The Yankees Sign INF Fu-Lin Kuo.....

Well, it took a while, but the NY Yankees (local scout: Ken Su) finally got around to signing their second player out of Taiwan (CMW was their first and only signing back in 2000). 18 year old INF (played 3B in HS)Fu-Lin Kuo was inked to a ~$150 K signing bonus by the MLB World Champs. The Octagon client (rep: Kelvin Lee) is a former junior ('08) and youth ('06) NT member. He joins recent Cubs signee INF Ping-Chieh Chen as another player from HS powerhouse Nan-Ying to sign with a ML club.

Here's a detailed bio of Kuo that I posted back in September of '08.

Pics of Kuo from his HS days

*Edited

BayStars Sign Yi-Cheng Wang and Wen-Hao Cheng....

YC Wang

The Yokohama BayStars signed LHP Yi-Cheng Wang for a reported ~$208 K ($138.5 K signing bonus + $69.25 K yearly salary). Read more about Wang here.

YC Wang recently partook in a charity auction that assisted in aiding the recovery from the August typhoon disaster. The list of 15 baseball celebs that participated in the event read like a who's who of Taiwanese baseball stars who play overseas including but not limited to: Chien-Ming Wang, Hong-Chih Kuo, Wei-Yin Chen, Fu-Te Ni, Che-Hsuan Lin, Chin-Lung Hu, Chia-Jen Lo, Yung-Chi Chen.

WH Cheng

Yokohama was also reported to have signed RHP Wen-Hao Cheng. Cheng would receive a reported ~ $23 K a year as part of the deal. Read more about the former junior star here. Interestingly enough, Cheng and his agent denied his signing as reported by the Liberty Times.

The official press announcement for the signings is expected to be some time next week (December 4th).

Other News:

*CJ Lo was ranked the #5 prospect in the Astros' farm system by BA

*EY Lin Update

*In the Wood Bat Tourney, San-Hsin won 4-0 on Friday. San-Hsin appears to have another pro prospect on its pitching staff (three members of last year's pitching staff have already signed with ML clubs: Yao-Lin Wang, Tzu-An Wang, Hua-Wei Lo). Righty Kuo-Hua Lo came on in relief in Friday's game and was clocked at a high of 91 mph. Lo threw 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing no hits while K'ing 4 and walking one.

Lo also pitched in today's 3-2 loss to Cheng-Kung HS. His line: (5.2 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 6 K's, 0 BB's).

Chiayi HS won a 4-3 decision on Friday. Leading the way was RHP Yu-Fan Tsai. Tsai allowed 2 runs (1 earned) over 9 innings on 3 hits. He also K'd 13 while walking 6.

San-Hsin Earns First HS Tourney Championship.....

HS:
*San-Hsin defeated Ku-Pao 3-1 in the Care Cup HS championship game to earn its first ever HS tourney championship (San-Hsin first founded its baseball team in June of 2003). SP Ting-Hao Lin (W, 5 IP, 1 R) combined with ace Kuo-Hua Lo to shut down the potent Ku-Pao bats.

Cheng-Kung HS shut out Ping-Zhen HS 3-0 in the 3rd place game.

*Pei-Nan of Taitung County won the LL division of the Care Cup championship , defeating its opponent 18-3 4 inning affair in the championship game.

*Shun-Chung Yang of Da-De HS hit the first HR (1-2, 3 RBI) of the Wood Bat Tourney. He helped his team to a 8-1 win on the 23rd. Despite the victory, Da-De HS (1W - 2 L in the preliminary round) did not advance to the next stage (Round 1) of the tourney.

The 16 teams participating in the first round (11/24-11/29) include:

1)Kao-Yuan HS

2)Tainan Marine Vocational HS

3)Tung-Der HS

4)Chuen-Chow HS

5)San-Min HS

6)Hua-Te HS

7)Hualien PE HS

8)Tao-Yuan HS

9)Yi-Feng HS

10)San-Hsin HS

11)Hsin-She HS

12)Da-Li HS

13)Cheng-Kung HS

14)Tung-Shih HS

15)Chia-Yi HS

16)Shan-Hua HS

NPB:

Chih-Lung Huang press announcement pic

Huang's agent, Jerry Sung made a few interesting comments to the news press. He reported that Huang's highest MLB offer was $175 K (news reports are now stating that CL Huang received an initial ~ $226K signing bonus from the Giants). Sung also stated that Huang is only ~ 80% recovered from a previous injury resulting in his fb losing a few ticks (~90 mph).

News Briefs...

MLB:
Hu and Kuo working with the kids back home.

Association Cup:
San-Hsin and Ku-Pao will play in the (HS) championship game.

Kueishan Elementary School (finished 2nd at the LLWS), is participating at the LL level in the tourney.

MILB:

Che-Hsuan Lin getting some love from Project Prospect - ranking him as the 6th best CF prospect in all of MILB.

NPB:
Yen-Feng Lin had his tryout with the BayStars in Japan.

Update on WY Chen

News and Updates...

Youth NT:

Chih-Wei Hu

A youth NT (majority of the kids are from Ping-Zhen jr HS in Taoyuan) representing Taiwan swept a 3 game set against a youth all-star squad from Japan.

The first game took place on the 19th. SP Chih-Wei Hu ('09 WYC/World Youth Championships NT, W, 7 IP, 0 R, 3 H, 4 K's) and reliever Chun-Yen Wang combined on a 4 hit shutout as Taiwan won 4-0 in game 1.

Game 2 took place on the 20th. Taiwan won 14-2. SP Keng-Sheng Lee allowed 1 R on 2 H over 5 IP to pick up the W.

Game 3 was played on Saturday. The NT rallied for a 10-9 win.




Youth NT Roster:
1)RHP Keng-Sheng Lee ('09 WYC NT)
2)C Chin-Lung Chang ('09 WYC NT)
3)IF Chi-Yang Peng
4)IF Yu-Hung Hsiao
5)IF Tsung-Hsien Lee
6)IF Lu-An Chang (related to Chung-Shou Yang, the 15 year old is heading to Fukuoka, Japan next year for school )
7)OF Shao-Wei Chen (09 JBL NT - star of the JBL squad)
8)OF Yu-Ping Sen (09 JBL NT - has run a 23.23 200 M time)
9)OF Chih-Feng Huang
10)RHP Chun-Yen Wang
11)LHP Jung-Hung Sen
12)RHP Chia-Ming Cheng
13)RHP Chih-Chieh Su
14)RHP Tsai-Chuan Hsu (09 JBL NT)
15)RHP Chih-Wei Hsu ('09 WYC NT)
16)OF Yen-Chang Lee
17)C Kui-Hung Kao
18)RHP Yu-Hsiang Keng (09 JBL NT)









Care Cup (Kuan-Huai/Aboriginal Tourney):
San-Hsin RHP Kuo-Hua Lo ('09 junior NT) cracked the first HR in the tourney. He also was clocked at a high of 92 mph. San-Hsin won that game 7-2. 36 teams are competing in the tourney which is going on simultaneously with the preliminary rounds of the Wood Bat Tourney.













Other:
*Although Chih-Lung Huang signed an ikusei contract for $100 K, he has some bonus incentives in his clause that would pay him up to 50 million yen over 2 years should he make it to the big league club. His contract was negotiated between the "Giants" (Yomiuri and U.S. Giants).

*CMW Update

Huang to the Giants.....

The Yomiuri Giants inked RHP Chih-Lung Huang to an ikusei contract for ~ $100 K.

Link 1

Link 2 (Japanese)

There was speculation earlier last month that Huang was close to a deal with a pro team. It looks like Huang got his wish to play in Japan and the Giants nabbed a kid that they had been following for a while.

Read more about Huang in these archived files.

Vitals:

DOB: 2/22/89

H: 5'9"

W: 165

B:R/T:R

Peak Velocity: 95 mph

Other:
*The latest on the CPBL scandal: this time involving the La New Bears. (Chih-Tsung Chiang is Red Sox minor leaguer Chih-Hsien Chiang's older bro)

Link 1

Link 2

*The HBT Wood Bat Tourney is underway. Preliminary matches are going on right now. I'll have more coverage as the tourney advances to the later stages.

