Yankees sign Chien-Ming Wang to minor league contract

March 24, 2013 by Michael Axisa 95 Comments

Sunday: The contract is worth $3M at a big league level according to George King and Kevin Kernan. I assume that’s pro-rated for the time he’s actually on the roster, which is typical. Still a pretty nice chunk of change for Triple-A depth guy. The contract does include an opt-out clause, but the exact date is unknown.

Saturday: The Yankees have announced the signing and it is indeed a minor league contract. No word on how much he’ll make if he pitches in the big leagues yet. Wang will speak to the media following a workout Monday morning and will presumably discuss his decision to return to the team and the health of his shoulder. Hopefully we get to see him in a Grapefruit League game before the season starts.

Friday: The Yankees have been searching for a veteran starter to stash in Triple-A, and that search has led them to a familiar name. Jon Heyman reports the club has agreed to sign Chien-Ming Wang to what I assume is a minor league contract. He was in Tampa this week to throw bullpens and showcase himself for the team.

Wang, 33 next week, threw 12 shutout innings for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month. The Yankees were one of a number of clubs to scout him during the tournament — reports indicate his trademark sinker was clocked in the 88-92 mph range — and apparently they liked what they saw enough to bring him in for more workouts. Obviously the two sides are familiar with each other.

Due to numerous injuries, most notably a torn shoulder capsule that required surgery in July 2009, Wang has not been an effective big league pitcher since hurting his foot running the bases in Houston in June 2008. He pitched to a 3.79 ERA (3.90 FIP) with a 60.5% ground ball rate in 628.2 innings from 2005-2008, but since then he’s managed a 6.39 ERA (5.12 FIP) with a 53.2% ground ball rate in 136.2 innings. The Yankees are clearly banking on his World Baseball Classic showing being legit.

Wang will join a Triple-A Scranton rotation that will also include lefty Vidal Nuno and righties Adam Warren, Brett Marshall, and Dellin Betances. He’ll be able to opt-out of his contract on June 1st if he’s not called up to the big leagues thanks to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is a road the team will cross when the time comes. Wang looked pretty darn good in the WBC, but he’s still unlikely to contribute much at the big league level. Either way, it’s no-risk move with some neato nostalgia involved.

forensic

Seems kind of like a waste to me, even of a AAA roster spot where it now knocks a pitcher from every level down one rung. If he hadn’t been a Yankee half a decade ago, many more people would also be against it.

Nostalgia doesn’t make this any better to me.
- http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
  
  There’s no pitcher to knock down. There was an empty rotation spot in AAA.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Bullshit. That could have been Ronnie Mustelier.
    - Barry
      
      Boom goes the tilapia-ite. I can think of one bonafide yankee HOFer who also was an excellent pitcher and had a HOF bat perhaps just slightly better than Musty. Finally another to fill his shoes and drink beers and eat hotdogs.
      - Jimmy
        
        Nick Swisher?
        
        Barry
        
        Comparing Musty to Swisher, c’mon now. I’m talking big time, Babe-fuckin-Ruth. They’re already talking about making A-Rod give up 13 so that Musty can rock it in honor of the Babe.
- MannyGeee
  
  Wang is blocking teh kidz!!!!
  - forensic
    
    No, that’s pushing it, but I don’t see the point in almost assuredly crap pitching over unknown potentially good, or at least growing/improving, pitching.
    - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
      
      Like who? Who’s spot did he take? There’s no one, the AAA rotation had an empty spot even with Dellin Betances undeservingly starting this year.
      - forensic
        
        I don’t know who and it’s not about any one person in particular. It’s the overall principle of it and their love of this ‘garbage’ as Cashman called these castoffs and mostly washed up players rather than seeing what internal unknowns might be able to be.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        If it doesn’t work, they cut him.
        
        I’d rather see what his past track record has to offer than see who’s playing tonight at Shaeffer Hall.
        
        Now Batting
        
        If rather have a “garbage” pitcher who has been there and done that than a “garbage” minor league lifer.
        
        forensic
        
        I didn’t say anything about a minor league lifer, which I term as a guy who’s jumped from franchise to franchise, which basically qualifies as these garbage guys.
        
        I just mean the guys who’ve worked their way up the ladder and done their time to possibly earn a chance.
        
        Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
        
        Coming up with the name of a pitcher who is legitimately being blocked would help.
        
        It might just be they needed a placeholder in the AAA rotation until someone else was deemed ready for promotion. Nothing wrong with that.
        
        forensic
        
        I said it’s not about any one particular player, but more about the principle of it.
        
        If he starts in the majors this year, why would he deserve it over someone like Warren or Nuno? I just don’t agree with their line of thinking on this stuff. It always brings back bad memories of Brian Gordon who really pushed me over the edge on this kind of stuff.
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
        
        Why would Warren or Nuno deserve it more? Wang climbed the minor league ladder once too.
        
        Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
        
        When/if he actually starts in the majors this year, I’ll complain too (unless he’s miraculously tearing up AAA).
        
        Until then, nbd.
        
        Ramon Ortiz spent the entire season in AAA last year. This may well be the same situation.
        
        forensic
        
        Because he did it nearly a decade ago and, as you freely admit, has been a horrid pitcher for nearly half a decade and, in my opinion, is extremely unlikely to suddenly pitch well again. Warren and Nuno and the others have at least pitched well in recent years and maybe you learn something (whether it’s good or bad) about possible future capabilities of these particular players.
        
        This philosophy has helped lead them to some of the roster issues and constant turnover searching and begging for a comeback year since they keep pushing the internal and controlled players down the ladder rather than finding out if they might be able to help for several years.
        
        Barry
        
        Forensic, come-on now, you’re being silly. Nothing wrong with having Wang as an emergency starter/swing man. He’s been great for the Yankees in the past and who knows if he can be great for us in the future.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        Showed up with the fighting gloves tonight, eh?
        
        At least your kid can’t stay down because of the sniffles while you’re nursing a Neti-Pot for yourself…..on a Friday night. I used to live it up….once upon a time.
        
        Fine…..MY FRIDAY NIGHT or Chien-Ming Wang?!?! CHOOSE, FORENSIC!!!
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        (and teething from his last three molars about to burst)
        
        Barry
        
        I can’t do the old walk around bar hopping in the cold anymore. I hate wearing my coat into crowded bars, taking it off, watching it, putting it back on. I’ll just wait for my favorite time of year to roll back in, albeit late this year.
        
        Now Batting
        
        The guy who you nor I can name/think of?
      - Brian S.
        
        Mikey O’Brien? Shaeffer Hall?
        
        Brian S.
        
        Also Pineda come May.
        
        Dalek Jeter
        
        Do you really think
        Warren
        Marshall
        Hall
        O’Brien
        Betances
        Pineda
        Wang
        and everyone else are going to be healthy and good enough to either stay in their rotation and/or come back in time this season?
        
        Brian S.
        
        I dunno. Hall in the bullpen I can deal with but they need to let O’Bien and Pineda pitch every five days IMO
        
        http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
        
        Hall belongs in the bullpen, he’s not worth a rotation spot. O’Brien had a 4.20 ERA with a sub-2.0 K/BB in 105 IP at AA last year. He needs to repeat the level. Pineda isn’t even done rehabbing yet.
        
        Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
        
        There is no chance the signing of Wang has any effect at all on Pineda’s opportunities.
        Hal’s still counting on Pineda to be one of the linchpins fir the $189M plan.
        
        Robinson Tilapia
        
        Oh Brian, you silly man.
  - Jr
    
    New definition of c@ckblock
  - trr
    
    like who?
- The Big City of Dreams
  
  Nah this is a good pick-up and I’m sure we’ll see him at some point this yr. Hopefully he pitches well
- DC
  
  This is the same negative reaction you had last year when they signed Andy out of retirement. Complaining that an old veteran was blocking a kid.
  - forensic
    
    Somewhat, but it was different as Pettitte has been a much better pitcher than Wang in recent years, despite sitting out a year. he pitched much better than anyone could have expected, but he also got hurt as expected and they now still have unknowns for future seasons in the rotation.
    - Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
      
      So if one of the kids took Andy’s 12 starts, they’d have locks for future seasons in the rotation?
      
      At some point, fielding the best possible team needs to take precedence. There’s always going to be injuries. The kids – if ready – can get their chance then.
      - forensic
        
        I didn’t say anything about locks for anything. If someone had those 12 starts, they would be that much closer to figuring out if someone can do it or not, for example Phelps who was jerked back and forth for 11 innings limited starts. There were also the 17 starts they spent on Garcia who had fluke written all over over him from the year before.
        
        And sure, the best team can take precedence, but part of it is that I’m not sure the team is good enough to make a serious run anyway, so might as well look toward the future a little for once instead of always going year to year with guys who can’t/won’t contribute long-term.
        
        Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
        
        Lock was the wrong word. I’ll rephrase. Those 12 starts wouldn’t really prove anything in either direction for any pitcher.
        Nova has 62 career starts. Hughes has 103 career starts. I don’t think they know for sure what either will give them this season. I’m not sure an extra 12 starts along the way would give much/any more certainty.
        
        Garcia I agree on. He didn’t offer enough potential performance upside over Phelps/others to be worth wasting the development opportunity. Pettitte did offer that potential performance upside. Wang likely doesn’t, but there’s really no harm in letting him pitch in Scranton for a bit to see if he’s overcome his injuries enough to be of any potential use, either to the Yankees or in trade.
        
        As for good enough to make a serious run, I firmly believe they should either be in it to win it or not. If they are trying to win this year (they are), their margin for error is virtually shot, and they need to go with who they feel is the best available player (though we may not agree on that assessment). If they’re going to make moves that they believe may weaken the current team, just for the sake of maybe helping development for the future, they should just go all out and rebuild (not gonna happen). Personally, I think they do still have a shot at making the postseason. And if they do get to the postseason, I think their pitching is good enough for a possible run at a championship. Things are likely to only get worse over the next couple of years if they stick to the $189M plan, so I’d rather they take the chance to win now while the still have some chance (even though that chance has been rapidly diminishing, I believe it still exists).
- Max Fischer
  
  Can’t wait for everybody bashing this move to go silent when Wang comes up for an injured pitcher and proves to be more than adequate. Something tells me the people who believe that Warren and Marshall are the next big things will go silent as well.
  
  Doesn’t anyone think the whole “let the young guys pitch!” schtick is getting old? We say this about young pitchers every year, screaming for them to get a chance and blame the Yankees ineptitude to recognize talent as they go out and sign veterans, yet…the young guys never do anything in or out of this organization. It just seems silly to me that we criticize them for signing a guy with more success than all of our minor league pitchers combined to a minor-league deal.
  
  Maybe our minor league pitchers just aren’t that good. Ever thought about that?
  
  Here’s a list off the top of my head of pitchers I heard were incredible and the Yankees were stupid for not developing:
  
  Betances
  Brackman
  D.J. Mitchell
  Colter Bean
  T.J. Beam
  Matt DeSalvo
  Clippard – props to Washington converting him to a reliever
  Anthony Claggett
  Steven Jackson
  Zack McCallister
  
  Guys, our pitchers are not that good and most are unable to make it to the show.
  
  Let the bashing begin…
  - forensic
    
    Where did I say anything about anyone being the next big thing or even assuredly being good? I just want them to at least try and see what they have, even explicitly saying whether it’s good or bad.
    - Max Fischer
      
      You didn’t say that, but you also called the signing a waste because it “knocks” everyone else down a rung (which it doesn’t). That thinking is detrimental to the organization IMO. Wang has had success and is apparently healthy, why knock a possible diamond in the rough? Is Adam Warren, who will probably baseball in a few seasons, worth lambasting this zero risk move?
  - Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)
    
    I somewhat agree, but be fair. Nobody ever said most of those guys were incredible, or even close to incredible. And you can name about as many veteran has-beens that have been given opportunities by the Yankees that amounted to shit.
    Also, how about the pitchers who have worked out – at least to some degree – Phelps, Nova, Kennedy, Wang….
    Not all prospects pan out. Most don’t. At some point, you have to find out if they will or won’t. Nobody’s saying Warren or Marshall or Nuno will be great. They likely won’t be better than back end starters at best. But the same (or worse) can be said for some of the veteran crap the Yankees have trotted out over the years (Qualls, Gordon, Carlyle, Gaudin, Hawkins, Park, Mosley, Mitre, Tomko…..).
    - Max Fischer
      
      I agree with most of what you say as well, but I think we’re truly underestimating how difficult it is to be a back end starter like Gaudin, Mitre, or Tomko. Marshall and Warren would be insanely lucky if they ever had successful careers like some of the guys you named. It’s not that they aren’t good, it’s just that the level of talent in the majors in incredible.
      
