Skip to content

Reading List: Choo, Rangers agree to seven-year, $130-million deal

Click here to access our MLB Tracker, which includes every offseason rumor, trade and signing.

The Rangers emphatically punctuated their busy offseason on Saturday, reportedly agreeing to seven-year deal worth $130 million with veteran outfielder Shin-Soo Choo.

The 31-year-old's mammoth deal elicited a range of reactions from various baseball pundits.

ESPN's Keith Law applauds the Rangers for filling a big hole in their lineup, but emphasized the significant downside to a deal of this nature, one that will eventually devote a considerable chunk of money to a 38-year-old outfielder:

The Rangers had the open corner outfield spot, and I believe Choo's defense will look a lot better once he's out of center field, a position he is incapable of playing on more than an emergency basis. It wouldn't surprise me to see him put up 6 WAR if he gets 150 games next season -- or in 2015 -- with the boost in his defense from moving to right field. 

The $18.6 million annual value of the deal is reasonable for a free agent of his production level, perhaps even cheap in the first season or two. The number of years on this deal reflects a level of optimism about his decline phase -- or a willingness to write off the last third of the contract -- that I do not share.

CBS Sports' Dayn Perry suggests the acquisition of Choo reflects astute decision-making by the Rangers' front office:

Pre-Choo, the 2014 Rangers were slated to open the season with Michael Choice as the primary left fielder. While Choice has his uses, he's not an optimal regular right now. The other speculated temptation was incumbent left fielder Nelson Cruz, but Cruz -- because of his age, body type, inability to hit on the road and lack of value on the bases and in the field -- will probably wind up as one of the worst multi-year investments on the market this winter. Good that the Rangers moved on from those two solutions.

Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports praises the Rangers for improving their major-league team without relinquishing any prospects:

A year ago, the Rangers lost the offseason, failing to land Justin Upton after losing Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli to free agency. The perception now will be that they won the offseason, though of course nothing is guaranteed.

This much we know: While the Rangers will sacrifice the 21st pick in the 2014 draft for signing Choo, they upgraded their offense without trading any prospects. They flipped Kinsler for Fielder, the prize of the 2011-12 free-agent class. And now they've signed Choo, whose .389 career on-base percentage ranks ninth among active players.

Nitpick all you want. The Rangers are going to be good.

Finally, theScore's Drew Fairservice hypothesizes that while Choo's platoon splits are drastic, he's still the kind of player who will age gracefully:

There are some potential red flags in Choo’s numbers, of course. The inordinately high number of times he reached base by hit by pitch for one, his vulnerability against left-handed pitching is another. But as far as safe bets as far as players who should age with dignity, Choo ranks pretty high.

The Rangers get exactly what they need – a REAL leadoff hitter. Choo replaces the departed-to-Detroit Ian Kinsler, though Choo’s approach is much more consistent with traditional (in the modern sense) leadoff guy. He sees a ton of pitches and gets on base like crazy. Should the Rangers continue to deploy Elvis Andrus from the two spot, well it’s their funeral.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox