Taiwan catcher Lyle Lin has signed a contract with the Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan’s professional baseball league, becoming the third Taiwanese player on the Hokkaido-based team.
The 28-year-old Lin, who was released from the Oakland Athletics’ Double-A affiliate in July last year, had signed with a team in a US-based independent baseball league earlier this month before representing Taiwan at the World Baseball Classic.
However, the Nippon-Ham Fighters in a statement yesterday announced that they had bought out Lin’s contract and that he would join the team wearing No. 38.
Photo: CNA
Kida Masao, the team’s acting general manager, said that the club has watched Lin since inviting him for tryouts in the fall of last year and decided to sign him after seeing his solid performance at the WBC.
In a post on his Facebook page, Lin confirmed that he had signed with the Fighters and would soon join the team’s spring training.
He thanked the sport of baseball for taking him from Taiwan to the US, Canada, Australia and now Japan.
“I’ll continue to absorb knowledge and skills so that I can have the opportunity to give back to my home, Taiwan,” Lin wrote.
In signing with the Fighters, Lin is to join pitchers Gu Lin Ruei-yang and Sun Yi-lei as the team’s third Taiwanese player.
The terms of his contract have not been made public.
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