Fresh Start for Hu and Chang...

*The LA Dodgers traded Chin-Lung Hu to the NY Mets.


*The President Lions acquired Tarzan from the Bulls for ~ $83 K USD.   The team also reassigned
their GM within the corporation.


*One time star RHP Chung-Nan Tsai is now the Sinon Bulls' pitching coach.


*At the Asian LL Championships, the NT defeated South Korea 2-1 to move on to the championship game against Japan.  Japan beat China 7-6 in the other semifinal.



*Shi-Yuan Junior HS won the Taipei International Junior HS tourney, winning 11-4 in the championship game.   Chun-Jen Cheng, despite arm pain, logged another 5 innings to pick up the W and threw 398 pitches over 4 days!  Cheng was easily the MVP of the tourney with 3 W's.

CJ Cheng

SW Liu

Shao-Wei Liu from Taipei County has created the most buzz in the tourney with his 84-85 mph fastball.  He won the tourney batting title with a .541 BA. The 14 year old already stands in at 6"1".   Liu was on the 2008 LL NT team that won the Asian Championships.   See below vid:

*Taiwan's legislators are pushing forward an attempt to put a halt to fixing pro games.

Amateur Tourney Updates...

*The LL NT is currently 3-0 in Japan at the Asian LL Championships.   The team squeaked by China in its first game, 4-3, before defeating Thailand 16-0 in game 2.  The NT moved on to the semifinals after defeating Indonesia 20-0 in its last group game.   
The boys will face South Korea in one semifinal, while Japan plays China in the other semi.


*Some news on the current Taipei International Junior HS Tournament :
1)Hsin-Ming RHP Chuan-Yu Hsu from Taoyuan County has pitched well, topping out at 78 mph.
2)Shi-Yuan RHP Chun-Jen Cheng has thrown 2 CG's in 3 days (300 pitches!) to help his team enter the semifinals.


*In the College Cup, Chinese Culture University won the title with an 11-1 victory on Friday.   SP Chen-Hua Lin started the game, pitched a CG (7 innings) to pick up the W (1 unearned run on 5 hits, 8 K's, 1 BB).  Lin was elected the top pitcher in the tourney (0.00 ERA, 7.1 IP, 1 W).
On the losing end was SP Kuan-Yu Chen (0.1 IP, 3 R, 4 H).   KY Chen is still suffering from some confidence issues since getting hammered against South Korea in the Asian Games.
Fu-Jen University won third with a 7-1 victory over Taipei Sports College.




*CPBL News:   The President Lions signed their second round draft pick: RHP Wen-Yang Liao to a  2.5 million NT signing bonus, 100K NT/month salary.

Speaking of the Lions, veteran star slugger Tarzan (Tai-Shan Chang) has been linked to the club.




*Other:  Interesting read on Genji Kaku's son in Japan  - looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree.

News Briefs...

*The Asian Little League Championships (12 and under) will kick off tomorrow in Kurashiki, Japan.   Taiwan earned the easier draw as it was grouped with China, Indonesia, and Thailand.   Group B consists of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Pakistan.
The LL NT will play:
12/24 vs. China
12/25 vs. Thailand
12/26 vs. Indonesia
The top 2 teams from each group will play on the 27th (1 vs. 2 format), with the semifinal winners meeting in the championship game on the 28th.



*Speaking of little league baseball, the Chu-Lo Mountain Cup LL Tourney in Chiayi has a record number of teams participating (120 total with 12 teams coming from other countries - 7 from Japan) this year.   Last year, 117 teams were involved in the tourney.  To help protect young arms, a pitch count restriction will be implemented.



*CPBL News: 
The Elephants have released a total of 9 players from this past season's roster to help make room for some of their new draft picks.

The Bears inked last year's top pick, RHP Chu-Kuan Lee to a 2.5 million NT signing bonus (~$84 K USD).

The President Lions hired new hitting (Terushi Nakajima) & pitching (Makoto Kito) coaches from Japan.






*Amateur lefty Kuan-Yu Chen had a tryout on Tuesday with the Yokohama BayStars.  He topped out at 84 mph.



*RHP Chun-Lin Kuo was clocked at ~92 mph recently in the collegiate tourney (12/22 loss vs. CCU).  Kuo, who currently plays for Taiwan Sports University, was a member of the 2010 world champion junior NT.

2010 CPBL Draft Results

Read more here.

Team:          Lions                      Bears                    Bulls                     Elephants
Round1:  Yung-Chi Chen      Yen-Wen Kuo        Chih-Pei Huang      Sung-Wei Tseng
Round2:  Wen-Yang Liao      Cheng-Hao Tseng   Hung-Cheng Lai     Chi-Hung Cheng
Round3:  Ying-Shan Wang     Te-Lung Yu            Wen-Cheng Hsu    Chun-Wei Chiu
Round4:  Wan-Lin Tsai          Wei-Jen Wang        Kun-Sheng Lin       Ta-Yuan Kuan
Round5:  En-Tse Huang         Yueh-Teng Hsu       Kai-Lun Chen        Hsiao-Jung Shih
Round6: Yu-Kang Fu             Ko-Yao Weng       Chia-Chu Lee         Chia-Wei Yen
Round7:  Na-Yao Fang         Chun-Yi Wu           Liu-Ching Huang    Chun-Sheng Huang

For the rest of the draft, go to the official CPBL site.

Yung-Chi Chen to the Lions....

*The President Lions will select IF Yung-Chi Chen with the 1st overall pick in the CPBL draft tomorrow (December 21st).  Chen will receive a multi-year deal (3 years) worth 300 K NT/month (~10 K USD/month)+ additional bonus incentives.  This is the second highest rookie salary in Lions team history (Genji Kaku, better known as Yuen-Chih Kuo earned 500 K NT/month in '97 with the Lions).

The Bears have the # 2 pick and will most likely select IF Yen-Wen Kuo.   The Bulls have the third overall pick and are expected to go with a positional player - perhaps C Kun-Sheng Lin.   The Elephants will choose last in the first round and are expected to select RHP Sung-Wei Tseng. 
RHP Wen-Yang Liao is a wild card to be selected in the first round and is the top amateur pitcher available in the draft.

*Taiwan Coop Bank 19 year old RHP Wei-Hua Wu was clocked at a high of 92 mph in the recently completed winter amateur tourney.  He threw a CG shutout on the 19th, giving up only 3 hits in his team's 5-0 win over Tai-Power.  Wu also started on 12/11 against Tai-Power, picking up the W after throwing 7 shutout innings, K'ing 5, walking none, while allowing only 3 hits.
Taiwan Coop bank won the tourney.
Po-Yu Lin (formerly with the White Sox organization) ended up winning the top pitcher award in the tourney (2 W's, 0.15 ERA)
 
 
 
*Negotiations haven't gone too well with Octagon and Chunichi regarding Wei-Yin Chen's desire to play in the US.  Chen was seeking to have his status changed to that of a foreign player.   The club currently views him as a domestic/Japanese player.   In order for Chen to play overseas, he'll either have to be 1) posted by his NPB club  or 2) wait till he's 31 years old, when he becomes an international free agent (with 9 years of service - this is defined as being active for 145 days on the team's top roster for nine seasons. Time missed for injuries during these years does not count).

MT Chen Signing Confirmed...

*Apple Daily is confirming MT Chen's signing with the Mariners.


*Here's the latest update on WL Pan, contrary to what's been reported.   Again, the biggest limiting factor with CPBL star veterans jumping ship is the transfer fee. 

Rumored Signing: Min-Tzu Chen

The Seattle Mariners are rumored to have signed RHP Min-Tzu Chen (tops out at 94 mph, but has had a history of elbow problems) for $150 K.
It's good to see the Mariners continue to sign players in Taiwan despite their lack of success (Chao-Kuan Wu, Yung-Chi Chen, Chia-An Huang, Kuo-Hui Lo, Yao-Wen Chang). 




*CMW has rejoined the Nationals, agreeing to a one year $1 million guaranteed deal (worth up to $5 million with incentives).    This news comes on the heels of the awkward public display put on by CMW's reps Octagon and the CPBL.  (The CPBL blasted Octagon for communicating with the league through the media rather than directly with the league and giving false facts to the public.)

