How Shin-Soo Choo landed in Texas
— -- Texas Rangers general manager Jon Daniels was prepared to be patient in adding the final impact piece to the team's 2014 batting order. He liked Shin-Soo Choo immensely and would have been content to bring back Nelson Cruz on a short-term deal, and Daniels was in a position to sit and wait while the two players squirmed and the price potentially dropped.
In the end, Daniels' decision to spring into action was a sign that team executives, like players, prefer to have their business in order before Christmas if possible. He has an on-base machine at the top of his lineup, and Prince Fielder has a new playmate in time for the holidays.
With the exception of the news flash late Saturday morning that Choo had agreed to a seven-year, $130 million deal, there was precious little intrigue to this story. The Texas-Choo courtship lacked a mega-agent subplot, as we saw in Robinson Cano's negotiations with Seattle. And Cincinnati fans aren't going to call Choo a "traitor" the way Boston fans labeled Jacoby Ellsbury when he left the Red Sox for the New York Yankees two weeks ago.
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