12/31/08

The Next Chien Ming Wang?

As you probably know, the Yanks' Chien Ming Wang is a national icon in Taiwan. I have a lot of friends from Taiwan and none of them are really baseball buffs. But, I've walked into my friend's room multiple times to see 7 of my Taiwanese friends watching MLB Gameday to see how their national hero is doing. Now, another Taiwanese pitcher has an offer to play proffesional baseball in America. Ni Fu-Te apparently has an offer from an East Coast team in which he would get a $150,000 bonus and a chance to start his American baseball career at triple A. I hope the Yanks made this offer, because regardless of whether or not Fu-Te becomes a consistent major leaguer, his signing with the Yanks would increase the magnitude of the Yankee fan-base in Taiwan. The Yanks have international agreements with the baseball league in China, as well as with the Yomiuri Giants in Japan, and becoming the main pursuer of Taiwanese talent would give them a nice standing in the Far East market for ballplayers.

3 comments:

J-Gao said...

I seriously doubt he'll come close to being CMW, but it would be a very good signing. He's inexpensive, and has some upside - although the most logical scenario would be as a lefty reliever. Either way, it's a low risk, medium-reward opportunity, and you can never have too many pitchers. You're correct on all accounts, perhaps the greatest prize of this signing will be its impact on a potential gold mine of talent.

Conor Cashel said...

Good point. Nothing wrong with an inexpensive guy with a (relatively) high ceiling. CMW wasn't supposed to be too too special, so maybe he will surprise us.

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