Choo with Cleveland

Thanks to Jay at Mariner Minors for finding this blog post about ex-Rattler Shin-soo Choo ('01, '02).

Now 26, having recovered from ‘Tommy John’ reconstructive elbow surgery, the outfielder is expected to start in right field for Cleveland this year – and for Team Korea in the World Baseball Classic.

Choo never quite got it going in Seattle, and was slowed in Cleveland by injuries, but last season got a career-high 317 at-bats and made the most of them. Choo batted .309 with 14 home runs and 66 RBI in just 94 games – and hit .343 with 20 doubles, 11 homers and 48 RBI after the All-Star break.

He still has two years of military service awaiting him in Korea, where he has a home. And in a baseball career that began with the Mariners in 2005, Choo now has played the equivalent of one full season, 159 games.

In those games, Choo has a .291 average, 40 doubles, 17 home runs and 94 RBI in 519 at-bats.

Yes, he’d fit nicely into the Seattle outfield this season. And no, the trade that sent him to the Indians in 2006 for Ben Broussard didn’t work out for the Mariners.

Click that link to the post and find out about Choo meeting Chan Ho Park for the first time.