A's To Sign Pan?

The Oakland A's are rumored to have reached an agreement with IF Chih-Fang Pan, a fundamentally sound, undersized second baseman (without power - he did hit the only HR in the 2008 HS wood bat tourney, albeit it was an inside-the-park job). The current Fubon Bull (graduate of Mei-Ho HS) stands around 5'11" and weighs ~ 163 pounds. The 19 year old's (DOB: 11/12/90 - B:L/T:R) signing bonus is likely around the $150 K mark. No other ML teams appeared to have bid on the IF. Pan would join Yung-Chi Chen in the A's farm system.

The Latest News...

Alright, I apologize for the lack of posts lately, but things have been really busy in my personal life (this means more infrequent postings). While I can't make any promises, I'll try and post when there's some newsworthy information (particularly amateur signings/prospect news).

The Man in Tainan does an excellent job with covering CPBL news/games, so I'll leave you guys in good hands on his site.

Ok, on to some recent and not so recent news coverage:

-The Reds released IF Yen-Wen Kuo

-The Indians released RHP Sung-Wei Tseng

-CMW's brother-in-law got into a fist fight and told the other party about his relationship with CMW (not too smart if you ask me)

-RHP Min-Tzu Chen had an outing ~ 2 weeks ago. 3 Mariners scouts were there to see him, however he topped out at only 88 mph. His agent's asking price is rumored to be in the $300 - 500 K range!

-Red Sox Pac Rim Director Jon Deeble and the Cincinnati Reds' Paul Pierson (Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting) recently visited Taiwan

-CMW and HC Kuo both have had setbacks

-Bulls RHP Ko-Chien Lin (arguably last year's top rookie hurler in the CPBL) underwent elbow surgery

-Recent vid of Yi-Hao Lin looking good in a nigun game (K'ing the side and topping out at 145 kph):


-CJ Lo was reassigned to minor league camp

-FT Ni started in his last outing

-A Kuo-Hui Lo sighting and an update on Chen-Chang Lee

CMW - Back in Action....

*CMW threw his first bullpen on Monday. The key phrase here is pain-free.




*Ku-Pao HS won the Taiwan Cup defeating Kao-Yuan 4-1 on Monday. Shi-Yuan HS earned third in the tourney.




*A select collegiate NT squad (under 26) will face an amateur Japanese baseball squad - the Ibaraki Golden Golds on March 20th. A few well of the more recognized names representing Taiwan include: Min-Tzu (Chih) Chen, Po-Ting Hsiao, Hung-Cheng Lai, and Wei-Chen Wang. The IGG will be in Taiwan from the 19th - 22nd of this month.




*For more scoop on CPBL news, check here.

Ricky Stone Update....

*Here's an update on Ricky Stone. Good to hear that he's doing ok now.




*As you all know by now, the Dodgers and a CPBL Select squad split a two game series (middle game was rained out).
The CPBL won game one 5-2 while the Dodgers took game three 11-1. Hu hit well in the series, while Kuo was shelved with elbow soreness.
Game 1 Box
Game 3 Box
Regular season MLB games in Taiwan?

Game 1 Highlights:


Game 3 Highlights:





*WY Chen got lit up in his last ST start on Sunday.


*Che-Hsuan Lin was optioned to minor league camp.


*CJ Lo was hit hard in his last outing Saturday.


*FT Ni tossed one scoreless inning Sunday.

CPBL All-Star Roster Set....

*In preparation for the upcoming series versus the Dodgers, the CPBL has set a 25 man roster to take on the ML squad. Check here for the roster. (C Feng-Min Chen will be replaced by teammate C Hung-Yu Lin)

HC Kuo could be the Dodgers starter for game 3. The 3 expected starters for the CPBL are Ying-Chieh Lin, Chien-Fu Yang, and Wei-Lun Pan.










*MLB ST:
3/8
Braves 12 - Tigers 4: FT Ni 1.2 IP, 3 R, 3 H, 1 K/BB
Red Sox 7 - Cardinals 6: CH Lin 1-1, GWRBI, BB (Recap)
Jays 4 - Astros 1: CJ Lo 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 2 BB's (Nice read on CJ Lo)
Giants 3 - Dodgers 2: CL Hu 0-1, CS





3/9
Red Sox 9 - Marlins 0: CH Lin 0-1
Rockies 12 - Dodgers 0: HC Kuo 1 IP, 0 R/H, 2 K's, 0 BB's





-CMW Update

3/8 Updates...

