SSG announced on the 14th, "Choo Shin-soo has decided to retire after finishing his professional baseball career at the end of the 2024 season." SSG explains that the annual salary is the minimum annual salary of 30 million won in the KBO League, and even this has been expressed by the players to donate in full.
In addition, Choo will captain the team for the 2024 season at the request of Lee. Considering that Choo has not only abundant experience and leadership but is also highly respected by the team, Lee proposed to captain the team for next year, and the player accepted the proposal to captain the team.
"I agonized a lot with my family during the offseason. Every time I did, I could see SSG fans cheering for me, and most importantly, younger players. I felt that much love for baseball and the team, so I agonized over my career path with the club," Choo said through his club.
"I think the time has come to end the 23-year period of baseball in the United States and Korea since 2001. As it is the last season, I want to give meaningful memories to the fans who have supported me regardless of home or away fans," he said, adding, "The club and the new coach needed me and respected my opinion. Next year's performance is important, but depending on the team situation, I want to contribute to the team by sharing my experiences and thoughts while training with junior players on the Futures team at any time."
Choo started his career with a rookie team and Single A under the Seattle Mariners in the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB) in 2001, and joined the big league in 2005. He was traded to Cleveland during the next season and gradually expanded his presence starting in 2008.
Choo achieved 20 homers and 20 steals for two consecutive years through 2010 following his first full-time season in 2009. Choo was the first Asian player to achieve a batting average of .300-20 homers and 20 steals at the same time in 2009. He also made his presence known by stealing double-digit steals for five consecutive years through 2013, when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.
After signing a free agent contract with the Texas Rangers for seven years worth 130 million U.S. dollars after the 2013 season, Choo continued to show off his strong performance. In 2018, he also had the pleasure of being selected as the first All-Star since his debut in the big league.
Choo Shin-soo, who did, will make a big decision after the 2020 season. He has decided to welcome the 2021 season in Korea, not the U.S.
The SK Wyverns (currently SSG) nominated Choo Shin-soo as the No. 1 player when they made a special nomination overseas in 2007, and Shinsegae Group focused its efforts on recruiting Choo in the process of acquiring SK in early 2021. Then, SSG signed a contract with Choo Shin-soo at the end of February for an annual salary of 2.7 billion won, and succeeded in "recruitment No. 1" after changing the team name.
At the time, SSG did not hide its expectations, saying, "The recruitment of Choo Shin-soo will not only enable professional baseball fans to show more interesting games, but will also contribute greatly to regaining the reputation of the prestigious club, and we will continue to invest in the development of Incheon baseball."
Choo Shin-soo, who has been drawing attention even before the opening of the season, showed off his rusty skills in 2021 by recording 122 hits in 137 games at-bats for a batting average of 0.265 with 21 homers, 69 RBIs, and 25 stolen bases with an OPS of 0.860. In particular, he showed persistent distress over KBO league pitchers by garnering 103 walks. Last year and this year's performance, in which he played 112 games respectively, he recorded 106 hits in 409 at-bats for a batting average of 0.259 with 16 homers and 58 RBIs with an OPS of 0.812, and 97 hits in 382 at-bats for a batting average of 0.254 with 12 homers and 41 RBIs with an OPS of 0.777.
Choo Shin-soo, who contributed to his team's "Wire to Wire" victory last year, recorded eight hits in 25 at-bats in six games with a batting average of 0.320 and four walks in the Korean Series against the Kiwoom Heroes, and even wore a winning ring in two seasons in the KBO League.
However, it is difficult to evaluate Choo's value simply by his performance. He was also a contributor to the team outside of the game. In particular, juniors who spent time with Choo Shin-soo the closest learned and changed.
In June, infielder Choi Jun-woo said, "I think I'm getting a routine compared to last year. It wasn't well established in the past, but I think I'm trying to move as I thought recently," adding, "It was greatly influenced by (Chu) Shin-soo. If you slept well at home and went to work because you thought sleep was important, now you go to work early to receive treatment or reinforcement exercises and start the day early, so your body cells seem to wake up quickly."
Above all, it was the "social contribution activities" that made Choo shine more in the KBO League. Choo has become a hot topic among fans as he agreed to spend 1 billion won out of 2.7 billion won in annual salary for social contribution activities from 2021, his first year at the SSG.
Choo Shin-soo provided financial support to U.S. minor league players suffering from economic difficulties due to COVID-19 in 2020, when he was a member of Texas. In 2021, he provided 40 million won worth of personalized baseball supplies to low-salary players in SSG clubs and continued to share with players in his league.
In September of that year, Choo Shin-soo started his first donation activities to improve the educational environment of baseball dreamers and underprivileged children through the Dream Landing Project with SSG. The three-time Dream Landing Project was designed to focus on improving the training and learning environment, not one-time product support, to support children's dreams in the long run.
Starting with Choo Shin-soo's "delivering his alma mater baseball scholarship," the "Dream Stadium Project" to support the expansion of training infrastructure for youth baseball players in Incheon, and the "Dream Study Room Project" to support the improvement of the learning environment for underprivileged children in Incheon.
It was just the beginning. In January last year, Choo donated thermal jumpers to 468 youth baseball players belonging to the Incheon Softball Association and the official sponsor of his team, and in September last year, he provided baseball supplies worth 30 million won, 40 million won and 50 million won to his alma mater Suyeong Elementary School, Busan Middle School and Busan High School, respectively.
In addition, Choo Shin-soo provided education expenses to help military soldiers in difficult circumstances and "out-of-school youth" who quit school through the "Hope Landing Campaign" gain self-sustaining power. He accumulated 102 million won in donations, which converted his records of walks, home runs and stolen bases into 1 million won last season, and delivered 31 million won as education expenses for teenagers outside of school in Incheon and the remaining 71 million won as living expenses for vulnerable military soldiers.
This year, Choo Shin-soo, who conducted a social contribution activity "Happiness Landing Campaign" with the club, also set aside 139.3 million won. It will be supported by education, livelihood, and medical expenses for families of police officers and firefighters who died on duty of 70 million won, while the remaining 33.9 million won will be used to support low-income single-parent families in Incheon, such as nutritional supplements and sanitary pads.
Until the last season, Choo's sincerity toward social contribution activities has not changed. He plans to donate the entire minimum annual salary for the 2024 season and support baseball games. "Choo Shin-soo's minimum annual salary is deeply considered by the team's management, and the team is very grateful for this," an SSG source said. "Thanks to this, the team has been able to expand its operation in salary cap, player's annual salary, and FA," adding, "Choo Shin-soo has also expressed his intention to donate his minimum annual salary, and the team has also decided to join the donation to add meaning to the player's sincere moves."
He also said, "Chu Shin-soo joined the team with the founding of SSG in 2021 and has always served as a central point for the team as a veteran player of the team, leading to the unified victory of the team's "Wire to Wire" last year. He also said that he has donated more than 2.4 billion won to the youth and socially vulnerable groups so far this year and has played a role as a "culture changer" beyond just a leader in and outside the baseball stadium over the past three years, expressing various opinions for the development of Korean baseball."
