AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chen Wei-yin made local baseball history earlier this week when he signed a three-year contract with the Baltimore Orioles of the American League, becoming the first Taiwan-born player to sign with a Major League team out of Japan after a successful campaign with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
The 26-year-old lefty starter out the former Kaohsiung County’s Kaoyuan Vocational High School, whose list of distinguished alumni includes former Major Leaguer Tsao Chin-hui, Chen Yong-chi (former minor leaguer with the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland A’s, and currently CPBL Uni-President Lions shortstop), Cheng Hong-chi (former minor leaguer with the Toronto Blue Jays and current Brother Elephants reliever), and Lin Ying-jeh (Sinon Bulls starter) will likely become the Orioles’ third starter in a rotation that also includes Japanese left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks to give manager Buck Showalter some quality help in a competitive AL Eastern Division.
Chen Wei-yin’s impressive resume is highlighted by the NPB Central League’s ERA title of 1.54 in 2009 and a solid 2.68 ERA in the four seasons he spent with the Dragons. He possesses a fastball that clocks consistently in the low-to-mid 90s (mph) to complement a forkball that has a decent break and a slider that runs down-and-in against right-handed batters. What has made him very tough to hit against in the NPB is his out pitch, which is a hybrid of a slider and curveball often called a “slurve” pitch.
While his signing may not be a surprise to baseball experts in the US, Japan and Taiwan, the length of his contract did raise some questions, with several recent signings out of Japan by various MLB teams falling short of expectations.
“It’s a unique situation based upon [Chen’s] age, the fact that he’s left-handed, our need and the acquisition cost was really [just] the cost of the contract,” Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said of Chen Wei-yin’s signing on the Orioles’ Web site.
“So in this case, we thought it was reasonable to extend him for the third year. You never know what’s going to happen, but in Chen’s case, taking all those factors into consideration, it was reasonable,” Duquette added.
The terms of his contract include a signing bonus of US$250,000, with a base salary of US$3.07 million this year, US$3.57 million next year and US$4.07 million in 2014, with a club option of US$6 million for 2015 if he could pitch in 56 starts between next year and 2014 or pack in at least 360 innings over the same span. The performance-based bonus portion of the contract includes a US$100,000 bonus for appearing in at least 30 starts or 200 innings, a US$50,000 bonus for selection to the All-Star team and a US$150,000 bonus if he wins the Cy Young Award.
The Orioles were among at least a half-dozen Major League teams that showed serious interest in him over the past two years. He will join the Beltway rivals of fellow Taiwanese right-hander Wang Chien-ming’s team, the Washington Nationals of the National League.
“I’m very excited about the opportunity that I will finally get to be playing in the Majors, and I will try my best to help [the Orioles] win a championship,” Chen Wei-yin said in a book-signing appearance in Taipei on Thursday.
He was joined by compatriot and lefty setup man Kuo Hong-chih of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who has spent the last 11 years with that team in various roles.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS