The Cleveland Indians acquired Taiwanese right-hander Hu Chih-wei in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for 18-year-old infielder Gionti Turner, the teams announced on Monday.
Hu, 25, appeared in five games in relief for the Rays last season, posting a 4.15 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 13 innings.
He pitched in six games for Tampa Bay the previous season and compiled a 2.70 ERA.
The Taiwanese spent most of the season in the starting rotation at Triple-A Durham, where he went 5-7 with a 4.66 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 24 games.
Turner was Cleveland’s 27th-round pick in this year’s draft. He appeared in 46 games in the rookie-level Arizona League, batting .296 with 22 RBIs and 25 runs scored.
Elsewhere, the Seattle Mariners traded left-hander James Paxton to the New York Yankees.
In return, the Mariners get three Yankees’ prospects in highly regarded left-hander Justus Sheffield, right-hander Erik Swanson and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams.
Paxton, who has two years of arbitration control left, has compiled a solid resume since his debut in 2013. He has amassed a 41-26 record, while sporting a 3.42 ERA and 1.19 WHIP.
Last season, Paxton threw a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays during a season in which he went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts.
Mariners general manager Jerry Dipoto said in a statement he was pleased with the return the club got for Paxton and noted their future plans for Sheffield.
“Justus Sheffield has an unquestionable prospect pedigree. With a combination of high-end velocity to go along with an advanced slider and a developing change-up, we think Justus has a chance to pitch at the upper portion of our rotation soon.”
The Washington Nationals signed free-agent catcher Kurt Suzuki to a two-year deal.
The deal pays Suzuki US$4 million next year and US$6 million in 2010, Fox Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal said.
Suzuki, who batted .271 with 12 home runs and 50 RBIs in 105 games last season with the Atlanta Braves, is likely to replace Matt Wieters, who is a free agent coming off an injury-plagued season.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was