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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2007		Bad luck and trouble are apparently Hee Seop Choi`s only friends; though the Sox seemed the ideal organization to appreciate his skills, hamstring, knee, and back strains prevented him from ever getting going. He`ll try his luck as a non-roster invitee with the Devil Rays this spring.
2005		Primary bounty for shipping Lo Duca and Mota to Florida. Choi's still the hitter he's always been, despite a rough showing in his brief stint with the Dodgers late in the season. He can still hit for average, power, and draw walks, but there's some concern that he may end up as a platoon player. It looked like he might be involved in a trade, but the Dodgers shipped Shawn Green and his giant 2005 salary out instead, and got to keep Odalis Perez as a result. Choi's a good bet to outperform Green this season, which would make the $8 million saved by trading Green mighty tasty.
2004		Choi started the year with a bang-posting a .241/.431/.556 line in April-and ended it with one-a scary, June 17 collision with Kerry Wood that left him concussive and unconscious. It didn't have to be that way; Choi came back from the injury, and hit pretty well at Iowa when he was playing every day. But the injury provided management with an excuse to dispose of a player whose approach they never really appreciated in the first place, and by the time Randall Simon had been brought in, Choi's career as a Cub was effectively over. Certainly, Choi had some rough at-bats in Wrigley in July and August, but it's tough to hit well when you're only getting a few times up a week and your organization has lost confidence in you. Not that he is without his faults: Choi's approach at the plate can be too passive even by BP standards, and he can struggle with pitches that break in toward him. He's never going to be a huge batting average hitter. But Choi has abundant power, plays surprisingly good defense, and could be the second- or third-best hitter in a good lineup. The big ballpark and lack of good Korean BBQ joints aside, Florida is an excellent place for him. If you're willing to resign yourself to the Cubs' judgment that Choi is never going to break out as a hitter, then Derrek Lee makes for a pretty good replacement, but it didn't have to be this way.
2003		What would you have if you had Nick Johnson without as many annoying injuries? Choi’s power potential is daunting. There’s a bit of chauvinism about him, with whispers he can’t handle inside pitches (he does), or might be soft (he isn’t). He’s shortened his swing, but as you can see, it didn’t lead to more contact, less power, or fewer strikeouts; it was intended to squelch the complaints about hitting the inside pitch. Although Karros is here to caddy or platoon for him, Choi manhandled lefties in the PCL, slugging almost .550 against them vs. .501 against right-handers. He’s as ready to take over at first as he’s ever going to be, and should be primed for a nice six-year run.
2002		Choi came into 2001 with a chance to be the Cubs' first baseman by midsummer. Instead, he suffered a hand injury, tried to play through it without telling anybody, and ended up visiting the DL twice. His Arizona Fall League stint was cut short by another hand injury, although it’s supposed to be reassuring that it was not the same hand that killed his season at Iowa. While Choi’s power stroke is still the organization’s long-term answer at first base, Fred McGriff’s decision to stick around will give Choi plenty of time to bounce back. There’s apparently an agreement in place that will release him from his military-service requirement in Korea if he does eventually make the majors to stay.
2001		The organization’s symbol of progress, Hee Seop Choi has made big strides defensively, and he can hit. I’m not saying he’ll hit like Reggie Jackson, but like Reggie his longest drives go to left-center field. Concerns about his conditioning have been overstated. He’s not Kent Hrbek, and he moves around the bases well. If the Cubs make him wait, he’s a great candidate for the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2002, but after this season and a great Arizona Fall League run, he should force his way up sooner than that.
2000		Signed out of college on Asia scout Leon Lee's recommendation, Choi is already one of the Cubs' best prospects. He’s obviously a hitter and credited with having a great learning curve, but there are some issues. He's sort of flabby and needs to start working out, having taken to fast food. He OD'd on Mountain Dew, drinking so much that he had to be hospitalized for dehydration. He's still on the hook for a three-year military stint that has to start sometime in the next five years. Choi was bumped off of Korea's Asian Games team because Chan Ho Park wanted a veteran team, as the players would be exempted from their service if they made it to the Olympics, which they did.

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