Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) became a free agent when the New York Yankees failed to offer a contract for next season by Saturday night’s deadline.
The 29-year-old right-hander was a 19-game winner in 2006 and 2007, starting the Yankees’ postseason openers in both years, but he hasn’t been the same since severely injuring his right foot while running the bases at Houston on June 15 last year.
“We’re disappointed. We’ll obviously consider all offers as a free agent, as all free agents do,” said Wang’s agent, Alan Nero.
Staying with the Yankees is a possibility.
“We’ll take our time to make a good decision,” Nero said.
Wang missed the final three-and-a-half months of last year’s season, then allowed 23 runs in six innings over three starts when he returned this year. He went back on the disabled list, then returned in late May to make three relief appearances and six starts before his season was ended by shoulder pain.
Wang wound up 1-6 with a 9.64 ERA and James Andrews repaired a tear in the right shoulder capsule during arthroscopic surgery on July 29. Wang is not expected to be able to pitch until sometime between April and June.
He made US$5 million this year, a US$1 million raise over his salary last year, when he lost in arbitration.
By allowing him to become free, the Yankees can cut his salary by more than the 20 percent limit set by baseball’s labor contract for players on rosters.
“There’s no doubt that we had to make a tough decision,” general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement. “We are still hopeful that our relationship can continue, but those decisions are yet to be made.”
If Wang leaves the Yankees for new pastures, it will bring to a close a relationship that started in 2000. The Dodgers, the Seattle Mariners, the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers have all shown an interest in signing him.
Wang is the first Taiwanese player to be in the Yankees and only the third to play in Major League Baseball. He is also the highest paid Taiwanese baseball player in the professional league ever.
He became a phenomenon in Taiwan, winning the accolade “the Light of Taiwan.” In 2007, Time magazine listed him in the top 100 most influential people in the world for the contribution he has made to Taiwan.
His Major League Baseball debut for the Yankees came in 2005, playing against the Toronto Blue Jays.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)