Indians sign Chun-Hsiu Chen....

The Cleveland Indians inked their second Taiwanese player in two years. Chun-Hsiu Chen is an 18 year old power hitting catching prospect - he is probably the best power prospect to sign out of Taiwan since Chin-Feng Chen. Chen stands 6'1" tall and weighs ~ 190 pounds. Read more about Chen here and see a video of him at the plate here. The youngster will join Sung-Wei Tseng, who had a nice first season in High A ball, in the organization. Chen is the 3rd member of the 2006 junior NT to sign with a ML club - after WW Lin and CH Lin.

Chen received a ~ $300K signing bonus from the Indians. *Added 9/27/07*

CT Junior NT Evokes Mercy Rule....

Amateur
Taiwan beat an overmatched Italian team 17-1 in 7 innings. The game was pretty much over in the 3rd inning, when Taiwan would score 7 runs in the inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead. Three Taiwanese pitchers combined to give up 4 hits and an unearned run. Chih-Lung Huang started the game, went 3 innings giving up 2 hits and an unearned run to go along with 4 K's and a walk. Reliever Hung-Cheng Lai pitched the next 2 scoreless innings. He K'd 2 and and allowed 2 hits. Yu-Hsun Chen succeeded Lai and was credited with the win, when he threw 2 scoreless/hitless innings, K'ing 5 and walking one. Just about everyone in the lineup got in on the hitting parade (14 hits). The kid who carried the ball club offensively was 3B Wei-Chih Chen who was 2-4, with a double, 3 runs scored, and 5 runs batted in. With the win, Taiwan is now in a 3 way tie with Canada and Mexico for first place in the group with a 2-0 record. Taiwan plays 0-2 Spain tomorrow. Surprisingly enough, the other 0-2 team in Taiwan's group play is the USA. The US struggled in it's second game versus Mexico.

Minors
J from MarinerMinors has brought to my attention that the Mariners have traded catcher Chao-Kuan Wu to the Cleveland Indians for future considerations. Wu has been a huge disappointment since his arrival 4 years ago. However, I can think of one good reason why the Indians wanted Wu: Sung-Wei Tseng
These 2 will probably end up being teammates next season on one of the Indians' "A" level affiliates.

Majors
It's early, but Kuo is up 1-0 in the bottom of the first inning against the Pirates.

An interesting article on how Wang matches up with the other AL playoff contenders.

Native American Apparel......

S.W. Tseng(L) C.E. Hong(R)

Well, here's our first good look at Hong (pictured along with Tseng), the recent signee for the Braves. The photos were taken during an official joint press announcement about their signings with ML clubs. Man, the Indians and Braves official color and mascot are just too eerily similar.

Breaking News: Sung-Wei Tseng Signs with Indians!

photos from goldpanners.com

The Cleveland Indians have signed 21 year old Taiwanese pitcher Sung-Wei Tseng. He will receive an estimated signing bonus of $375,000. Tseng, who's fastball has been clocked in the low to mid 90's, is currently on the NT touring the US right now. Tseng was being courted by teams in Japan, but will now get his chance to show his wares in the US.

Mystery kid......solved.....

I've been informed by my anonymous source that the mystery kid the Indians have been looking at is Cheng-Chan Lee. Born 10/21/86, the kid stands 5'11" and weighs 176 pounds. Lee is right-handed and has a side-arm throwing motion. His fastball maxes out around 91 mph. Lee was on the junior national team that competed in the 2004 "AAA" world championships. In an exhibition game against the US junior NT in August 2004, Lee pitched 3 innings and K'd 6 while giving up no hit and runs. During the AAA championships, Lee faced top notch competition: 1)against Japan: Lee started the game against Japanese phenom Yu Darvish, pitched 3.2 IP gave up 1 ER and K'd 2 and had a no decision
2)against the US: Lee came in relief and pitched 2.2 innings, struck out 4 with 0 earned runs
My source stated that the Indians offered Lee a signing bonus of $20,000. If the Indians want to get their foot in the doorway in Taiwan, they will need to throw some more money at the kid. That kind of offer will NOT get it done with Lee.

In a personal sidenote....My wife and I found out that we will be having a baby boy in February!!!! Can't wait to get the lil slugger a bat in his hands!!!!!