Choo for Tokyo Olympics?

Perhaps lost amid the excitement and hoopla over Choo Shin-soo’s signing with a South Korean club after 16 years in the majors is this little nugget: Choo will also be able to play for his country at the Tokyo Olympics this summer.

As the most successful South Korean hitter in Major League Baseball (MLB) history, Choo will generate a lot of buzz well before the start of the regular season on April 3. He’s scheduled to arrive here on Thursday and join his team in spring training following a mandatory, 14-day quarantine.

In addition to playing for the new-look club, Choo will be eligible to represent South Korea at the Tokyo Olympics, scheduled to open in July.

If Choo had remained in MLB, he wouldn’t have been able to compete for the country even if he wanted to. Under an agreement reached between MLB and the World Baseball Softball Confederation, only 40-man roster players who aren’t in the majors are allowed to represent their nations. That means only high-level prospects or MLB veterans optioned to the minor leagues are available, but not an established veteran like Choo.

Choo last played for South Korea at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. He clobbered opposing pitching by going 8-for-14 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in five games to help South Korea win the gold medal.

Choo was playing for the Cleveland Indians then, and the club granted him his wish to play for the Asian Games gold medal so that he would earn exemption from the mandatory military service and continue his burgeoning big league career without disruption.

South Korea’s provisional Tokyo roster from last year didn’t include Choo. But the country has to assemble a new provisional roster.

“As long as he’s willing, there’s no reason Choo Shin-soo can’t play at the Tokyo Olympics,” a KBO official said Wednesday.

Kim Kyung-moon, the national team manager, declined to comment on Choo’s chances of making the national team.

“He just signed his contract. I’ll be keeping an eye on all players, including Choo, and put together the team as I see fit.”