Tuesday News...

CPBL:
Elephants star pitcher Yu-Cheng Liao was rewarded with a 100% salary increase after having a career year. Liao will make 160 K NT/month in 2009, making him the 4th highest player on the team.

Chin-Hui Tsao's agent is trying to negotiate a performance bonus laden contract (up to 3 million NT if all performance expectations are met) that the Elephants are deeming too high in price. The two parties have settled on a monthly salary (350 K NT/month).

The Bears are also trying to come to an agreement with draft pick Po-Hsuan Keng's agent.

Another Bears pick - OF Chih-Yao Chan is still waiting to hear back from MLB teams (reportedly 3 teams). He has said that the current offers are too low; his agent is trying to persuade him not to join the CPBL right away, but rather wait & try again next year.


NPB:
Yi-Jie Hsiao's collegiate coach in Japan is under investigation for a health insurance scam. The coach used many of his players' names including Hsiao's. The Hanshin Tigers deemed Hsiao innocent since he unwittingly signed the medical papers for his coach whom he trusted.

WBC Provisional Roster Finalized.....

PT Hsiao

WBC officials granted the NT an additional player to fill Chung-Shou Yang's late departure. The player filling Yang's spot is IF Po-Ting Hsiao, cousin of YJ Hsiao.

Hsiao Profile

WBC NT 45 man roster (- CS Yang, + PT Hsiao)

Rosters of other participating countries

MLK Day Tidbits.....

*The reason for why Dragon Lo doesn't need an agent is because he has Ming (Kuo) Harbor (the Rockies director of Pac-Rim Operations) taking care of things an agent would normally handle for him. There are rumors that she advised him against signing with other agents.



*MLBTW.net interviews Mike Hazen, the Red Sox director of player development. Read more on CC Chen, WY Lin, CH Lin, and CH Chiang here. (Babelfish Link)



*Video of Ni's press conference regarding his signing:




* The Sinon Bulls have released 32 year old IF/OF Chia-Hao Chang. He was a member of the 2006 WBC NT:

Promising Youngster Not Available for the WBC....

WBC:
The NT lost a potential member when Nippon Ham Fighter IF Chung-Shou Yang withdrew his name from consideration for the team. Coach Yeh will not be able to add a replacement for Yang and will only be able to select from the 44 remaining players to field his final roster.

The 44 man roster will be officially announced on the 19th along with the provisional rosters of all of the other participating countries.




MILB:
Rockies farmhand Ching-Lung Lo is a bit different from the rest of the players in the US. Lo is the only player currently without a rep (sports agent). Should he get the call to the majors, Lo will then seek assistance from an agent at that time.



CPBL:
The Bears and one of their top picks -RHP Po-Hsuan Keng are still negotiating a contract - the difference between the two sides is about 50 K NT/month (Bears offered 150 K NT/mo while Keng is seeking 200 K NT/mo).
The Bears other top pick OF Chih-Yao Chan, who is waiting to hear back from teams overseas, should have an answer for the team by the 20th of this month.

In a push to sign 2007 top pick Yi-Chuan Lin, the Sinon Bulls have agreed to let Lin play in the WBC even if he comes to an agreement with the team before then. Bulls 2008 pick Chien-Ming Chiang is also being allowed by the team to go to Australia next month (Lin was given the green light as well). The Bulls are one of two teams (along with the Bears) who have not allowed their players to participate in the WBC.

Lions Hand Kao Fat Contract....

CPBL:
Lions 1B Kuo-Ching Kao agreed to a 2 year deal with the President Lions worth 350 K NT/month in 2009, making him one of the league's highest paid players.


MLB:
Another good read on Ni.

The Land Down Under....

WBC:
The NT will be heading to Australia on Feb. 7th and will stay there till the 20th. On the 21st of Feb., coach Yeh and staff are expected to announce the final 28 man roster for the WBC.

