The Seattle Mariners signed two Chinese players on Wednesday,
two days after the New York Yankees said they were the first major
league team to sign players from China with the approval of Chinese
baseball association.
Infielder-outfielder Yu Bingjia and catcher Wei Wang, members of
the Beijing Tigers in the China Baseball League and of China's
national baseball team, signed minor league contracts. They will
report to Seattle's summer league team in Australia when not
fulfilling national team commitments this summer.?
"We are very excited to enter into this new phase of our
relationship with Chinese baseball," said Ted Heid, director of
Pacific Rim operations for the Mariners, who have signed Japanese
League stars Ichiro Suzuki and Kenji Johjima in the last six
years.
"Chinese players are improving rapidly, and we look forward to
scouting and developing many more players from China in the
future."
Yu, a 24-year-old who is 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, led the China
Baseball League in home runs last season and has been a member of
the country's national team since 2003.
Wang, 28, is a 6-2, 190-pound (1.9-meter, 86-kilogram) veteran
of 10 years of professional baseball in China. He has led Beijing
to six league championships and has been the starting catcher on
the national team since 2002. Wang hit a two-run homer in the
opening game of the 2006 World Baseball Classic against eventual
champion Japan.
(China Daily via Agencies June 22, 2007)