      Every starting pitcher on our AAA roster will probably end up out of baseball by 2016, or at least toiling away in the minors. I’m not trying to be negative, just realistic.
  - novymir
    
    Claggett was originally selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft. The New York Yankees acquired him from Detroit, along with right-handed pitchers Humberto Sánchez and Kevin Whelan, in exchange for outfielder Gary Sheffield on November 10, 2006
    - Max Fischer
      
      Yeah… I threw out like 8 random names that I remember seeing people advocating for, including Claggett. My point is that I feel as fans we’ve become obsessed with giving minor leaguers a chance at the big show, when in fact they don’t really deserve it. I love the rooting for the underdog mentality (I’m cheering for Butler as I type this), but not at the expense of us becoming the Astros.
http://b-rar.tumblr.com Brendan

I’m glad they didn’t leave Wang hanging.
- http://twitter.com/#!/AngeloInNY Angelo
  
  Well done, sir
- Name Not Entered
  
  They didn’t have the balls for that.
W.B. Mason Williams

Here’s hoping for the comeback attempt. Wang got us through some dark rotation years.
- Dave M
  
  “W.B. Mason Williams ”
  
  Love the nickname!
Dro413

If he has that sinker like before, great pick up.
Robinson Tilapia

My…….favorite signing off the off-season?

*drink*
- Dalek Jeter
  
  Me too…his name inspired my first handle on this site. If he makes it back to the majors I might have to revisit the name.
Arods hgh needle

I’m glad they picked up Chien Ming wang fu he’s better then half the crap we have pitching for us now ,now maybe they can scoop up a catcher cause Frankie crapvelli is horrible
- Barry
  
  Arod needs hgh needle and you need to lay off the bath salts. We have a stellar pitching staff in case you missed that.
  - Name Not Entered
    
    You mean Kurroded, Pee Yoos, No Va, and Phlops?
    - Barry
      
      I mean CC, Kuroda, AP, Hughes, Nova/Phelps. As good as any rotation in the majors.
- jjyank
  
  Uhhh, what? Sober up a bit before replying to this.
Dshockiii

Stop!!!!

All this does is tell Pineda to work his ass off…. He now has competition. We have a guy in our system that has done it. Show us that you are better. I love this signing.
Dshockiii

We need to open a spot for pineda and we already have to many starters! Can you see that something is damn near going to happen???
GreenArm

I cannot believe this is going to be my first ever RAB comment. (Very long time reader, etc…)

But not only am I 100% down with this signing, but c’mon… We potentially get to see a WANG VS. JOHNSON pitching match-up. Need I say more?

And ugh, just to add. Is it just me or has Eddard been more rational lately. OR is it just because we’re forced to play some hands he loves.

I guess I can weigh in on one other thing while I’m at it. I really don’t believe Cervelli is going to be that awful this year, if he gets the bulk of the catching starts. (Not a Stewart fan) Sure, I’m judging this based on what he ‘could have been’ in the past, and this SSS of ST this year, but I’m as happy as I could be. (Sure, maybe irrationally so.)

Anyways phew, got a tiny bit out of the way, and hi. I hope to be chatting a lot more here in the future. (As for tonight, I’ll try and reply if anyone happens to comment on this, but most likely I’m catching up on Game of Thrones, then going to bed. Haha, Friday night in BK is great!!)
- Robinson Tilapia
  
  Glad you’re joining in.
  
  I thin its hard to keep up a joke character for long. Eventually, you join in the fray just like everyone else…..except for the obvious few.
  
  Can the stat team review how many Wang/Johnson march ups there have already been?
  - GreenArm
    
    Yeah glad to finally take the plunge! Figured if I spend so much time reading, I may as well just post.
    
    Actually, I was just being a child and saying Dick Joke VS Dick Joke. Hence being a tad bummed it was my first ever comment, but it’s still funny, so I’ll take it.
jim p

If he comes out at the Stadium at some point, he’ll get a lot of love. For a while he was really our best, most reliable guy, and it’s sad he had such bad physical luck.