News and Notes...

Association Cup:
The Taoyuan County Aerotropolis baseball team won the recently completed Association Cup. TYC defeated Leader University 10-0 in the championship game.

TYC had the definitive experience edge with a roster full of former CPBL players (including fielders Ming-Jen Kuo/T-Rex, Chang-Long Yeh/Whales, Po-Jen Yang/Elephants, Chun-Chiang Kao/Whales, Yung-Che Chen/Whales, Pai-Hung Wu/Bulls, Hsun-Wei Lin/Elephants-Bulls, Kuan-Wei Lee/T-Rex.)

The WP in the championship game and tourney MVP - Hsien-Chih Chang (14.2 scoreless innings in the tourney & formerly of the T-Rex) combined with Chang-Wei Tu (formerly of the CT Whales) on the 4 hit shutout. The second place finish was Leader U's best showing ever in the tourney.

The Taipei County - Banqiao team defeated the MeiFu Giants (Chinese Culture U.) 2-1 in the consolation game.

2 million NT was awarded to the tourney's champs.





NPB:
Nice read on WY Chen

Chung-Shou Yang of the Fighters, will be known as Tai-Kang Yang going forward

As expected, Yi-Hao Lin was re-signed to an ikusei contract by the Giants

The Asia Series will return next year. Home field advantage for the CPBL champs!

More Misc. News....

*The Dodgers are coming to Tainan, bringing back native sons HC Kuo and CL Hu to their old stomping grounds at Nan-Ying HS. Kuo returned home Wednesday.

*The Yankees will also be sending a catching coach out to do a camp in Taitung on the 19th. AIT (American Institute in Taiwan) is sponsoring the clinic.

*The Cleveland Indians made several moves in the Pac-Rim, firing Jason Lee - their Pac-Rim scout responsible for signing the 3 current Taiwanese kids in the system. SW Tseng and CH Chen had disappointing seasons (although Chen did flash potential in the Fall Instructional League) while CC Lee had a good first year debut in the US. A part time scout (perhaps current translator - Jason Lin?) will be hired to cover Taiwan.

*NPB News: Out of the Yokohama camp - LHP HC Lai will likely be offered an ikusei player contract - which Lai says that if that's the case then he'll turn down the offer (because of his age - 22 already) RHP WH Cheng and LHP KY Chen (who did not go to Japan - Yu-Ching Lin went in his place) both stated that they would consider accepting an ikusei contract if offered.

Joining RHP YF Lin (see below) in Yokohama will be former President Lions RHP Wei-Ming Chu (both will try out for the team) while lefty YC Wang continues to garner the most interest from the BayStars.

*A few big names are participating in the current collegiate tourney (the Association Cup) - former Phillies farmhand YF Lin has been clocked at 92 mph in a recent game. Former White Sox minor leaguer PY Lin threw well in his showdown with Chih-Lung Huang (was in the Yomiuri Giants camp not too long ago) yesterday. Huang gave up 4 runs (3 ER) in 2.2 IP.

*Some good news: Taiwan's Dept. of Education has decided that it will increase funding for student baseball.

*CMW Update
-Updated/Edited

News on A Few Lins.......

*Former Phillies farmhand Yen-Feng Lin will tryout with the Yokohama BayStars.

*The Red Sox released RHP Wang-Yi Lin.

*Hanshin Tigers: Kai-Wen Cheng will get a hefty increase in his 2010 salary (16 m yen) while YC Hsiao will still make 13 m yen next year.

*CMW's Future: Up in the Air

BayStars to Sign a Lefty?

NPB:

La New lhp Yi-Cheng Wang is in the BayStars' fall camp (alongside 3 other Taiwanese pitchers). Apparently, the BayStars were impressed with what they saw and are interested in signing him.

Wang was a minor league player for the La New Bears this past season.

Here's his stats for this past season: 7 G, 1 W, 1 L, 5.93 ERA, 27.1 IP, 15 K's, 21 BB's

He was the 7th overall pick (2nd round) in the 2008 CPBL draft.