*CPBL exhibition matches:

3/4:

Lions 10 - Elephants 2
Bears 4 - Bulls 2

3/5:
Bears 5 - Elephants 2
Bulls 5 - Lions 0

3/6:
Bulls 3 - Elephants 0
Lions 4 - Bears 1

3/8:
Elephants 5 - Bears 4
Bulls 2 - Lions 0



MLB ST:
3/4:
Red Sox 2 - Twins 1: CH Lin 0-1

3/5:
Twins 5 - Red Sox 0: CH Lin 0-2
Tigers 17 - Astros 7: FT Ni 1 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 2 K's, 0 BB's
Dodgers 8 - White Sox 3: CL Hu 1-2, SB

3/6:
White Sox 8 - Dodgers 4: CL Hu 0-2
D Rays 6 - Red Sox 4: CH Lin 0-1, 2 BB's



NPB exhibition matches:
3/5:
Hawks 4 - Bay Stars 4: YH Yang 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K, 0 BB's

3/6:
Buffaloes 3 - Dragons 1: WY Chen L, 5 IP, 3 R - 2 ER, 2 HR's, 6 H, 2 K's, 0 BB's
Hawks 3 - Giants 1: YH Yang W, 0.1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 K/BB



Other:
*Wei-Lun Pan will be one of the starting pitchers in the 3 exhibition games against the Dodgers. The other 2 CPBL starters are still undetermined. One time Rakuten Eagles lefty Ying-Chieh Lin is clamoring to start game 1 against the Dodgers. The only thing is that he is topping out at 86 mph (in his last exhibition match).

*Lions RHP Yi-Chen Chen (started against the Bears on 3/6) was clocked at a high of 93 mph in his appearance.

*Taiwan Cup (HS):
3/6: Nan-Ying 2 - Shan-Hua 1, Ping-Zhen 7 - Hsin-She 2

*Red Sox farmhand Chia-Chu Chen had surgery on his hand.

*Former star Elephants CF/manager I (Yi) - Tseng Lin admitted his guilt to his role in fixing matches.

3/3 News...

*Che-Hsuan Lin had 2 hits and 2 RBI in today's game. Box


*FT Ni threw one scoreless inning yesterday, K'ing 2. Box


*CJ Lo is scheduled to pitch this Friday in the "B" game versus the Tigers.


*SB Hawk YH Yang threw a perfect inning against the Lions, K'ing the side in an exhibition game Wednesday.


*The Fighters beat the Tigers 6-3. WC Lin (T) was 0-4 while DK Yang (F) was 0-2.

Manny Coming to Formosa....

*The Dodgers released their roster for those traveling to Taiwan. Manny and Loney were the 2 biggest names alongside the two native sons.



*Great read on Hong-Chih Kuo, in the LA Times



*Another nice read on Che-Hsuan Lin - related to Lin's defensive prowess is a nice read from SI regarding the importance of preventing runs.



*The Elephants' Orlando Roman hit 156 kph (~ 97 mph) in his outing against the Taiwan Coop Bank squad.



*Former Lotte Marine Chuang will serve as the head coach for the Jiangsu (China) baseball squad.



*RHP KH Chang is training with the Sinon Bulls.

3/1 News Updates....

*Manny is a possible go for the trip to Taiwan. The Dodgers will now play 3 exhibition games in Taiwan.

Impressive stats for HC Kuo



*The La New Bears defeated a South Korean collegiate team 4-2 on 2/22. The Elephants lost 3 exhibition games to Chiayi University, Taiwan Coop Bank, & TSU.


*Bears lefty Si-Yo Wu was being investigated for his possible role in the gambling scandal. He admitted his guilt and was released by the Bears.


*The CPBL is seeking a 3 game series versus the KBO champs.


*NPB news on lefty ace Chen:
-Chen perfect through 5
-Chen throwing a helluva lotta pitches in ST


*The latest news has 8 MLB teams checking out righty Min-Tzu Chen:
At the invitation of his agent (Jack Fang of Rights Inc.), scouts from the Cubs, Mariners, Royals, Tigers, Braves, A's, Pirates, and the Red Sox went to Taichung to watch RHP Min-Tzu Chen pitch, including Royals' International Scouting Director Rene Francisco and Mariners' Pacific Rim Scout Pat Kelly. RHP Chen faced Elephants star OF/DH Cheng-Min Peng and got Peng to ground out. RHP Chen pitched 2 innings without giving up a hit and had 2 strikeouts, topping out at 92 mph. An interesting note is that the CTBA and Student Baseball Association allowed RHP Chen to participate in the tournament even though he has official agent representation.

Here's Chen's facebook page. The kid'll need to watch what he posts since you never know who (future employers?) may be perusing his page:
"... Yesterday I got drunk~ Drunk to the point that I went home without any clothes on~ Unbelievable~"

"... Drunk isn't the point~ The point is I was able to go home wearing only pants~ Unbelievable~"



*CJ Lo impressive


*Che-Hsuan Lin is in the starting lineup for the Red Sox's Wed. game versus Northeastern.


*Fu-Te Ni is scheduled to pitch tomorrow.