Prospect Tidbits

*RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen has reported to the Indians camp and has resumed throwing.

*RHP Chih-Wei Hu was offered around $200 K by the Cubs and Twins.   There are rumors that the deal was sweetened and Hu may have signed.

*With July's end around the corner, amateur baseball will soon be in full-tilt.

-Reps for the LLWS

-News on the BFA U-12 National Team

-Bracket for the Bronco League World Series/News on A-P championship play

-The A-P champs will be determined in South Korea with the winner heading on to the Pony League World Series

-The tourney winner in Taiwan will play in the Palomino World Series

-Taiwan will also send a rep to the Junior League World Series/ News on A-P championship play

-The junior National Team will also attempt to defend its title at the 2012 U-18 World Baseball Classic

-A youth National Team will play in Mexico in the 2012 World Cup and also the BFA championships.

Ping-Hsueh Chen & the Indians

The Cleveland Indians continue to make their mark in Taiwan, this time reaching an agreement with RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen for roughly $60 K.  Chen is thought to have been seeking much more.   He has a close relationship with Octagon. 

Vitals:
DOB 7/8/94
H: 187 cm
W: 92 kg
B:R
T:R

-Topped out at 146 kph
-On the '09 Youth NT; '10 Junior NT


To watch a video of Chen, see more at this previous link.

Link to previous blog entries on PH Chen.

Linsanity 2.0!

Tzu-Wei Lin

(2010 IBAF World Junior Championship MVP & Junior Athlete of the Year)

Ok, the latest news on IF Tzu-Wei Lin is that multiple MLB teams are after the kid, driving up his value.   The latest rumor is that the current highest offer is around $2 million!  If this holds true, this would put him in the same ball park as Chin-Hui Tsao ($2.2 million '99) and Chien-Ming Wang ($1.9 million '00).

The Yankees, who thought they had Lin locked up at 16 years of age, have taken a rather low key approach during this process.  However, as Lin approaches graduation, the Yankees are getting aggressive after Lin.   The Yankees' scout in Taiwan, Ken Su informed the Taiwanese media that the Yankees are still very interested in Lin.  "For sure we will make an offer that is higher than the current offers to get him to join the Yankees."  (UDN)     "Our organization has given instructions to get SS Lin at any cost." (Apple Daily News).
Lin's HS Head Coach Lee has said  "It's true that there are many teams after Lin, but most likely he'll go to the Yankees."

MLB.com has ranked Lin in their top 20 (#18) international prospects for 2012.    Based on the most current rumors of his $2 million offer and the fact that he is more polished and fundamentally sound than most of the kids on that list, Lin easily should be in the top 5 list.   Lin also does have some power; he's hit home runs in international tourneys utilizing a wood bat.  He projects to have gap power further on down the road. 

Speaking of Linsanity, everyone catch Che-Hsuan Lin's beauty of a catch as the Red Sox RF the other night?   The kid just needs some more playing time to show what he can do in the field.


*Congrats to CMW on his first W of the season. 

*WY Chen looks to get back on track tomorrow night against the Royals.

*In other amateur news:

RHP Chih-Wei Hu-- The A's, Cubs, & Twins are all after him.

RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen--The Yankees met with him and are rumored to have offered $30 K.

HS Top Gun Vids

Here's a couple of vids of some of the tops HS pitchers in Taiwan.

*Wei-Chieh Huang is an 18 year old HS RHP.   Playing on the same HS team as star amateur Tzu-Wei Lin at Kao-Yuan HS, has also allowed Huang to garner the attention of 3-4 ML teams.   Huang has been clocked at a high of 145 kph.    (H:  181 cm/  W:   71 kg)




*Ren-He Tseng, the hard-throwing RHP from San-Min HS, is seen hitting 150 kph in the vid seen below  (he also faced Tzu-Wei Lin #17 and gave up a single in the vid).   Tseng turns 18 in October.    (H:   184 cm/ W:  85 kg)





*Here's a vid of Shi-Yuan righty Chih-Wei Hu.   Hu topped out at 150 kph in this vid.    (18 y.o./H:  184 cm/W:   96 kg)





*Ku-Pao ace Ping-Hsueh Chen topped out at 145 kph here.  (17 y.o./H:  187 cm/W:  92 kg)

The Million Dollar Man?

*There is speculation that Kao-Yuan IF Tzu-Wei Lin is set to receive the highest signing bonus for an amateur non-pitcher from the island.      The toolsy Lin should garner a seven figure signing bonus as he is reportedly receiving serious interest from the Rangers, Yankees, Indians, Red Sox, Twins, Pirates, A's, Padres, and Softbank Hawks (NPB).   He's eligible to sign upon the completion of his HS career in a matter of months.

CFC received $680,000 back in 1999 with the Dodgers.

If and when Lin signs, he'll be able to live down this potential blunder made back in 2010.






*There are rumors that the A's reportedly made an offer to Ku-Pao RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen.






*Remember the 2009 Little League World Series?  
Well, the star player from that Taiwanese team, Wen-Hua Sung is on all scouts' radars with his impressive development.     The 15 year old is set to finish "middle school" and begin HS in the fall.   He's now grown to 6'1" and weighs 187 pounds.   He's been clocked at a high of 92 mph. 

* The Cubs released RHP Hung-Wen Chen.
Several other minor league washouts are playing in the Atlantic League.   Ching-Lung Lo is with the Lancaster Barnstormers.  Chin-Lung Hu failed his physical with the Phillies and is on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs roster.  Sheng-An Kuo is also supposedly in the Atlantic League.

Elite Cup: Final Four Finalized

HS Baseball:
*Mei-Ho defeated San-Hsin 4-1 to move on the semifinals of the Elite Cup.

*In a highly anticipated match up of traditional HS power houses, Ku-Pao routed Nan-Ying 10-0 behind starter Ping-Hsueh Chen.  Chen threw 7 shutout innings, allowing only 3 hits, while K'ing 12.     Nan-Ying ace Chia-Hao Sung was roughed up for 7 runs (6 earned) on 12 hits in 6+ innings.      Chen touched 91 mph (146 kph).
Some other top guns in the tourney:
1)Kuo-Hua Lo (San-Hsin)  144 kph
2)Ming-Hung Lin (Cheng-Kung)  144 kph
3)Chih-Wei Hu (Shi-Yuan)  143 kph


*Shi-Yuan beat Cheng-Kung 6-2 to advance in the tourney.

*Ping-Zhen won 8-2 over San-Min HS.

Tomorrow's semifinal matchups include:
Ping-Zhen vs. Ku-Pao
Mei-Ho vs. Shi-Yuan




MLB:
Chin-Lung Hu was officially introduced by the Mets.  There is a large Taiwanese contingency in nearby Flushing, NY.   The NY Media labeled Hu as a "4A" player, a label that befell Chin-Feng Chen.



ASIA:
The Asia Series will resume this year in Taiwan - Nov. 11th to be specific.

Hong-Chih Kuo Set to Be Highest Paid Taiwanese Player in 2011...

MLB:
*HC Kuo has been offered a one year contract for $2.55 million by the Dodgers;  he's asking for $3.075 million.   Regardless, he'll receive a well-deserved raise in 2011.
Dragons RHP Wei-Yin Chen is expected to make ~ 150 million yen ($1.8 million USD) in 2011 with his club.

*Astros GM Wade has said that CJ Lo is behind progress in his development.   Lo was out for much of last year after suffering a partial tear of his UCL.




CPBL:
*The Monkeys and slugger Chih-Sheng Lin have agreed to a 5 year deal worth 24.12 million NT (~$830,000) with an additional 5.88 million NT (~$202,000) in bonus incentives.  The contract is the third richest in CPBL history (behind CFC's 2 three year contracts - '06-'08 worth 30 million NT, and '09-'11 worth 30.03 million NT).

*The Lions are expecting the presence of Yung-Chi Chen to boost attendance for the upcoming year.

*The Elephants are currently looking for a foreign pitcher.

*Several Dodgers minor league coaches are assisting the Bulls during their ST.



Other:
*The government's amateur city teams (industrial league) have significant financial issues and may fold.

*Taitung Agricultural HS will build a dorm on the baseball field.

*In a bit of good news, the way the junior NT is selected may be overhauled.   Rather than utilizing the current method of having tourney winners make up the majority of the NT roster, the new selection process will include a trial process in which all potential players will be evaluated during games/training.




HS WBT:
Quarterfinals - 
*RHP Kuo-Hua Lo helped lead San-Hsin into the final four.
*IF Tzu-Wei Lin had a double and a triple in leading Kao-Yuan into the final 4.
*Ku-Pao RHP Shao-Ching Chiang was impressive in relief as he touched 91 mph and also had 2 triples in leading his team to final 4.  A lot of scouts were on hand to check out the quarterfinal matchup between San-Min LHP Yi-Hsiang Lin vs Ku-Pao RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen.   Lin touched 87 mph while RHP Chen topped out at 91 mph.

Semifinals-
*Kao-Yuan defeated San-Hsin 8-5 to move on to the finals.
*Ping-Zhen upset the defending champs - Ku-Pao 3-1 behind RHP Keng-Sheng Lee, on the '09 youth NT, in the other semi.   Ku-pao also had several defensive lapses, committing four errors in the field.

*In the consolation matches:
Shi-Yuan beat San-Min 4-2 while Nan-Ying defeated Hsin-She 5-4.  Shi-Yuan and Nan-Ying will play each other for 5th place while San-Min and Hsin-She will duke it out for 7th place.

Amateur Updates..

HBT:

*C Tse-Yang Peng from Ping-Zhen HS and IF Sung-Yuan Niu of Shi-Yuan HS both hit HR's in the current HS Wood Bat Tourney.   Peng was the 2006 Bronco League World Series HR derby champ; while Niu (pictured below from '08) was on the 2008 Pony League World Series NT squad.

*Also from the tourney, Ku-Pao HS RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen topped out at 91 mph and RHP Shao-Ching Chiang was consistently at 90-91 mph.

