TBNL: Taiwanese legend retires while contracts rise

Baseball Reference shows 31 Taiwan-born players in MLB history, 14 pitchers and 17 position players. Only infielder Yu Chang has appeared in more games (235) than left-handed pitcher Wei-Yin Chen (219).

Chen spent eight years in the majors, four with the Orioles and four with the Marlins. Used primarily as a starter in all but his final season, Chen posted a 4.18 ERA (97 ERA+) over 1,064.2 IP with 846 strikeouts and 270 walks, winning 59 games. Chen was one of the most accomplished Taiwanese pitchers, leading in nearly every statistical category outside of wins and WAR (Chien-Ming Wang leads in both with 68 wins and 12.8 WAR).

Chen spent five years in the NPB pitching for the Chunichi Dragons before signing with Baltimore. After playing in the majors, he’d return to Japan to play for the Marines and Tigers.

The soft-tossing southpaw played one final season in the independent Atlantic League in 2024, making 17 starts for the Long Island Ducks.

Chen announced his retirement on Wednesday on Facebook (via reddit).

Kai-Wei Teng, a right-handed pitcher, was the only Taiwanese player to appear in a game last season — pitching 11.0 innings for the San Francisco Giants.

CPBL contracts jump again

For the third time in 18 months, the CPBL is about to set a new record-high for the largest contract in league history.

First, Yu Chang set the mark when he opted to return to Taiwan after failing to land a MLB contract heading into spring training last year. Chang landed a deal worth NT$92.5M to join the Fubon Guardians.

Then in December, the Wei Chuan Dragons signed outfielder Tzu Hao Chen to a NT$130M deal.

Now, according to reports, the Uni-President Lions have an offer on the table to center fielder Chieh-hsien Chen that could be worth NT$160M (roughly $4.9M in US dollars). The 31-year-old is a .343/.419/.448 hitter over his nine-year career. He is also the captain of the Taiwan national team and immensely popular in the country.

Elsewhere, around the sport …

• You might think that Los Angeles would be a big enough market to support a prominent local newspaper, but dwindling readership numbers are hitting even the LA Times. The paper didn’t even bother staffing Angels home games last year and it doesn’t appear that will change anytime soon. Their coverage of the Dodgers will now take a hit, with Mike DiGiovanna announcing on Thursday that he was accepting a buyout from the paper. DiGiovanna has been writing for the Times for 41 years. He covered the Angels for most of that tenure before sliding over to the Dodgers beat several years ago.

• Portland Pilots senior left-hander Ryan Rembisz pitched the 37th perfect game in NCAA Division 1 history on Tuesday. Rembisz shut down opposing Seattle U on just 90 pitches, striking out a career-high 12

• A week into spring training games and teams have started to make their first cuts. Still, more than 2,000 players remain in camps vying for one of 780 roster spots (26 spots, 30 teams).