Teams could seek deal for Shin-Soo Choo, but would Texas Rangers veteran OK a trade?
Almost a week off the field did the trick for Shin-Soo Choo, who returned to the Texas Rangers’ starting lineup Tuesday night after missing six games with various aches and pains.
A lot happened while he was mending oblique and calf issues.
The Rangers lost eight straight games, the final four without Choo.
Two lineup regulars, Elvis Andrus and Willie Calhoun, hit the injured list, which might have kept Choo off it. Leody Taveras was promoted from the alternate camp and installed as the center fielder.
The buzz around the team has transitioned from a potential playoff contender to a potential seller ahead of the MLB trade deadline Monday.
Choo could be one of the Rangers players who draws interest from other clubs.
Remember, the universal designated hitter is in place this season, potentially adding 15 National League suitors for Choo. He didn’t need to be reminded of that.
Nor did he need to be reminded that he has never played in a World Series and that his career could end after this season, the last in his seven-year, $130 million deal.
Conditions seem ripe for a trade, but there’s a catch. He has full no-trade protection and would consider exercising it if presented with a deal.
“Every year, it’s been, ‘Trade Choo, trade Choo,’ but this year I have a very strong feeling,” he said.
“I hope not. I want to finish the season here. My wife, I told her, ‘I might be traded.’ She was worried about what team. I don’t know. She’s worried about one month separated. She can’t travel because of the coronavirus. She’s worried about it. I’ve seen it in her face.”
If teams are presented with an attractive offer for a player with no-trade rights, which Choo has as the result of being a 10-year veteran and spending five straight seasons with the same team, they present it to the player and wait for him to OK it or reject it.
The potential trade dilemma is another unwanted piece of what could be a lousy final season in a solid MLB career.
Choo had hoped to have his family fly from Korea in March to watch him in what could have been in his final Opening Day. The coronavirus pandemic, though, delayed the season until July 24 and shrunk it from 162 games to 60.
Not only are the Rangers aren’t playing well, they don’t have as much time to make up the ground they’ve lost in the playoff picture.
Whatever his stats are at the end of the season won’t be representative of his career numbers over a 162-game campaign.
His three children have been unable to hang out at the ballpark, as they have done in past summers, and watch him play.
Choo doesn’t want to go out like this.
“I don’t want to say this is last season of my career,” Choo said. “It’s very rough when I look at my baseball career. But it’s not just for me but all baseball players. I try to understand that every day I go to the ballpark I try to be the best I can be.”
General manager Jon Daniels said he will listen to offers on multiple players before the deadline hits at 3 p.m. Monday, but he also isn’t interested in making deals unless they provide ample benefit.
The recent trend of past deadlines suggests that players on expiring contracts, as Choo is, won’t fetch much in return.
“There are not franchise-altering returns usually,” Daniels said. “It would have to make sense for us. We wouldn’t look to move guys for inventory, but if there are other reasons to do so, we would have to look at it.”
Choo would look at a trade offer, too. He just might not accept it.
