The Korea Baseball Organization held their rookie draft earlier this week, and a familiar name was present among the list of selected prospects. The KT Wiz took former big leaguer Jiman Choi in the second round (15th overall), so the 35-year-old is now set to play in the KBO League for the first time in his pro career.
Choi was born in Incheon in 1991, but as a legal permanent resident of the United States, he bypassed the usual KBO draft system when he began his baseball career in 2010, and instead signed a free agent deal with the Mariners. Choi didn’t reach the majors until 2016 as a member of the Angels, but the first baseman then appeared in parts of every MLB season from 2016-2023, suiting up for six different teams at the Major League level.
Over 1841 career plate appearances and 525 games, Choi hit .234/.338/.426 with 67 home runs, good for a solid 113 wRC+. Most of Choi’s action and productivity came during his five-year run with the Rays from 2018-22, as he batted .245/.352/.431 in his 1545 PA in a Tampa uniform. He slightly topped that overall production in the postseason, with a .221/.398/.412 slash line in 88 PA in the playoffs.
Choi played 26 games with the Mets’ Triple-A squad in 2024, and then in 2025 returned to South Korea for a new phase of his life. South Korean men between the ages of 18-35 are required to complete between 18-21 months of military service, and Choi’s baseball career (and U.S. legal permanent resident status) only delayed this mandatory requirement.
As per Bong-Jun Ko of the JoongAng Daily, Choi “was discharged early” from his military duties as a social service work “after a chronic knee injury worsened.” This enabled Choi to restart his playing career with a minor league club in South Korea, and give KBO scouts a chance to evaluate Choi after his long layoff.
The unique circumstances of Choi’s career still made him a rookie by KBO standards, and thus subject the league draft. Drafting an experienced player like Choi is obviously more of a win-now move for the Wiz than a way of building for the future, but there’s plenty of short-term upside for the team if Choi can replicate any of his MLB success against a lower level of competition in the KBO League. The Wiz are in first place in the KBO standings and (apart from a down season in 2025) have been perennial playoff contenders in recent years, so Choi could conceivably help the club as early as this season.
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