Shin-Soo Choo out for the season with bone chips in his elbow
By Hayden Kane
The Texas Rangers have had a season to forget, and that continued with some unfortunate injury news on Monday night.
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T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com writes that outfielder Shin-Soo Choo is out for the season due to bone chips in his elbow.
"Ranger OF Shin-Soo Choo is having surgery to remove bone spurs from his left elbow and will not play for the remainder of the 2014 season the Rangers announced today. The Rangers expect Choo back at full strength for the start of the 2015 season. OF Michael Choice is in Seattle, and is expected to take Choo’s spot on the 25 man roster."
Choo was the big-money acquisition for the Rangers this past off-season, signing a seven-year, $130 million deal. At 32 years old, Choo was coming off one of his best seasons in 2013 and has been fairly productive in 2014, though his average is down: .240/.340/.374 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI.
Up and down the roster, the Rangers will look to hit the reset button and get people healthy for the 2015 season. Holding onto the worst record in baseball, there is no reason for the Rangers to run Choo out there and risk further injury. With this elbow injury added on top of an ankle issue that bothered Choo for much of the season, it only makes sense to get him rested and healed for next season.
Choo will be 33 next season with a whole lot of money and years left on his deal. That could work out fine for the Rangers, but they do not need to be risking any further dings and dents if they hope to get something close to their money’s worth on the deal.