And maybe he’s recovered enough from the injuries to pitch well again.
- Alvaro Espinoza’s personal batboy
  
  I agree. Let’s see what he can do. If the sinker still works, who knows.
EndlessMike

Why is he gonna start the year in AAA?Phil Hughes is goanna start on the DL.Also Ivan Nova could just implode.
Need Pitching & Hitting (but mostly hitting)

Not sure the automatic June 1st opt out date in the new CBA would apply in this case. That only applies if the player signs between the day they become a free agent and 10-days prior to the start of the next season. Depending on when the signing becomes official, they may have missed the 10-day cutoff. I think Thursday would have been the cutoff (possibly Friday).
Nathan

A healthy Wang should have been what Kuroda is now to that ’09 team. A super solid #2, shame he got hurt running the bases so long ago.

At least I’ll be able to wear my old Wang shirt again. Here’s to hoping he can contribute something/anything to the Yankees again.
natcol

Despite his poor outings last year as a reliever, I think Yankee still should consider using him as a long man playing the role similar to that of David Phelps’s last season, if anything happened to the current rotation.

BUT, you had better notify him in advance AND give him a fresh frame to begin with.

If you recall, in 2009, his worst year, his ERA as a long man for Yankee was a respectable 2.58 in 7 innings. If you check carefully, he began those three outings with a brand new inning. In comparison, his relief outings in Nats were either unexpected or started with at least two occupied bases.
- GreenArm
  
  If he can handle this, I agree (for the most part, it would be great to have him able to come in, at least, a BIT of a higher leverage situation or whatnot). If one of Phelps/Nova doesn’t make it, I’d love to see them getting regular starts at AAA to stay on track and continue developing as a starting pitcher.
Darren

Forget about all of the rational reasons why this is a no-brainer…he’s not blocking anyone; he was a very successful MLB pitcher who may finally be recovered from injury; etc..

If some part of you isn’t happy about this move purely for emotional reasons, it seems you’re missing an important part of the game (i.e., rooting for more than just numbers on a screen). How could you not applaud this and want him to succeed, moreso than an anonymous (and unnamed) AAA prospect?
- Ally
  
  +1 He was robbed of his youth. Good luck Chien Ming!
- ClusterDuck
  
  OK folks. Is Wang or is Wang not blocking a kid at AAA?
  
  We have Warren, Nuno, Marshall and Turley. That’s four, so those four aren’t blocked.
  
  So who is being blocked?
  
  Betances?
  
  Would Betances be better in the pen?
  - http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa
    
    Turley’s going to AA. He made one start there last year.
Leftylarry

Yankees ruined Wang, glad they are giving him a shot.
- trr
  
  he was injured running the bases. follow the team much?
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    The incline was obviously off….or something.
    
    Cashman failed.
    - trr
      
      there are people who tell me that everything is somebody’s fault…
      - nsalem
        
        Some injuries are unavoidable. I believe this one was avoidable. I think in inter-league play if an inexperienced base running pitcher happens to get on base (especially your ace at the time), he should just be expected to go station to station unless the 3rd base coach (Bobby Meachem) deems that the runner can walk safely to the next base. The Yankees were already up 4-0 against a very weak hitting team. I think they had already knocked out Oswalt and were on the verge of breaking the game open. Meachem was replaced as 3rd base coach at the end of the season. I don’t know the reason why but wouldn’t be shock if it had something to do with Wang’s injury, In my mind both Girardi and Meachem bear some of the responsibility for Wang getting hurt.. I think this was a great acquisition and Wang has a good chance of coming back and contributing to the parent club in 2013.
        
        Jay Pharoah as Stephen A. Smith
        
        Bobby Meacham is a dear personal friend. We have shared many, many moments of extreme closeness. I have tickled the man’s anus many, many a time….but BOBBY MEACHAM SHOULD BE SHOT ON SITE IF HE EVER, and I mean EVER, COMES NEAR THIRD BASE AGAIN.
        
        Clearly.
Alvaro Espinoza’s personal batboy

I don’t mind this signing. It could work out in some unexpected way. Who knows. Okay, Cash, I’ll get behind it. Let’s see what CMW can do.
trr

look, it’s a no risk move, anything positive we get from him is gravy….no one’s career is being held back, and if nothing comes of it, it’ll be forgotten as quickly as the $50m spent on Kei Igawa
MartinRanger

Whether its because I’m a prospect hugger or whatever, it makes me smile a bit to see familiar faces like Wang and Juan Rivera back in the organization. Hopefully they can chip in a bit this year.

