《TAIPEI TIMES》 Yankees sign Taiwanese teen

Taiwanese pitcher Lai Chien-fan, center, poses with New York Yankees director of international scouting Mario Garza, left, and Yankees global player acquisitions supervisor Matt Slater in an undated photograph. Photo courtesy of Flight International Co

IN GREAT COMPANY: If Lai makes it to the big leagues with the Yankees, he would be only the second Taiwanese to do so, following ace Wang Chien-ming

By Benjamin Bowser / Staff writer, with AP, NEW YORK

Taiwanese right-handed pitcher Lai Chien-fan, 18, on Tuesday agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees that includes an US$872,500 signing bonus.

Lai, who throws fastballs in the 91-94mph （146-151kph） range, helped Taiwan win a bronze medal at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s U-18 Baseball World Cup in September last year, striking out 14 over seven innings in three relief appearances.

The 1.83m-tall Taitung City native, the highest-rated Taiwanese pitcher in the 2026 class, would be the third player in Yankees franchise history to be signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Taiwan, following in the footsteps of ace Wang Chien-ming, who signed in 2000, and infielder Kuo Fu-lin, who signed in 2009, the Yankees said in a statement.

MLB.com called Lai’s signing a major win for Yankees director of international scouting Mario Garza.

“As I have gotten to know Chien-Fan, I have seen a focused and self-assured individual with great aptitude and a desire to improve,” Garza said in the statement.

“Through a scouting lens, he has an impressive multi-pitch mix, including a heavy fastball and quality off-speed pitches with solid command. This combination of traits allows us to believe that he will acclimate himself well in our development system, maximize his on-field potential and eventually become a productive major league pitcher,” he said.

The signing of Lai represented the club’s renewed commitment to Taiwanese players, Garza said.

A formal news conference on the signing is to be held tomorrow at the Courtyard by Marriott Taipei.

Earlier this month, two-way player Lin Chun-hsi signed a minor league contract as a pitcher with the Pittsburgh Pirates that included a US$350,000 signing bonus. He and Lai graduated from Daxi Senior High School in Taoyuan and played together on Taiwan’s U-18 team in Naha, Japan, last year.

Lai was introduced to baseball by his father, Lai Shih-shan, an Amis baseball coach and former elementary school teacher who spent decades developing youth baseball in Taitung.

During his high school years, Lai Chien-fan earned the nickname “Daxi’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto” for modeling his training routines and pitching mechanics after the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Japanese star in an effort to improve his coordination and pitching efficiency.

If Lai Chien-fan, who is to report to the organization’s Dominican Summer League Academy, makes it to the big leagues, he would be only the second Taiwanese to do so as a Yankee, following Wang, who won 55 games for New York and finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2006, according to MLB.com.

Kuo, who plays for the CPBL’s TSG Hawks, played in the Yankees’ minor league system before returning to Taiwan in 2015.

Pitcher Teng Kai-wei of the Houston Astros and second baseman Lee Hao-yu of the Detroit Tigers are the only Taiwanese currently playing in the majors.

Meanwhile, the Yankees this week have been facing off against Detroit and Taiwanese slugger Lee, who scored for the Tigers in their 5-3 victory on Monday.

However, New York on Tuesday halted the Tigers’ four-game winning streak, eking out a 4-3 victory.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 9-7 in 11 innings, the Seattle Mariners sank the Pirates 3-2, the Miami Marlins defeated the Texas Rangers 6-4 and the Philadelphia Phillies dominated the Washington Nationals 14-9 with an eight-run rally in the ninth.

The Milwaukee Brewers blanked the Cincinnati Reds 2-0, the Chicago White Sox survived the Cleveland Guardians 2-1, the Kansas City Royals devastated the Tampa Bay Rays 12-5 and the Chicago Cubs defeated the New York Mets 9-6.

The Arizona Diamondbacks pipped the St Louis Cardinals 4-3, the Dodgers overwhelmed the Minnesota Twins 12-3, the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 5-2, the Los Angeles Angels downed the Baltimore Orioles 5-1, the San Francisco Giants outplayed the Athletics 3-1 and the San Diego Padres survived the Atlanta Braves 7-6 in 10 innings.

Additional reporting by CNA 新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES