On this date in franchise history, the Texas Rangers locked in a player they hoped would be a powerful piece of their lineup.
On Dec. 27, 2013, Shin-Soo Choo signed a seven-year contract with the Texas Rangers. The deal, worth $130 million, made Choo a long-term part of the Rangers’ future.
Choo was coming off a 2013 with Cincinnati in which he hit .285 with 21 home runs and 54 RBI. He finished 12th in National League Most Valuable Player voting that season.
Shoo played out the final seven seasons of his career with Texas, hitting .260 with 114 home runs and 355 RBI. He earned the only All-Star nod of his career in 2018, and on July 21, 2015, he became the ninth player in Major League history to hit for the cycle. He also became the first Asian player to accomplish the feat.
In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Choo donated $1,000 to each of the 190 players in the Texas Rangers’ minor league system who were unable to work due to the MLB's shutdown.
In 2021, he signed a one-year deal with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization.
From the time he broke into the Majors in 2005 until he left the Rangers in 2020, Choo played for four different teams, hit .275 with 218 home runs and 782 RBI. He led the Majors in one category just time in his career—he was hit by pitch 23 times in 2013 with the Reds.
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