He was also a member of the NT that participated in this year's World Port Tournament, Asian Championships, & World Cup (listed as I-Cheng Wang).

Here's a brief scouting report on Wang (tops out at 91 mph/scroll to the bottom of the list).

Vitals:
DOB: 10/9/85

H: 6'3"

W: 163

HS Vid

Ku-Pao #1 Yet Again.....

A familiar scene - another Ku-Pao tourney championship

HS:
Continuing their winning ways on the HS circuit, Ku-Pao won the Elite Golden Dragon Cup, defeating Kao-Yuan 4-1 in the championship game. Leading the way for Ku-Pao were tourney MVP/top pitcher Ping-Hsueh Chen (started in the championship game, tossing 5 scoreless innings to pick up the W) and tourney co-HR leader Hung-Sheng Yang (cracked a solo HR in the championship game and had the 2nd highest BA in the tourney with a .467 average).

Nan-Ying earned third in the tourney by defeating Shi-Yuan 4-2 in the consolation game.

Tourney Awards:

Top Pitcher /MVP- Ping-Hsueh Chen (Ku-Pao)

HR King - Chin-De Chang (Gao-Nong: cracked a 2-run shot on 10/31 in his team's 10-6 loss to Tung-Shih HS) & Hung-Sheng Yang (Ku-Pao: both HR's actually left the field of play in this tourney)

Top 9:

P - Hung-Yi Chen (Shi-Yuan)

C - Wei-Chih Cheng (Shi-Yuan)

1B - Wei-Yu Lai (Nan-Ying)

2B - Hung-Sheng Yang (Ku-Pao)

3B - Rong(Jung)-Chin Hsieh (Nan-Ying) - former Ku-Pao ace Rong-Hao Hsieh's lil bro

SS - Chun-Kai Liu (Shi-Yuan)

OF - Lee-En Pi (Kao-Yuan) - on the '09 "AA" youth NT

OF - Rui(Jui)-Lin Chang (Ku-Pao)

OF - Chih-Yu Lin (Ku-Pao)

Next Gen......

Elite Golden Dragon Cup (HS):

Playing tomorrow (the 3rd) in the championship game of the inaugural Elite Golden Dragon Cup (HS competition) are traditional powerhouses Kao-Yuan and Ku-Pao. Kao-Yuan squeaked by Nan-Ying 6-5 in one semifinal while Ku-Pao shutout Shi-Yuan 5-0 in the other semi.

There's an interesting story in the Liberty Times about two young prospects on the Kao-Yuan squad. Their family names are Pan & Lo.

15 year old (DOB: 5/26/94) Wei-Cheng Pan is the younger brother of Lions star RHP Wei-Lun Pan. The RHP/1B stands in at 5'11.

WC Pan

His teammate is Kuo-Lin Lo, the younger brother (youngest of 4 bros) of Mariners farmhand Kuo-Hui Lo. Lo, 16 (DOB: 1/2/93), is the cleanup hitter on the squad. The 5'10" youngster earned All-Star honors as the top DH in this past year's Yu-Shan Cup.

KL Lo

Both youngsters aspire to play in the US when all is said and done. In fact, WC Pan's brother has already advised his younger brother to go overseas, should the opportunity arise - not a very strong endorsement for the CPBL from one of the league's top stars.

In the 3rd place game are HS perennial powers: Shi-Yuan and Nan-Ying.

The winner of the tourney will receive a Mizuno pitching machine.

Morning News Briefs....

NPB:
*Here's a link to an article with pics (in Japanese) of the 6 Taiwanese kids in camp with the Yomiuri Giants. RHP Yi-Hao Lin is still training there; the word is that the Giants will re-sign him, albeit at a lower salary.

*The Rakuten Eagles released P En-Yu Lin.

*The Yokohama Baystars are showing a lot of interest in LHP Hung-Cheng Lai (former '05 and '06 junior NT member). Lai, whose been clocked as high as 94 mph, is a good athlete - having run a 3.9 home to first time. Lai is in Yokohama alongside RHP's Yu-Ching Lin and Wen-Hao Cheng.