Shin-Soo Choo To Move For the Reds

Shin-Soo Choo hopes that his third team will win a championship.

The 30-year old outfielder from Pusan, Korea broke into the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners as a centerfielder in 2005 but was traded to the Cleveland Indians in July, 2006.  Seattle moved Choo to the corner outfield after his first two seasons of professional baseball.

Choo has the ability to get on base, an ability the Reds' leadoff hitters have lacked the last three seasons. 

Cincinnati is considering moving Choo back to centerfield but also has the option to move Jay Bruce back to his original position.

"I've talked to Jay Bruce, (Chris) Heisey and the coaches," Choo said. "I've worked in centerfield and I'll do the best I can," Choo said. "After that, the middle of spring training or the end Dusty (Baker) will make a decision."

Baker knows that judging an outfielder with the conditions in Arizona is tough to do.

"Choo will be a kind of trade off," Baker said. "If you can play centerfield here in Arizona, you can play it anywhere. I will try not to judge to harshly. First of all the outfields are bigger out here. They have to be because of the thin air. There are no clouds. It is tough to judge talent here sometimes."

The Reds were interested in signing Choo to a multi-year contract but both parties decided on one year contract.

"We discussed Choo with Cleveland before the trade deadline last year but we couldn't get a deal together," Reds general manager Walt Jocketty said. "We felt he has the speed to play centerfield. We have good outfield coaches in Billy Hatcher and Eric Davis. He's in very good shape. He is 31 (in July), but he's a young 31."

The Reds are moving Billy Hamilton to centerfield. Hamilton has the tools to be a leadoff hitter but needs at least a season in Triple-A.

"We talked to Scott Boras (Choo's agent) about a multi-year deal but decided to focus on this season," Jocketty said. "It will give Choo a chance to see if he likes it here in Cincinnati."

Choo led off last season and doesn't care where in the batting order he falls. Choo hit 16 home runs last season and the Reds hope that his lefthanded bat will lead to higher power numbers with the short rightfield at Great American Ball Park. Choo also reached base at a .373 clip last season and hope to get more runners on base in front of Joey Votto, Ryan Ludwick and Jay Bruce. Last season the Reds' leadoff hitters were the worst in the National League at getting on base.

The Reds think that Choo's presence in the lineup will benefit the other players.

"The one guy you'll see take off is Brandon Phillips, who can move back into the second spot," Jocketty said. "We had to move Brandon around and he's been great about it but his best spot is batting second." Phillips filled in at both leadoff and cleanup for the Reds the last two seasons.

"(Zack) Cozart is a good example," Jocketty said. "Cozart's a good hitter but he should be seventh or eighth. We put him in spots he wasn't ready for last season."  Choo just wants to play everyday.

"It doesn't matter, first, eighth, ninth, I just want to play every day," Choo said. "I just want to help the team win."

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