Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) had a tryout for scouts at the New York Yankees’ minor league complex in Tampa, Florida, on Wednesday in a bid to get a new contract from his former team, foreign media have reported.
Andy McCullough of the Newark, New Jersey-based Star-Ledger was the first to tweet that the US Major League Baseball free agent was trying out, although foreign news outlets had reported that the Yankees were interested in signing him after he pitched 12 scoreless innings for Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic (WBC) earlier this month.
“We’ve talked to him for quite some time and he’s agreed to work out for our people,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was quoted as saying by sports broadcaster ESPN.
Photo: EPA
“We saw enough from him in the WBC to bring him in for a further look, “ he said, adding that the scouts were impressed by Wang’s fastball, which reaches speeds of about 150kph.
The 32-year old right-hander, who was released last year by his former team, the Washington Nationals, had 55-26 with a 4.16 ERA in five seasons for the Yankees between 2005 and 2009.
He recorded 19 wins in consecutive seasons, but suffered a foot injury in 2008 from which he never fully recovered before leaving the team.
Alan Chang (張嘉元), Wang’s agent, played his cards close to his chest, saying that many teams have been pursuing the pitcher since his WBC performance, but added that there was no timetable for a decision. The Major League Baseball season is set to begin on March 31.
The media reports say that although Wang would prefer to return to major league play with the Yankees, the team intends to offer him a deal in the minor leagues.
“We have some vacancies in the rotation in [Triple-A] Scranton, so we’re exploring all our options, and he showed interest in coming back. He had a great time with us and if he has to do a minor league deal, he’d probably rather do it here,” Cashman told ESPN.
However, unconfirmed reports by local media say that Wang had signed a contract on Wednesday with the Yankees.
The local reports also say he will not be starting in the Major League, but has been have promised a position in a Triple-A affiliate.
There will be no official announcement of the contract until the details are finalized, but an official announcement was expected soon.
Additional reporting by Cheng Yu-chia
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
RSS