Wang Po-jung, a three-time all-star in Taiwan’s professional baseball league, is to end his uneven five-year stint in Japan with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the Nippon Professional Baseball.
“After the end of the season, I kept in close contact with the franchise and discussed what might work for us in the future,” Wang wrote on Facebook on Monday. “In the end, I decided to leave Japan and look for the next opportunity of my pro career.”
Wang said the decision was by no means made rashly, as he discussed it with his family and took a while to consider his options.
Photo: CNA
“I believe that every single decision will lead me to a bigger dream, and I’m grateful for the understanding and respect that the franchise showed for my decision,” Wang wrote.
Wang signed a three-year US$2 million contract with the Hokkaido franchise in December 2018 after his promising start as a pro in Taiwan’s CPBL with the then-Lamigo Monkeys (now the Rakuten Monkeys) from 2015 to 2018.
The outfielder hit over .400 in 2016 and 2017, and he led the league with 178 hits, 31 home runs, 101 RBIs and a .407 batting average in 2017.
Wang has not approached that level of success in Japan, managing no better than a .255 batting average in any single season there.
He played with the big-league Hokkaido club from 2019, but was sent to the minors twice last year.
Wang was given a minor-league contract by the Hokkaido club in December last year. In 56 games in the minors this year, he hit .218 with 38 hits and seven home runs, before getting promoted to the Nippon Professional Baseball in late July, where he hit .238 and had one home run in 20 games.
Wang’s statement on Monday has sparked speculation over his future, with the Taiwan Steel Group Hawks considered his most likely next stop after the team acquired the right to negotiate with Wang in a one for fourtrade with the Rakuten Monkeys in August.
In a telephone phone interview, Hawks general manager Liu Dong-yang said the franchise would recruit Wang, hoping that the three-time CPBL All-Star — along with pitchers Wang I- cheng and Weng Wei-chun, and outfielder Lan Yin-lun — would improve the team’s chemistry.
Wang’s agent, Chen Te-lun, confirmed that his client had decided to leave the Hokkaido club, but did not say where he would be playing next year.
We “are keeping our options open. The Hawks have the negotiation rights,” Chen said.
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