27 of the 45 players selected for the preliminary NT will be heading to Australia. Those 27 are:

1)P Chi-Hung Cheng
2)P Chen-Chang Lee
3)P Sung-Wei Tseng
4)P Hong-Wen Chen
5)P Yu-Cheng Liao
6)P Kai-Wen Cheng
7)P Yu-Chi Hsiao
8)P Pai(Po)-Yu Lin
9)P Cheng-Lung Lo
10)P Chia-Chun Tang
11)P Po-Hsuan Keng
12)P Chien-Ming Chiang

13)C Cheng-Da Wu
14)C Yi-Feng Kuo
15)C Kun-Sheng Lin

16)IF Chih-Hsien Chiang
17)IF Yen-Wen Kuo
18)IF Tu-Hsuan Lee
19)IF Sheng-Wei Wang
20)IF Han Lin
21)IF Chih-Hsiang Huang
22)IF Yi-Chuan Lin

23)OF Che-Hsuan Lin
24)OF Chih-Yao Chan
25)OF Ssu-Chi Chou
26)OF Chuan-Chia Wang
27)OF Ying-Chieh Liao



CPBL:
Although no agreement has yet been reached between Tsao's reps and the Elephants, there is a good chance that Tsao will stay in Taiwan this year. With the stipulation from the Elephants that Tsao's monthly salary would not surpass Chia Chia's 400 K NT/month deal, Tsao would likely receive roughly ~ 350 K NT/month if he chooses to sign with the Elephants.



Other:

Former Bull: CH Chang

One player has been selected by a Japanese independent league (Shikoku-Kyushu Island League) after the tryout held in December. 24 year old catcher Cheng-Hsien Chang was chosen by the Kagawa Olive Guyners. He will join fellow Taiwanese players - Yao-Hua Yang (scroll down to the bottom - last player listed on the page) (with the Fukuoka Red Warblers) and Cheng-Da Wu (Kishu Rangers in the Kansai Independent League) in the Japanese independent leagues. Yang is the older brother of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks IF Chung-Shou Yang.

The S-K Island League was respectful of the Taiwanese players who participated in the tryout but yet were selected in the CPBL "special draft", by not selecting those players. Some of those players included Wei-Ming Chu (Lions), Yu-Chan Liu (Elephants), Chao-Hao Tseng (Bears), Yi-Wei Lee (Bulls), & Ssu-Chi Chou (Elephants).

WBC NT Roster Move....

The Astros have had a change of heart and are allowing Chia-Jen Lo to participate in the WBC. Lo will fill slugger Chia-Hsien Hsieh's spot on the 45 man preliminary NT.

Following the WBC, two Red Sox farmhands will be making the move up the ladder:
Che-Hsuan Lin is slated to start the season in A+ ball (Salem) while Chih-Hsien Chiang will begin in AA (Portland).
RSP.com is also projecting Chia-Chu Chen and Wang-Yi Lin to begin the year in A ss ball (Lowell).

Ni in his Tigers Digs.....

Although nothing official has been released, the Liberty Times and Apple Daily have put up an estimate of what Ni received: a ~ $175 K signing bonus with an annual salary of $60 K. The amount of the signing bonus was not released per Ni's request.



OTHER:
The CPBL is getting some government assistance in upgrading the farm system for the 4 remaining teams.

The IBAF has ranked Taiwan in the top 5 of the world. The rankings are based on the overall strength of the country's baseball programs from top to bottom - beginning with the youth NT and ascending all the way up to the senior NT.
*UPDATED

1/13 Headlines.....

CPBL:
Si-Yo Wu has rejoined the La New Bears. He will make 200 K NT (~$6 K USD) a month. He will bolster a pitching staff that includes Chih-Chia Chang, Yu-Wei Hsu, Wen-Hsiung Hsu, and Ying-Feng Tsai.


MLB:
Ni is officially a Tiger. He will report to the US in mid February to attend ST. MLB link

Tim Ireland, the former TML manager (with the Gida), has been hired as the Devil Rays Pac-Rim scouting coordinator and is making the rounds to high schools in Taiwan. He is also making an appearance on the Formosa TV network this week. He was responsible for the biggest signing in Taiwan's history when (as the Pac-Rim Scouting Coordinator for the Rockies) he helped the Colorado Rockies ink Chin-Hui Tsao for $2.2 million in 1999.


