Abreu’s gotta make that catch in right.

Thanks. I updated the link to the same as yours.

My god those uniforms are atrocious

Contract issues. Korean free agency is only given to nine-year veterans, and they haven’t even figured out a posting system like Japan. Choo never played for a pro Korean team, the Mariners signed him out of high school.

None of us are doing anything but reading tea leaves on this.

My reading is that the law was repealed because it was perceived as too broad or too generous, thus sending the wrong message with regard to military service. A legally guaranteed exemption also denies officials from making appropriate decisions on a case-by-case basis. Does the 25th man on the club deserve an exemption if he’s only just reached draft age? Some years it might be a heroic effort to make it to the semis, while in others only the WBC title would be considered heroic. The WBC is also a new event, so expectations haven’t yet crystallized around it. How good will the competition be? How prestigious will the tournament become?

I think if they want to grant Choo an exemption, they’ll enough reasons. He’s playing with significant injury risk. The Indians (who stand to gain/lose along with Choo) have been cooperative when they didn’t have to be. He likely will compete in the 2010 Asian Games (late November) as well.

Given Choo’s current circumstance and his assistance launching Korea into the finals, the best thing for all parties would be if Korea would agree to grant Choo an exemption conditioned on his participating in the Asian Games. But I don’t know if that kind of negotiation would be considered appropriate.