The expansion Taiwan Steel Group Hawks made a major trade on Thursday when they sent their top draft pick this year, former Boston Red Sox infielder “Tzunami” Lin Tzu-wei, to the Rakuten Monkeys for multiple players.
In one of the biggest deals this season, the Hawks acquired three players for Lin — pitchers Wang I-cheng and Weng Wei-chun, and outfielder Lan Yin-lun.
The Hawks, who are to start in the CPBL next season, also received the right to negotiate with Wang Po-jung should he decide to return to the CPBL from Japan when he becomes a free agent in the off-season, the two teams said in a statement.
The deal is to take effect on Tuesday.
The announcement came as a surprise and was questioned by many, with baseball YouTuber Tainan Josh saying that the Hawks got robbed by the Monkeys.
None of the three players the Hawks acquired is at their peak, while Lin, 29, is widely considered to be worth at least NT$1 million (US$31,449) per month.
Lin, who spent five years in MLB, mostly with the Red Sox, registered for the CPBL’s mid-season draft at the last minute and was playing for the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League before his contract was purchased by the Hawks on July 22.
In his 44 games with the Ducks, Lin hit .270 and had seven home runs, 23 RBIs, seven stolen bases and .876 on-base plus slugging statistic, the Ducks’ Web site showed.
In contrast, the 37-year-old Wang I-cheng, who is coming to the end of his professional career, had made only four appearances for the Monkeys so far this season.
Lan, 33, has played no more than 58 games in a single season since 2021 due to injuries, and Weng, though only 24, has undergone two elbow surgeries.
In a video, Hawks manager Hong I-chung said that the Kaohsiung-based club was in urgent need of experience with such a young roster and hoped that the players they obtained would provide leadership.
“I’m not asking them to play 10-15 more years,” Hong said. “I expect them to keep our competitiveness at a certain level, to give our younger players time to grow.”
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
RSS