Taiwanese right-hander Wang Chien-ming (王建民) has signed a one-year contract to rejoin the Washington Nationals that will guarantee him a base salary of US$1 million and give him a chance to earn another US$4 million in incentives, Wang’s US-based agent Alan Chang said in a statement early yesterday.
“Wang has expressed gratitude to the Nationals for its recognition and confidence in his ability. He is currently working on individual training in Taiwan and is scheduled to be back in the US early next year,” Chang said in the press release.
Wang, who played for the New York Yankees before being released late last year, signed with the Nationals in February for a year with a guaranteed US$2 million salary.
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
However, he has been in rehabilitation for the past 15 months and has not pitched for the Nationals in a Major League Baseball (MLB) game, only appearing in two instructional league games in October.
Wang was not offered a contract by the Nationals before the deadline of Dec. 3 and therefore became a free agent.
According to an MLB report published early yesterday, Wang had indicated to his agent that he wanted to stay with the Nationals because of the way they treated him while he was recovering from surgery to his right shoulder.
Although Wang will receive only half the guaranteed salary of his previous contract, he can secure up to US$4 million in incentives next season.
Wang will be paid US$250,000 if he stays on the 25-man roster for more than 30 days, a further US$250,000 if he stays for 30 more days, and an additional US$250,000 if he stays for another 30 days after that, according to the contract.
The incentives will be based on how many games Wang appears in as a starting pitcher.
He will earn an extra US$100,000 for between 10 and 19 games, US$150,000 for between 20 and 21 games, US$200,000 for his 22nd starting job and US$300,000 for between 23 and 27 games.
Wang will receive as much as US$600,000 if he wins any MLB award, including US$200,000 for the Comeback Player of the Year award.
Wang won more games than any other big league pitcher (38) between 2006 and 2007, but his injuries have limited him to just 27 appearances over the past two years.
In his last year with the Yankees, Wang was 1-6 with an atrocious 9.64 ERA before being shut down for the season because of his shoulder.
Commenting on the new contract, Wang said: “I am very happy because I had no team last year.”
“The Nationals are signing me and bringing me back to major league baseball, and they are letting me recover without putting any pressure on me, so I can let my arm heal completely before I get back out on the pitch,” the Taiwanese pitcher said.
Wang also said that he should be able to return in April or May next year, and that he currently is doing weight training and rehabilitation six to eight hours a day.
Wang also said he has started pitching again.
He said that both his speed and his different types of pitches are looking good.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS