Shin-soo Choo, That's Who.
"We were watching in Tacoma," says his former teammate in the Mariners' organization, Eddie Menchaca, now a manager at Class A Clinton. "The clubhouse erupted, everyone started chanting 'Choo! Choo! Choo!'"
A man appeared in the Tacoma clubhouse to see what the commotion was about. It was then Mariners G.M. Bill Bavasi, visiting from Seattle. It was quickly becoming apparent that he had just gifted the Indians their next star.
about 1 year ago
emd2k3
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Before the ’06 trading deadline Seattle dealt him to Cleveland for first baseman Ben Broussard.
pour one out for our man, Bavasi.
by gte619n on Apr 21, 2011 12:40 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
“The Yankees were always the most popular team in Korea. Now you can’t walk down the street without seeing someone in an Indians hat or shirt. The Indians are Number 1 in Korea.”
Id like to think that 98% of that is Choo’s success and 2% are Ryan Garko die-hards.
As General Manager of this team, I demand to know when I'm getting a start.
by bigbrabbs on Apr 21, 2011 12:44 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I’m not sure how distributed the royalties are among teams and players. Clearly there is some revenue sharing in this area. What is probably a bigger deal is, can the Indians get their own TV deal over there?
Could there be some sort of untapped business opportunity in Korea? I remember a comment from a Baseball America journalist from the last couple years stating that he thought Korea was the next untapped market for baseball players. The baseball culture is not even close to the same in Japan, but from what I’ve read it is healthier than Taiwan’s. So not only could a business plan focus on the short term gain of increased marketing to the Korean population, maybe it would make sense to try to help the Korean baseball league start maturing and expanding. Besides soccer, what other media friendly sports are popular in Korea? I can’t think of one though I’ve never been there and only have shallow knowledge of said subject. There could be potential there at the beginning to make the Tribe a more permanent part of a nation’s baseball culture leading to increased advertising revenue, increased broadcast and paraphernalia sales, and preferential acquisition of prospects. Of course, it would probably take more than six great years from one Korean player in an Indians uniform so it would cost money to find and sign another Korean star major leaguer. Would the acquisition costs of such a strategy from a player development standpoint even makes sense (i.e. funds and energy spent chasing one prospect market may detract from acquiring and playing other more talented players)? Also, such a business plan would not be cheap. Would such a thing be worth the gamble to a middle income owner like Dolan? I don’t know, but part of me doesn’t want to cede all such business strategies to the hated Yankees and Red Sox. Would such a strategy even be possible because as soon as it started looking successful, every other club would do the same thing, and the team first to market would lose its advantage. Mostly, this is just me rambling.
Which is why we have so much fun with grammar here.
by YoDaddyWags on Apr 22, 2011 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
Don’t forget, the Indians did not scout and sign Choo. The Mariners – the most Asian centric team in the Major Leagues – did.
Our best players wear suits.
He looks around the clubhouse, which has become his home, and says, “Hopefully, I’ll be here a long, long time.”
Yes, please.
From the context of the story, it seems that he’s referring to major league baseball in general and not necessarily the Indians. Boo on the Yankees, but with Boras as his agent, I imagine he’ll be replacing Swisher in the Bronx. Not that we should dwell on the future—we should just enjoy the player now.
No significant Indian has actually gone directly to the Yankees since the Jake opened, and only C.C. has gone there indirectly (by way of Milwaukee). The popular notion that our players are destined to land in the Bronx, inevitably, has very little basis in reality.
by Jay on Apr 21, 2011 5:42 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I assume you aren’t counting trades (David Justice).
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
by woodsmeister on Apr 22, 2011 8:14 AM EDT up reply actions
No, but Choo should be a big fish for the Yankees. They are one of the teams that could leverage Choo’s popularity effectively, and better than many others.
Absolutely vomit-inducing. Worse than Victor in Boston, perhaps.
My watch is broken... it's stuck on Tribe Time
#suckitLaw
by Turkmenbashi on Apr 24, 2011 1:16 AM EDT up reply actions
great read; thanks.
Choo can market himself in Korea as it stands today, but he can’t include any Tribe symbols in his marketing. And, I believe, royalties from mlb marketing are governed by the Player Agreement and the split is strictly defined between the union, league and team.
What if the Indians gave Choo himself control of the team’s share of Korean sourced royalties for a limited period of time (say five years)? We could make that deal as part of an extension and it costs us nothing, since without Choo we aren’t going to have any Korean sourced royalties, and it gives him something he can’t get from a larger market team (since LA, NY or Boston will want to themselves control those royalties). There might be a useful part of a deal is in there somewhere…
I was actually referring to the idea that having a country the size of S. Korea behind a team can make a huge difference for the team in terms of its revenue stream in royalties. I can’t imagine a team would ever give a player a cut like that – although that might be the type of creativity that would woo Boras and keep Choo around.
The bigger question is whether TV deals, merchandise, excursions to Cleveland (!?!), etc. might well pay for Choo’s new contract in a way that doesn’t apply to other ballplayers. The factors of:
- Choo being the only current MLB player
- Choo being the first MLB position player
- Choo is already famous and a known quantity
- The country already understands, enjoys and plays baseball
- S. Korea is a 1st world market (with solid economic growth rates) with real potential spending capabilities
- S. Koreans are largely untapped as a pool for MLB players
This makes his situation unique in a way that hasn’t been seen since Ichiro came to MLB. This just magnifies the complexity (and potential) of contract negotiations given his (aparent) true status of being a real 5-tool player.
Just spitballing here, but if I were the Indians, I would set up Korean language TV and radio broadcasts of all Indians games – the team would handle US operations/logistics of hiring, producing the broacast, etc. and sell it to a Korean media entity. Hire a Korean marketing firm and plug the heck out of Choo and the Indians. Plug into the Korean social media – it’s different than the US version. Develop MLB/Indians baseball camps with Choo and other former Korean MLB players. Turn around and use the proceeds to lock Choo up. Also develop a specific Korean scouting program and start signing players.
The idea is to capitalize on Choo to make fans out of an entire market while also searching out other potential Korean players to keep the ties going in the post-Choo future. This isn’t just a potential revenue stream for this year or even Choo’s career as an Indian. It’s possible to tap into this resource as a long term revenue stream for the team.
Plus how cool would it be to travel the world and see Indians garb on other people.
I just want to believe.
if I were the Indians, I would set up Korean language TV and radio broadcasts of all Indians games – the team would handle US operations/logistics of hiring, producing the broacast, etc. and sell it to a Korean media entity.
This seems like a no-brainer to me.
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools" -Hemingway
by notthatnoise on Apr 21, 2011 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I question whether this would be as lucrative as you think – doesn’t MLB itself own all international broadcasting rights? If so, revenue would have to be split 30 ways
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
by woodsmeister on Apr 22, 2011 8:16 AM EDT up reply actions
Choo being the first MLB position player
After this season, this will be correct if you edit to say: Choo being the first All-Star MLB position player.
Hee-Seop Choi technically was the first South Korean position player to play in MLB, with the Cubs/Marlins/Dodgers from 2002-2005.
You think Choo will be an All-Star this year? After three weeks of sub-600 OPS, he has all but eliminated any chance of that.
Online voting in Korea.
Though I look right at home, I still feel like an exile
by Manhattan Tribe Fan on Apr 23, 2011 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Sad that he could OPS 900 for the rest of the year but this start would kill his All Star bid. You know what would be awesome though, is if he OPSed 900 from here on out. C’mon, Choo!
"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."
Screw it, he’s an arbitration guy by choice. I hope he tanks every April and mashes every May through September. No All-Star for you!
Choo being bigger than Park Ji-sung is awesome. That dude can play some footie.
by ahowie on Apr 21, 2011 4:35 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Says Shapiro, “Chris [Antonetti] and I stay on East Coast time during spring training [in Arizona], so we’re in the weight room at 5 a.m., and he’s the only player there, riding the bike before the full workout and the full spring training day.”
Why do they do that? The waiver wire or something? I’m having trouble thinking of a compelling reason, but I’m sure it’s something stupid I’ve overlooked.
My boss, who travels frequently, stays on Eastern time when he travels around the US. Many frequent travelers do this. Nice to know that our front office is staying buff underneath the polo shirts.
"I’ll happily embrace elevated hopes if that is the price to pay." - APV
On Twitter at @grantgw - sports and Cleveland and Columbus stuff
by woodsmeister on Apr 22, 2011 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I just can’t see Antonetti in the weight room
by TKilbane on Apr 22, 2011 11:55 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
My brother-in-law runs a commodity based business in Phoenix and he says everyone he knows there runs on the EST schedule.
When he cut out early to go to Spring ballgames with me, he was still almost working a full day.
A lot of West Coast affiliates do this. My company is worldwide, but we have flexible hours so we can come in as early as 6AM PST to align with the EST, or as late as 9:30AM PST to cover the afternoon on the West Coast through the late afternoon.
I can understand doing that when traveling for a few days, or even a week. but aren’t they guys in Arizona for over a month during spring training? It doesn’t seem like they’d need to stay on Eastern time when they’re going to be out there for that long of a time period. I’d think they’d take a couple days to adjust to Pacific time then stay on that for the 5 or 6 weeks they’re in Arizona.
Although, maybe they’re traveling back and forth between Cleveland and Arizona frequently during spring training and if that is the case then it would certainly make sense to stay on Eastern time.
by Buckeye Brad on Apr 23, 2011 8:44 AM EDT up reply actions
had to do a quick google image
"I want to be playing at the end of October or the end of September -- not just at the beginning of April." —Grady
by westbrook on Apr 22, 2011 6:31 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
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