2010 CPBL Draft News

The 2010 CPBL draft will have some big names available for the 4 CPBL clubs.    Yung-Chi Chen, Sung-Wei Tseng, Yen-Wen Kuo, and Chi-Hung Cheng are former US minor leaguers who will make things interesting as to who the Lions will select with the first overall pick.  Yung-Chi Chen is still seeking an opportunity to play in the US while the Lions are looking to avoid the same fate the Elephants suffered in '08 when they selected Fu-Te Ni with their first round pick.  Ni never pitched an inning for the pachyderms as he ended up signing with the Detroit Tigers.

As an interesting side note to the draft, CMW and his agent attempted to register for the CPBL draft but had issues with CPBL draft rules, which are similar to the KBO and NPB.



*In a stark contrast of Eastern/Western philosophies regarding how to train young arms, the Yomiuri Giants Yi-Hao Lin recently completed a 150 pitch bullpen.  The Yomiuri Giants pitching coach said "he's young, he needs to pitch a lot."!!

Wei-Lun Pan to the SK Wyverns

WL Pan (L), CH Lin (R) - 2010 Intercontinental Cup All-Stars

Per Korean news reports, the 2010 KBO champs - SK Wyverns have signed CPBL RHP Wei-Lun Pan.   The signing would make Pan the first CPBL player to jump ship to the KBO, completing the trifecta (En-Yu Lin was the last player to jump from the CPBL to the NPB; Fu-Te Ni was the first and only player from the CPBL to play in the Majors).



*Update on CMW

HS Pitcher Catches Hibbard's Attention...

Pei-Yuan Huang, a 17 year old senior at Tung-Shih HS, impressed Indians personnel Greg Hibbard in a scrimmage yesterday during a select HS elite training camp.   Huang started the game and threw 5 shutout/hitless innings while K'ing 6.   He was clocked at a high of 88 mph.  Hibbard mentioned that Huang would be a player worth following and that if he was in the US, he would be sought after by collegiate teams.

CPBL Vets Gathering Attention....

*Star CPBL veterans Chih-Sheng Lin and Wei-Lun Pan are some of the new crop of eligible CPBL free agents (Chien-Fu Yang and Cheng-Min Peng are two other names that come to mind) gathering some attention from overseas teams.  Lions stalwart RHP Wei-Lun Pan is rumored to have gathered some interest from KBO teams. 

Bears IF Chih-Sheng Lin worked out for MLB teams today (12/3) in Taichung (see above pic).  The Twins, Tigers, Indians, A's, and Pirates had scouts present at the work out.   Two factors working against Lin (and other CPBL vets) are:
1) his age - he turns 29 in January. 
2) the cost to sign him could be a deterrent:   Lin currently makes 350,000 NT/month, which is roughly $11,500 USD/month.   The Bears would ask for a transfer fee equivalent to 2.5x his current wages for this year - that would amount to ~$346,600 USD/year.    For the second year of services, the Bears would ask for a transfer fee of no less than 1.5x his current wages - equating to ~$208K USD/year.

Korean KBO teams are also interested in Lin and would have no problem paying him a salary of ~ $300 K USD/year, however, when you factor in his transfer fee of ~ $550 K USD over 2 years, one can see why there would be a hesitancy to invest in a perennial CPBL All-Star.

Recently released Pirates farmhands IF Chih-Wei Hsu and RHP Shen-Cin Hong were also trying to impress scouting personnel at the workout.    Hong was seeking another opportunity to return to the US with the Indians.   Greg Hibbard, a pitching coach in the Indians organization, is currently in Taiwan.  While performing a HS pitching clinic recently, Hibbard was shocked to hear that most youth pitchers threw 80-100 pitches daily in practice.   To help protect these young arms, Hibbard advocated for the "less is more" concept, where pitchers throw no more than 3x/week and no more than 50 pitches each session.




*Speaking of clinics, Chin-Lung Hu, Jim Lefebvre, and Rick Dell put on a hitting clinic in Taiwan.

*Chien-Ming Wang was non-tendered by the Nationals, signaling that the team did not want to pay the $1.6 million/year minimum that Wang would have earned in arbitration.      On the other hand, Hong-Chih Kuo is expected to get a hefty raise after an outstanding year - the early estimates point to a ball park figure of $2 million+/year.




*Former MLB farmhands Sung-Wei Tseng and Chia-Chu Chen alongside amateur standouts P Wen-Yang Liao and C Kun-Sheng Lin are expected to make themselves available for the upcoming CPBL draft.

One And Done....

*The Pirates released RHP Shen-Cin Hong and 1B Chih-Wei Hsu.  The pair were signed last year alongside OF Ping-Hung Chi.



*Lefty Fu-Te Ni was removed from the Tigers' 40 man roster.




*23 year old Shen-Fu Tsai expects to hear back from the Chiba Lotte Marines by December (pics from November workout in Japan).  The 6'3", 220 pound slugger was 2-4 with a RBI in yesterday's amateur tourney game.
Tsai does have legit power (Check out these blasts at the :38 and 1:20 mark in the same game):






*Taking a look at OF Chia-Ching Lin's swing (from this year's Fall Instructional League):

Strong Words from Chen...

*Per Taiwanese news reports, Cubs minor leaguer RHP Hung-Wen Chen has stated that if he doesn't get put on the 40 man roster, he'll quit and seek an opportunity to play in the NPB or CPBL. He said that the most important thing about playing baseball is being happy, however that has not happened while playing for the Cubs and he feels that he doesn't get any respect from his MLB organization.  Chen also said that he hit the Korean catcher during the gold medal game at the Asian Games intentionally as he was upset at how the Korean team reacted after hitting the 2-run HR off LHP KY Chen.




*Amateur 1B Shen-Fu Tsai went to a tryout with the Chiba Lotte Marines and said that he may get a contract offer.



*Lefty Wei-Yin Chen may get his opportunity to jump to the US after next season.

Red Sox Release CC Chen....

*The Red Sox released C Chia-Chu Chen.


*The NT is currently 2-1 at the Asian Games:  6-1 L vs. South Korea/11-1 W vs. Pakistan / 16-0 W vs. Hong Kong    The team's likely next opponent is Japan in one semifinal.


*CH Chen is getting some love in the prospect polls:  Call to the Pen / The Hardball Times

Che-Hsuan Lin wasn't in BA's top 10 for his respective team, but he did garner 3 of the "Best Tools" in the Red Sox minor league system.  He was one of two NT reps on the 2010 Intercontinental Cup All-Star team


*The CPBL and KBO champs split a two game set.


*Update on CMW - who's currently back home

US Minor Leaguers Performing Well at Intercontinental Cup...

*Over in Taiwan, the NT has finished the first round with a 3-1 record: 
11-5 W vs. South Korea
6-0 W vs. the Czech Republic
10-0 W vs. Hong Kong
2-0 L vs. Cuba

5 players with US minor league experience are among the team's leaders offensively:
-Yung-Chi Chen leads the team with a .571 BA, 6 RBI, and 2 SB
-Che-Hsuan Lin is second in BA (.444) with 2 SB
-Chun-Hsiu Chen is hitting .400 with 1 HR (watch here on youtube) and 6 RBI
-Yen-Wen Kuo has a .389 BA while Kuo-Hui Lo is batting .375

The team has secured second place in group A and is moving on to the second round where it will face the top three teams from group B: Japan, Italy, the Netherlands.



*The Elephants pulled off the unthinkable, winning the 2010 Taiwan Series by sweeping the Bulls.  Elephants SP Jim Magrane won the Series MVP.  The Elephants will now prepare for a 2 game tilt against the KBO champs - the SK Wyverns next month (Nov. 4th and 5th).



*Update on CC Lee in the AFL

One Away.....& Other News....

*Rain may be the only thing keeping the Elephants from sweeping the Taiwan Series from the Bulls.


*Hong-Chih Kuo is back home and will toss the honorary first pitch on Saturday's matchup between Taiwan and South Korea.
Here's the (Round 1) schedule for the home team:
10/23 - vs. South Korea
10/24 - vs. Czech Republic
10/25 - vs. Hong Kong
10/26 - vs. Cuba


*There are rumors circulating that the Seattle Mariners recently worked out Chin-Hui Tsao.


*Octagon has been contacting teams to gauge interest in CPBL Bears slugger Chih-Sheng Lin.   Lin, who has led the league in HR's the past two years (21 this year and 31 last year) is aspiring to play overseas. A posting fee will be required per La New.

