Shin-soo “Choo Choo Train” Choo (41-SSG Landers) will end his career after next season. He enters his retirement season with the lowest salary in the KBO (30 million won). He also holds the record for the highest salary cut rate in history (98.2%).
SSG officially announced on Thursday that Choo Shin-soo has decided to retire after next season. While discussing his future with the club, he expressed his willingness to sign for the minimum salary of 30 million won, which he will donate in full. The club will also participate in Choo Shin-soo’s donation activities and prepare for his final season to repay the love and support he has received from fans over the years.
The salary cut is dramatic When Choo Shin-soo joined the KBO in 2021 with SSG, he was treated as a major leaguer with a record-breaking salary of 2.7 billion won. With his salary frozen at 2.7 billion won in 2022, Choo Shin-soo will take a 1 billion won cut this year to 1.7 billion won. With SSG facing the threat of exceeding the salary cap after winning the ‘wire-to-wire’ unified championship in 2022 and raising the salaries of its main players, 안전놀이터 Choo Shin-soo accepted the 1 billion won cut.
Next year, he will finish with a minimum salary of 30 million won, a whopping 1.67 billion won.
This is also unconventional. This is the second-largest salary cut in KBO history. The record for the largest pay cut in KBO history is held by Lee Dae-ho, who is about the same age. Lee, who played for Lotte, saw his salary drop from 2.5 billion won in 2021 to 800 million won in 2022. After returning to Lotte in 2017 and signing a four-year, 15 billion won free agent contract, Lee Dae-ho took a record pay cut in 2021 when he re-signed as a free agent for two years and 2.6 billion won.
In terms of salary cut percentage, Choo Shin-soo’s 98.2% was the largest in history, surpassing Lee Dae-ho’s 68.0%. The previous KBO record was 90.0%, held by Park Myung-hwan and Lee Taek-geun. Park’s salary was cut from 500 million won in 2011 to 50 million won in 2012 while he was with LG. Lee Taek-geun, who played for Kiwoom in 2019 and 2020, was cut under the same conditions. Both players took drastic cuts when they signed regular contracts after their free agency ended. Injuries and poor play were the main reasons for Park’s departure, while Lee didn’t play a single game for the first team that year in the aftermath of the junior assault controversy.
In 112 games this season,
Shin-Soo Choo batted .254 (97-for-382) with 12 home runs, 41 RBIs, 65 walks and 79 strikeouts for a .379 on-base percentage, .398 slugging percentage and .777 OPS. He may be past his prime, but he still put up solid numbers as a mainstay. He was asked by new manager Lee Seung-yong to serve as captain next season, but due to a record salary cut, his final season will be a “service” one.
“During the off-season, my family and I thought about it a lot. Every time I did, I remembered SSG, the fans’ support, and most importantly, the junior players. I felt that I loved baseball and the team so much that I thought about my future with the club. Both the club and the new manager needed me and respected my opinion. Next year, I want to contribute to the team by sharing my experiences and thoughts while training with the junior players on the Futures team at any time depending on the team’s situation.” “I think it’s time to end my 23 years of playing baseball in the United States and Korea since 2001. As this is my last season, I want to thank the fans for their support and present them with meaningful memories regardless of whether they are home or away.”
Shin-soo Choo moved to the United States in 2000,
When he was a junior at Busan High School, signing a $1.37 million contract with the Seattle Mariners, and after a tearful five-year minor league career, he made his major league debut in 2005. He went on to play for the Cleveland Indians (now the Guardians), Cincinnati Reds, and Texas Rangers, enjoying a 16-year career that lasted until 2020. He made a lot of money while holding the record for the most career home runs by an Asian player (218).
According to Sportrac, a site specializing in professional sports salaries in the United States, Shin-soo Choo has earned $139.58 million (about 180.8 billion won) in his 16-year big league career. The figure excludes earnings from 2001-2006, when he was a minor leaguer. He hit the free agent jackpot in December 2013 when he signed a seven-year, $130 million contract with Texas. In the KBO, he earned 2.7 billion won, 2.7 billion won, 1.7 billion won, and 30 million won in each of his four years in the league, totaling 7.13 billion won.
Combined with his time in the U.S., his total income from salary and contract is about 180 billion won. He is probably the highest paid baseball player in South Korea. Choo Shin-soo gave as generously as he received. In 2020, he made headlines when he donated $1,000 each to 190 Texas minor league players who lost their income during the COVID-19 pandemic, 바카라사이트 순위 totaling $190,000. Even in Korea, he practiced noblesse oblige by donating more than 2.4 billion won to youth and socially vulnerable groups. His lowest salary in the final season was also a fitting finale.