Shin-Soo Choo Donates $1,000 to Over 190 Rangers Minor League Players
This past January, Texas Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo was honored with the team's 2019 Harold McKinney Good Guy of the Year Award.
Now, he's proving why.
Choo is donating $1,000 to each of the 190-plus minor league players in the Rangers organization. The money will be donated to the Rangers, and then they will distribute the money to the players. According to Choo, 191 players will be aided with this donation so far.
Naver Sports, a Korean sports website, first reported Choo's gesture in an interview with Rangers minor league player Eli White. A text conversation between White and Choo was displayed in the interview, where Eli thanked Choo for his kindness.
"Hey Eli.... no problem," Choo said in his text response. "Don't worry about money just keep playing baseball."
Choo is in the final year of his seven-year contract with the Rangers. He was set to make $21 million this season. His contract has been the center of some criticism from fans in the past, but with gestures like this, those arguments are pretty much null and void.
In a conference call with the media on Wednesday, Choo stressed how he didn't want these minor league players focusing on what they were going to do for their next paycheck, but to focus on baseball.
"I don't want these guys worrying about money and have it affect baseball," Choo said via conference call on Wednesday. "I don't want guys giving up on baseball and working other jobs just for money. That's the reason why I want to help."
Minor leaguers do not have a union and do not have the same protection Major League players do. The shutdown of baseball in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic has left minor league players without the security of a paycheck. Choo understands the life of a minor leaguer and doesn't want them worrying about putting food on the table.
"I've done it before. I was in the Minor Leagues for seven years of my career," Choo said. "I know things are better than 15-20 years ago, but it's tough. Everything's very difficult, especially money-wise."
Earlier this week, MLB announced that they will pay minor leaguers $400 a week through May 31st.
These are hard times for a lot of people. Minor league players are not alone in this. Many are tempted to find other work during this time. They have to put food on the table, pay the bills, and take care of their families. Even $400 a week doesn't solve everything for a lot of the players.
"In these hard times, we have to come together. I think that's the most important thing," Choo said. "Everybody has to be on the same page and help each other. That's how we're going to get through this."
The world needs more people like Shin-Soo Choo.
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