NT Takes Victory over Cuba in Warm Up Match....

The national team defeated Cuba in a warm up match 3-2 on the 18th. 
Hung-Wen Chen started the game and threw 3 shutout innings.  Chih-Lung Huang relieved him and allowed 1 run over 3 innings to pick up the W.  Ching-Lung Lo and Yi-Hao Lin finished out the game.
19 year old Lin had 2 K's, including one of Cuban star Youliesky Gourriel (see below):


After trailing 1-0 in the 5th, Yung-Chi Chen and Che-Hsuan Lin would provide back-to-back singles to put the NT up 2-1 (see below vid).


Kuo-Ching Kao would drive in the final run (in the 6th) to complete the final offensive tally for the NT (see below):



Offensively, Chun-Hsiu Chen, Che-Hsuan Lin, and Yung-Chi Chen led the way with 2 hits each.



*The Elephants are up 2-0 in the Taiwan Series.  The Elephants won game 1 against the Bulls 3-2.
Game 2 also went to the Elephants, who defeated the Bulls 3-1.  Bulls manager Hsu failed to show up to the post game press conference.




*CC Lee has made 2 appearances in the AFL so far.

Tigers Release Tang....

*The Detroit Tigers released OF Chao-Ting Tang.


*After finishing last in both half seasons of the CPBL standings, the La New Bears and their manager have parted ways. 


*Lions ace Wei-Lun Pan earned his 100th career victory this past year, becoming the youngest player (at 28) to reach that bench mark in CPBL history.  Pan is entertaining the idea of playing overseas if the opportunity arises.


*CMW topped out at 89 mph in his latest outing in the instructional league.


*In an exhibition match against the Sinon Bulls, the NT's Chun-Hsiu Chen managed to gun down CPBL 2010 SB king Da-Hung Cheng.   Chen caught NT P's Hung-Wen Chen, Ching-Lung Lo, Yi-Hao Lin, and Chih-Lung Huang.   Huang was clocked at a high of 91 mph.


*You can follow how Chia-Ching Lin is faring in the fall instructional league here.

Nan-Ying HS celebrating their Golden Dragon Cup championship

*Nan-Ying HS had several members of their team earn (Golden Dragon Cup) tourney honors, including:

-Top ERA: Po-Hsien Hsieh (0.00 ERA ,16 IP)

-Most RBI, 1B All-Star: Wei-Hao Chen  (6 RBI)

-MVP:   Min-Jen Fang

-2B All-Star: Yu-Kung Chen

-SS All-Star: Yi-Sheng Lo

-OF All-Star: Chi-Hao Lin

A's Offer Rejected?

The Oakland A's were rumored to have offered Shi-Yuan RHP Chun-Lin Kuo $70K.   Kuo was on the 2010 junior NT and is best known for his 18 K's against the Dutch junior NT. 
The supposed offer was rejected. 



*Chien-Ming Wang was clocked in the mid 80's in his instructional league outing.



*Astros farmhand Chia-Jen Lo was clocked at 92 mph in a recent outing.

10/6 News Briefs...

*Hong-Chih Kuo has etched his name in the record books for the Dodgers.   His 1.200 ERA for the season broke Eric Gagne's mark of 1.202 back in 2003.  -quite an inspirational story for a guy who's been through multiple surgeries on his left elbow.

YC Chen, CH Lin, KH Lo

Lions (L>R): FH Liu, KC Kao, CK Kao, WL Pan

*The NT roster for the Intercontinental Cup has been announced.   Here's the official site for the tournament.

*It'll be the Elephants (first half champs 36W-23L) vs. the Bulls (second half champs 33W-20L-7D) in this year's CPBL Taiwan Series.  The Series will take place October 16th-24th (Games 5,6,7 if necessary), overlapping with the Intercontinental Cup (10/23-31).  

*Nan-Ying HS defeated San-Min HS 4-2 in the championship game of the Golden Dragon Cup. Cheng-Kung HS earned 3rd after defeating Gao-Nong HS 7-6 in the consolation final.

*CMW is scheduled to make an appearance on Thursday in an instructional league game.
Speaking of CMW, how sweet is this?  Check out this dual autographed card of CMW and CFC: