Jayson Werth as a candidate for the Hall of Fame
Jayson Werth?! Were they really?? They are out of their freakin gourds! They had to be trying to gaslight people for kicks or something..
If Werth gets in then so should Dee Gordon
They explained how good his defense was
Not gonna cut it…They better be explaining how silky his hair is and his prowess as a gin rummy player as well. And maybe that he’s a decent cook. All that comes before defense!
Wait!!! They said Chase Utley!!! Lmao my bad
I was thinking Jayson Werth because he was also mentioned in that exact segment but they were saying Chase Utley should be in the HOF. I remember them then saying he likely won’t because all people will remember was his savage slide into Ruben Tejeda at 2B
Just let me know when they get around to Mo Vaughn at this point!
Wasn’t Vaughn on the Mitchell Report?
Was he? Haha I forgot..But I figured Vaughn was as credible a HOF prospect as Werth.
David Ortiz took steroids and he got in
Hey, come on, the Yankees had at least 3 players who didn’t juice.
Ichiro didn’t juice.
Are you referring to Choo or Young?
Going to have to re-visit Allen Craig…somebody who flew past my radar back then because he played for faraway teams in the other league.
I loved watching him and Joey Votto play together in Cincy that year. What an amazing duo in the lineup together. Insane. obp and ops stats.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Happy retirement Choo!
Week old news
One of THE worst trades by the Mariners. Bavasi worked his magic to help destroy the M’s for years.
Without looking I don’t recall who the M’s got back in return, but it was somebody marginal !!!!! Yes Bavasi was a dimwit.
Ben Broussard right?
I believe it was Broussard for Choo and then Eduardo Perez for Asdrubal Cabrera right around the same time
Indians legend
Jolly Olive
My biggest memory of Choo will always be his contract extension in 2013 (started in 2014)…. he became higher paid than anyone in all of the NBA (LeBron James was only getting about 17 mill from the Heat and Choo signed for 18-20 per)… it actually lead to the NBA blowing up the salary cap with their new bargaining agreement (and TV contract) so people like Luol Deng got 20 mill and Lebron now gets like 40 mill a season. Some players get over 50 in the NBA now.. it’s nuts.. and it kinda started with Choo’s extension being pointed to by NBA players.
Nice timing for that huge platform season before the big payday…funny how that works.
Congratulations on a successful career. Not all successful careers end in the Hall of Fame. He shouldn’t have any chance at the Hall of Fame, but a successful career nonetheless.
Arguably the most underrated base stealer of all time.
Shin-Soo Hu?
Even though he won’t make it to the Hall of Fame many hitters would love to have the career that he had.
Off-Topic: I haven’t collected baseball cards since the Golden age of Upper Deck & Griffey-s rookie card hysteria. I know things have changed quite a bit…but these new specialty inserts sound kind of fun, where you can find autographs & pieces of jersey & rarities; etc. But is it worth while taking a gamble to find those items, or is too much of a crapshoot & money wasted?? Thnx for any info
My stadium tour of the Rangers’ stadium was the same day of his press conference
Awesome player.
What Choo talkin’ about
One of my faves I would always put him on my team on the show. Underrated for sure.
Ed Sullivan knew he’d be big.
His numbers have actually stayed pretty consistent between his last few seasons in Texas and the 3 KBO seasons. I wonder if he’s garnered any MLB interest the last couple of years
Sure was fun with the Tribe. Hope he enjoys a great final season and goes out on top.
I think Choo should be looked at for a management position STAT
Still amazes me he wasn’t an All-Star with Cleveland or Cincinnati. He was consistently a plus player in his time in Ohio.
A wonderful human being and a very good baseball player! Have a great final season!!
To a fine career
It wasn’t THAT Eduardo Perez, was it?
That annoying color guy on the 4 letter word network that always spews nonsense, talks like he know everything about MLB and acts like he is best buds with every high profile player, no matter the sport or era?
What was going in the world that the M’s FO deemed trading Cabrera for 11RBIs is what the club needed?
FO must of needed to dump salary so they could add by subtraction for the next season, right?
Congrats Choo, just think of what could have been if a incompetent GM wasn’t just trying to save his job.