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Taichung student signs with Yankees

December 01, 2009
Guo Fu-lin, a student at the National Taiwan College of Physical Education, will soon sign a contract with the New York Yankees’ farm system. Guo, who plays third base, will thus become only the second player from Taiwan to have been given an offer by what is perhaps the most celebrated franchise in all of baseball. The first was Wang Chien-ming, who signed with the Yankees’ farm system nine years ago and eventually rose to become a starting pitcher for the Yankees. Guo has been attracting the attention of baseball scouts since he was only a high school student at Nan Ying Vocational High School of Business and Technology. With his imposing and well-proportioned physique—at the time he already stood at 1.83 meters and weighed 78 kilograms—Guo seemed a natural. Having observed him off and on for two years, scouts from Major League Baseball concluded that Guo was the best of the best among all baseball players in Taiwan. He could hit, he could play defense and had a strong arm: potentially a great player, in the scouts’ assessment. Not only did Yankees express an interest in Guo, the Detroit Tigers courted him as well. After considering the strength and weaknesses of both teams and offers, Guo decided to go with the “Bronx Bombers,” in part because of their high visibility. Sources said that Guo’s contract is worth between US$300,000 and $500,000. Since he is still a student, the Yankees will pay for his tuition expenses as well. Altogether it is one of the best offers to have been given to Taiwanese players playing abroad this year, experts said. High-level officials from the Yankees are expected to arrive in Taiwan within the next few days, where they will finalize details of the contract and formally announce their signing of Guo during a press conference. Guo was low key when asked about the contract, saying he would let his agent take care of everything. He did say, however, that “It is every player’s dream to play abroad.” Like Wang, Guo is represented by Octagon. Guo’s agent Li Wei-chuan refused to divulge any details regarding Guo’s contract, except to say that the deal with the Yankees is “quite satisfactory.” (HZW)

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