NT:
The Bulls have also recommended that lefty Ying-Chieh Lin withdraw his name from NT considerations, bringing the former 48-man preliminary roster number down to 40.
So with the 19th deadline to settle on a 45 man preliminary roster for the WBC looming, coach Yeh and staff have added 5 additional player to essentially finalize the 45 man preliminary NT roster. The 5 new additions are:

1)P Chi-Hung Cheng (Pirates)
2)P Chia-Chun Tang (amateur)
3)P Cheng-Lung Lo (amateur)
4)OF Ying-Chieh Liao (no affiliation)
5)OF Chuan-Chia Wang (no affiliation)

Aside from WL Pan and FH Liu, the Lions have agreed to let their other players be available for the NT. However, the Lions players will not be available to go to Australia - a key time for coach Yeh and his staff to make decisions on who will make the final cut.

WBC News: From Bad to Worse......

WBC:
No CMW, CFC, WY Chen, YC Chen, EY Lin, etc. leaves a gaping hole in the national team's roster. The NT will now also be without the services of Hong-Chih Kuo and Chin-Lung Hu. Astros farmhand Chia-Jen Lo will also not be available for the WBC while the President Lions are requesting that P Wei-Lun Pan and OF Fu-Hao Liu be removed from the preliminary NT roster. So of the 48 players selected to the preliminary NT roster only 41 names remain.

An iota of good news? The newest member of a ML franchise - Fu-Te Ni will be allowed by the Tigers to participate in the WBC.

Hanshin Tigers 2008 first round pick YJ Hsiao will participate in the exhibition games going on in Australia. He hopes to match up against Ichiro in the WBC.

The CTBA will file a complaint to MLB regarding the fact that many teams refused to let their Taiwanese players participate in this tourney.

Pity coach Yeh for having his hands tied regarding the available talent pool for the WBC.



Other:
ChiayiHS seniors LHP Kuan-Ru(Ju) Chen and RHP/INF Hsin-Hao Huang will go to Japan for college (a division II college in Osaka). Several coaches/recruiters from Japan are currently in Taiwan recruiting/scouting graduating HS & junior HS players to get them to play baseball & attend school in Japan.

The Brother Elephants are giving Chin-Hui Tsao until the 20th of this month to decide if he will join the team that drafted him.

The NYY coaches have noted that the "catchers are not good defensively". The coaches were also pleasantly surprised by the size and potential of some of the kids - i.e. Nan-Ying P Chia-Hao Sung (6'1") and Ku-Pao P Shao-Ching Chiang (6'2") were both clocked at 85 mph.

CMW's charitable ways.

Top Two Batsmen (in the CPBL) Gettin' Paid......

CPBL:
CFC received a new 3 year deal worth ~ 10 million (10,010,000) NT a year (~$301 K USD), making him still the CPBL's highest paid player. CFC agreed to waive his third year salary should the Bears or the league find itself in a financial bind.

Chia Chia received a 25% increase in his annual salary and will make ~$145 K USD (4.8 million NT) in 2009; Chia Chia is the second highest paid non-pitcher in the league (Lions RHP Wei-Lun Pan is the second highest paid player in the league - he'll make 500 K NT/month (6 million NT/year) in 2009.


WBC:
Tough break for the NT: potential staff ace Wei-Yin Chen will not be participating in the WBC. Despite being selected to the preliminary WBC NT roster, Chen cited last season's struggles in the NPB after the Beijing Olympics as the reason for withdrawing his name from consideration. Another lefty, Si-Yo Wu has also declined to participate in the WBC.


Other:
The junior HS tourney: the Kang-Tu Cup has kicked off.

At the Yankees clinic, the NYY coaches said that the Taiwanese players are being overtrained (pitchers jog for an hour and throw 120 pitch bullpen sessions). A major disappointment in the camp: not many Taiwanese HS coaches have attended the camp.

Fly in the Spider Web: Baseball Fly is back at it again. The latest post calls BS on agent Jerry Sung regarding his client Chih-Lung Huang. Basically the article says that the agent reported that Huang turned down a $150 K offer from the Texas Rangers in 2007 and then a $125 K offer from the same team last year. Baseball Fly reported that Jim Colburn (the Texas Rangers Director of Pac-Rim Operations in 2007) stated that Chih-Lung Huang was only offered $50 K in 2007.

Fu-Te Ni to Set a Precedent....

.....As the first CPBL player to sign with a MLB team. In the past, successful CPBL players have made the jump to Japan - Ming-Chieh Hsu, Chun-Yang Tsao, Ying-Chieh Lin, En-Yu Lin, and Wen-Bin Chen are a few of the players who played in the NPB after starting their careers in the CPBL.

The Detroit Tigers signed former Chinatrust Whales LHP Fu-Te Ni, according to UDN reports. Terms of the deal have not been disclosed, although there has been some speculation regarding what Ni was offered. Ni, considered the top lefty in the CPBL, was making roughly $3,600/month this past season.......a tough break for the Brother Elephants who've been hit with a case of deja vu - remember TJ Yeh?
*edited

Here's an English bio on Ni. In 2008 CPBL play, the two-year pro had 5 wins and 12 losses to go with a 3.34 ERA over 145.1 IP. He led the league in K's with 132 and allowed 35 BB's. Ni throws comfortably in the mid to upper 80's (he's topped out at 93 mph) and throws a slider, curve, changeup, and forkball.

Ni's website/album

Vid of Ni:


Other Vids: 1 2

NYY in Taiwan Followup....

*Coverage of the Yankees clinic in Taiwan - Pat McMahon putting in his 2 cents (pitching mechanics and training methods) (translating tool needed).

In an interesting tidbit, the NYY scouts/coaches chose to skip all of the pitchers with side-arm/submarine style deliveries.



More pics from the event.


*CPBL News:
Po-Hsuan Keng's salary is likely to be around 100 K NT/month.
OF Chih-Yao Chan is still waiting to hear back from MLB teams, his reported asking price is $250 K!

Roll Call.....

Participants (All kids are US equivalent HS sophomores or juniors) in the clinic put on by the Yankees:

1)Chi-Ming Deng C - Taitung PE HS
2)Chi-Chie Deng P - Taitung PE HS
3)Hong-Ru(Ju) Huang P - Taitung PE HS
4)Cheng-Kang Lu C - Tainan Marine Vocational HS
5)Yu-Tong Wang P - Tainan Marine Vocational HS
6)Han-Sheng Wang P - Tainan Marine Vocational HS
7)Shun-Yi Chen P - Xiu-Feng HS
8)Po-Yun Lin P - Xiu-Feng HS
9)Chi-Lung Hong C - Xiu-Feng HS
10)Lee-Chi Lin P - Shan-Hua HS
11)Chi-Hsuan Lin P - Shan-Hua HS
12)Wei-Ting Lai P - Ping-Tung HS
13)Ching-An Chang P - Ping-Tung HS
14)Kuan-Yi Wu C - Ping-Tung HS
15)Rui(Jui)-Hong Hsieh P - Yi-Feng HS
16)En-Hui Ma P - Yi-Feng HS
17)Chun-Yan Yu C - Yi-Feng HS
18)Chi-Ying Lai P - Qiang-Shu HS
19)Che-Chang Liu P - Qiang-Shu HS
20)Pai-Yi Wu C - Qiang-Shu HS
21)Chie-Chen Chu P - Cheng-Kung HS
22)Chun-Hua Chou P - Cheng-Kung HS
23)Che-Chi Huang P - Cheng-Kung HS
24)Si-Wei Lin P - Da-Cheng HS
25)Sheng-Yang Peng P - Da-Cheng HS
26)Wei-Tsung Su P - Da-Cheng HS
27)Pai-Hong Lee P - Shi-Yuan HS
28)Chiung-Heng Yeh P - Shi-Yuan HS
29)Yu-Shu Cheng C - Shi-Yuan HS
30)Chi-Hao Lin P - San-Min HS
31)Yi-Hsiang Lin P - San-Min HS
32)Ting-Lun Chang C - San-Min HS
33)Che-Wei Kao P - Gao-Nong HS
34)Cheng-Ru(Ju) Hsieh P - Gao-Nong HS
35)Yan-Lin Chen P - Gao-Nong HS
36)Wei-Chi Lin P - Ku-Pao HS
37)Shao-Ching Chiang P - Ku-Pao HS
38)Chi-Yu Lin P - Ku-Pao HS
39)Wei-En Sun P - Hualien PE HS
40)Chun-Chie Hsieh P - Hualien PE HS
41)Rui(Jui)-Yu Tseng C - Hualien PE HS
42)Ying-Hao Chuang C - Da-Li HS
43)Hong-Yeh Wang P - Da-Li HS
44)Chung-En Hsu P - Da-Li HS
45)Yu-Chan Huang C - Chang-Yi HS
46)Che-Sheng Hsu P - Chang-Yi HS
47)Yu-Hsiang Chou P - Chang-Yi HS
48)Chia-Hao Sung P - Nan-Ying HS
49)Tsung-Yi Chou P - Nan-Ying HS
50)Tien-Ting Lee P - Nan-Ying HS
51)Shi-Feng Hong P - Yang-Der HS
52)Ching-Hsuan Hsu P - Yang-Der HS
53)Pi-Lun Tsai C - Yang-Der HS

