Yankees Pluck Pair of Prospects from PRC
The New York Yankees became the first Major League Baseball team to sign players from the Chinese Baseball Association when they signed two Chinese teenagers to minor league contracts. The CBA approved the signing of Liu Kai, a 19-year-old lefty pitcher from Guangdong province and Zhang Zhenwang, also 19, a catcher out of Tianjin (whose severely blurry photo is the best one I could find on any Chinese or foreign site). The Yankees will officially welcome the Chinese duo in a July 6th press conference from Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. Liu spent six seasons playing for the Guangdong Leopards where he was chosen to play on the PRC National Team. Zhang caught for the Tianjin Lions and helped his team win 3 CBL championships in the last 5 years. Zhang represented China in the World Baseball Classic. The players are two of mainland China’s most touted prospects. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the media Monday, “This is an exciting opportunity for us to integrate Chinese players into the organization.” The Yankees have been aggressively combing the mainland for talent since team executive visited Beijing in January to establish a relationship with the Chinese Baseball Association. The Yankees then invited Chinese players to work out at the Yankees training facilities during spring training. In early July, the two players will report to the Yankees player development facility in quite possibly the worst place for two mainland Chinese to go: Tampa, Florida. Chinese make up about 1% of Tampa’s 300,000 people and the only Chinese food there is found in $6.95 all-you-can-eat buffets.
•MLB.com: Yankees Sign Two Chinese Prospects
•Xinhua: Chinese Teenagers Sign Yankees, MLB (headline makes no sense)