With the demotion of Chang “OEO” Tai-shan to the minors heading a slew of roster changes, teams around the league are more aggressive than ever in terms of their intent to win, and win immediately.
“Demoting an 18-year veteran who will surely make [the Taiwanese Baseball Hall of Fame] is a tough decision, to say the least, but that’s the move that we believe is best for our club right now,” Uni-President Lions manager Chen Lien-hung said last week after sending Chang down to the minors to adjust his swings.
Chen was especially sensitive to such a move, because he himself was used sparingly by the Lions toward the end of his playing days and his tenure with the Lions probably would not have lasted long enough to give him time to transition into a coaching role had the Lions been as aggressive with his playing status as they are this year.
The move represents the brutal reality in professional sports where teams are no longer as patient with their “non-performing” players as they used to be.
Along with Chang’s demotion will most certainly come a salary cut for the league’s career home run, RBI and hit leader, further stressing the notion of “what have you done for me today?” on the part of the ball clubs.
The Lions are not alone among teams who have made bold personnel moves, as the Lamigo Monkeys have released former 14-game winner Shoda Itsuki after a shaky start by the Japanese lefty, while the EDA Rhinos have kept former ERA and strikeout leader Lin Ying-chieh on their farm team more often than not in the past two seasons, along with the Chinatrust Brother Elephants’ benching of former top draft pick Lin En-yu.
The bolder moves by the teams also represent a potential paradigm shift in professional sports management in Taiwan, as teams also look to enhance their appeal to the general public with the signing of big-name stars such as Manny Ramirez and most recently Freddy Garcia (by the Rhinos), and the frequent media coverage of the sexy ballpark dancers to make going to a ball game a new and more exciting experience.
How these changes may affect the game overall remains to be seen, as the league and the teams are still searching for the optimal formula that will generate more interest, and subsequently more revenues.
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