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.”
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