*The NYY are pursuing Ku-Pao HS INF Po-Rong (Jung) Wang, who is an above average runner

*Shi-Yuan HS RHP Lee-Wei Chiang is still nursing an arm injury; he has been heavily pursued by the NYY since he was in JR HS.

CPBL:*Lions RHP Wei-Lun Pan's new salary will be 530 K NT/month ($18,150 USD/month); the contract is just pending his signature.

*Elephants Manager Chen is encouraging LHP Fu-Te Ni to return to the CPBL.   Chen feels that Ni's fastball and breaking pitches won't be effective vs. MLB hitters.   Ni is a non-roster invitee to the Tigers' ST camp.
*There's been some drastic measures passed to help curb the rigging of games in Taiwan.  A player could get up to 10 years in jail.

*Taiwan is willing to host the Asian Series this year in an effort to revive the tournament.
*Lamigo Monkeys slugger Chih-Sheng Lin still hasn't reported to ST camp;  he's waiting to hear back from the Cleveland Indians.

*Sinon Bulls RHP Chien-Fu Yang may get a tryout with the Chunichi Dragons.

*The Bulls signed their 4th round pick: C Kun-Sheng Lin to a ~ 2.5 million NT signing bonus (~$86 K USD).





MLB:Mets GM Sandy Alderson on Chin-Lung Hu:
With the remainder of the bench, I presumed -- I believe correctly -- that Chin-lung Hu’s role would be as a backup middle infielder, not directly in the second base competition. Is that correct?



“I think that’s the likely result. I think we view him as a very capable defensive shortstop, and provides us some insurance there, as well as at second base -- maybe late-inning defense at second, given what we have there at the moment, and foreseeably what we will have there at beginning of spring training. I think that’s the likely role for him. We’ll let spring training play out.”

Youngsters Looking Good for the Junior NT....

*The junior NT defeated Italy 13-4 yesterday.  Box   The team (3-1) will look to wrap up second place in pool play today with a game against Venezuela.  (The team has already defeated both Italy and Australia - both teams are 2-2, who play each other today)

Racking up 3 more hits in yesterday's game for the junior NT was hot-hitting IF Che (Tzu) -Wei Lin.  Lin is the youngest fielder on the team (turned 16 in February).  Lin is currently among the tourney leaders in BA (.563), hits (9), runs scored (8), doubles (3),  & total bases (14).

Aside from a tremendous bat (hits lefty), the 5'8" speedster is an impressive defensive player with a strong arm (throws righty) as well.

Lin played on last year's youth NT (2009) and led the team with a .519 BA.  Representing Kao-Yuan HS, he was also the top hitter (.466) in this year's Yu-Shan Cup.

Lin

Also performing well for the junior NT is RHP Ping-Hsueh Chen.  Chen is currently the youngest player on the team (just turned 16 earlier this month).  Playing for HS powerhouse Ku-Pao, Chen has already racked up an impressive resume.  Like Lin, Chen was also on the 2009 youth NT, however unlike Lin, Chen is already pretty mature physically and stands in at 6'0" while weighing ~ 185 lbs.  He currently leads the team with 10 K's (including 3 K's against team USA in 1 inning of work) in 2 game appearances.  He's been clocked at at high of 91 mph.

Chen

*The collegiate NT lost its last warmup game (6-3) to team USA and top pitching prospect Gerrit Cole on Tuesday.  Box/Recap
Team USA head coach Bill Kinneberg has already commented that this year's Taiwanese collegiate NT is better than the 2007 edition that also competed in the WUBC.
Team USA played Taipei County today and is currently winning 9-1.
The collegiate NT has announced its final roster for the upcoming World University Baseball Championships.

Continued Coverage of the Ta-Tung Cup....

Ta-Tung Cup:

*The story of the day was Nan-Ying RHP Cheng-Han Tsai's (pictured above) CG shutout against Taichung Gao-Nong. Nan-Ying won 7-0. Tsai's stats: W, 9 IP, 0 R, 5 H, 10 K's, 0 BB's. Gao-Nong's heralded young slugger & cleanup hitter Chin-De Chang was 0-4 with a K against Tsai.

Tsai, who has good size at 6'2", was clocked at a high of 87 mph (he tops out at 90).

*San-Hsin RHP Kuo-Hua Lo picked up a W in relief for his school. San-Hsin won 2-0 over Hualien PE. Lo's line: W, 6 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 6 K's, 0 BB's.

*Ku-Pao won 4-0 on Tuesday. 4 pitchers (Chi-Yu Lin, Chun-Lung Chang, Ping-Hsueh Chen, Chieh Pan) combined on the shutout with all 4 hitting the radar gun close to 87 mph (per UDN). Chen hit 89 mph.

CY Lin Vid:

PH Chen Vid:

*The day's other winner was Taitung PE. Chih-Lung Yang picked up the W in Taitung PE's 3-0 win.

*Taiwanese coaches are heading to China (Former NPB'er Chuang will be in Jiangsu)

*Prospect review of Chia-Jen Lo

*CMW update

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)