Shin-Soo Choo

Shin-Soo Choo was the MVP of the 2000 WSBC U-18 World Cup, an event won by his native South Korea, but he did so as a Pitcher.  The Seattle Mariners believed that his future in MLB was as an Outfielder, and they signed him in 2005.  They were right.

Choo only played 14 Games for Seattle before he was traded to Cleveland, and he became an everyday player in 2009, where he had back-to-back seasons of 20 Home Runs and a .300 Batting Average.  Traded to Cincinnati for the 2012 Season, Choo made history that year as the first South Korean batter to hit a Home Run in the Playoffs.  He departed the state of Ohio as a Free Agent, with the Texas Rangers as his landing spot.

Joining a contending Rangers team, Choo had four more 20-Home Run years and was an All-Star for the first and only time in 2018.  Retiring after 2020, Choo had 218 Home Runs, 1,671 Hits, and a lifetime OBP of .377.  He will likely be the first of many successful Korean baseball players in MLB.