The Yankees, courtesy of the CTBA, get an opportunity to check out some of the top young pitchers out there in Taiwan all in one scoop.
Let's hope that the amateur talent pool improves as Rene Gayo in a recent interview with MLBTW.net said that he saw no players (he was at the 2008 HS Wood Bat Tourney) with the ability to reach the major leagues - no major league qualif(t)y player.

WBC NT Preliminary Roster....

Pitchers (22):
1)Hong-Chih Kuo (Dodgers)
2)Ching-Lung Lo (Rockies)
3)Chen-Chang Lee (Indians)
4)Sung-Wei Tseng (Indians)
5)Chia-Jen Lo (Astros)
6)Hong-Wen Chen (Cubs)
7)Wei-Yin Chen (Dragons)
8)Yi-Jie Hsiao (H. Tigers)
9)Yu-Cheng Liao (Elephants)
10)Chin-Hui Tsao (drafted by Elephants)
11)Fu-Te Ni (drafted by the Elephants)
12)Wei-Lun Pan (Lions)
13)Yueh-Ping Lin (Lions)
14)Wei-Hua Lee (Lions)
15)Po-Hsuan Keng (drafted by Bears)
16)Ko-Chien Lin (drafted by Bulls)
17)Chien-Ming Chiang (drafted by Bulls)
18)Ying-Chieh Lin (drafted by Bulls)
19)Kai-Wen Cheng (amateur)
20)Yu-Chi Hsiao (amateur)
21)Pai-Yu Lin (amateur)
22)Si-Yo Wu (no affiliation)

Catchers (4):
1)Cheng-Da Wu (K. Rangers)
2)Chih-Kang Kao (Lions)
3)Yi-Feng Kuo (Elephants)
4)Kun-Seng Lin (no affiliation)

Infielders (12):
1)Chin-Lung Hu (Dodgers)
2)Chih-Hsien Chiang (Red Sox)
3)Yen-Wen Kuo (Reds)
4)Chung-Shou Yang (Fighters)
5)Tu-Hsuan Lee (Hawks)
6)Cheng-Min Peng (Elephants)
7)Sheng-Wei Wang (Elephants)
8)Chih-Hsiang Huang (drafted by Elephants)
9)Kuo-Ching Kao (Lions)
10)Han Lin (amateur)
11)Chia-Hsien Hsieh (drafted by Bulls)
12)Yi-Chuan Lin (amateur)

Outfielders (10):
1)Che-Hsuan Lin (Red Sox)
2)Kuo-Hui Lo (Mariners)
3)Wei-Chu Lin (H. Tigers)
4)Cheng-Wei Huang (Elephants)
5)Chih-Yuan Chen (Elephants)
6)Ssu-Chi Chou (drafted by Elephants)
7)Wu-Hsiung Pan (Lions)
8)Fu-Hao Liu (Lions)
9) Tai-Chi Kuo (Lions)
10)Chih-Yao Chan (drafted by Bears)

*There are no current La New Bears or Sinon Bulls players including: OF/DH CFC, SS Chih-Sheng Lin, P Yu-Wei Hsu, P Wen-Hsiung Hsu, C Feng-Min Chen, IF Chih-Wei Shih, IF Tai-Shan Chang (Not available for the WBC secondary to banned substance use), C Chun-Chang Yeh, P Chien-Fu Yang, OF Chien-Ming Chang.

*Other key unavailable players: P CMW, IF Yung-Chi Chen, P En-Yu Lin

*The team will train in Australia in early February.

Mutually Beneficial...........

*The Yankees are sending 5 members of its staff to Taiwan to conduct a clinic with some of the top young talent on the island. This will take place Jan. 7th - 11th.
Read more here.


*More pics from Vincent covering the pitching mechanics of two pitchers from the LA 5:

Chia-Rui Mai

Wan-Lin Tsai