Hoping that we’ll get reasonable production out of a Boesch/Francisco platoon, and Rivera’s got a bit to offer against lefties at 1st.

Still, Wang looked good in the WBC, it’s a no risk move, and we certainly know he can handle New York.
KofFH

I’d rather Wang take Phelps’ job and let Dave be #1 in the rotation at AAA.
- jjyank
  
  If he’s the Wang of old, sure. As much as I want it to be true, a dozen WBC innings doesn’t mean that guy is back though.
  
  That said, I think it’s a good minor league deal and I’m rooting like hell for Wang to be good enough to displace somebody. If he is that good, it’ll be a sweet problem to have.
Anthony

Back in 2009 I was at a Barnes and Noble in Edgewater, NJ (which, sadly, is no longer there) and I saw a very tall man that looked insanely familiar. After getting a better look at him I realized it was Chien-Ming Wang browsing around for some books. He was by himself and nobody else seemed to recognize who he was.

I didn’t want to bother him so I purchased my book and left. As I was leaving I held the door for someone else leaving the store and, of course, that someone else was Chien-Ming Wang. I couldn’t help it and asked him for a picture and he agreed. Then I wished him luck on returning from his injury, he said thank you, shook my hand, and went on his way. Definitely a cool experience.

I’m irrationally happy about this singing. I hope Chien-Ming Wang can come up at some point during the season and contribute positively to the 2013 Yankees. Lot of good memories with him on the mound, back when the pitching was terrriiiibbbblllleee.
Darren

Re-reading these comments, I have to say, Forensic, you have no soul.
Taking SABRmetrics to new lows.
- forensic
  
  How am I taking sabermetrics to a new low when I didn’t say a single thing in any of my comments about particular stats or sabermetrics?
- Jim Is Bored
  
  What the heck? I completely disagree with his point but it seriously could not have had anything less to do with SABR.
I’m not the droids you’re looking for…

I’m a big Wang guy.
- vicki
  
  sup.
Endlessjose

THis is a great low risk move.With Hughes going to the DL,Ivan Nova looking mediocre and Pettitte not a sure thing it’s not crazy having Wang as a 6th starter longman reliever.

He easily replaces Derek Lowe.Funny how the yankees give $3 million to Wang but giving Derek Lowe a minor league deal was too pricey.We see the Yankees can’t use there money wisely.
vicki

and from the phoenix the ashes arise!

i kid. but i do hope every groundball is hit to second base.
John C

Better Wang than Freddy Garcia no?
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2013/03/29/2003558249 Danny Bloom

Wang Chien-ming, or Chien-ming Wang?

An American expat in Taiwan named Dan Bloom from Boston asks in a
letter to the editor to the Taipei Times:

Dear Editor,

Why is Wang Chien-ming’s (???) name in US newspapers and on US TV
sports networks written and spoken out loud as “Chien-ming Wang” in
the wrong order?

According to usual Taiwanese style, he should be known as Wang
Chien-ming, even in the West and even in English-language newspapers.

When Wang first went to play baseball for the Yankees in New York many
moons ago, he was always called Wang Chien-ming in the
English-language newspapers in Taiwan and the US, but after a few
years, newspapers in the US gradually started writing his name as
Chien-ming Wang. TV newscasters followed suit.

The New York Times’ and the Washington Post’s sports pages and all US
TV sports channels now write and say his name “Chien-ming Wang.”

From some e-mails I exchanged with a Washington Post sports reporter
last year, I was told that this new order was the way Wang wanted his
name to be used in the US, so “the Washington Post and the Associated
Press wire service are just following his wishes,” to quote the
reporter.

Was this really Wang’s wish, or was it the idea of his agent or of the
US sports community to give him a Western-style name order in US
media?

It is true that Japanese sports stars in the US use a Western name
order in English-language newspapers and that it is Japanese tradition
to write their names in the Western name order on English-language
business cards and in English-language newspapers.

So we have examples such as Ichiro Suzuki, whose name in Japanese is
written “Suzuki Ichiro,” but as “Ichiro Suzuki” in the US.

The same holds true with Japanese politicians in English-language
newspapers in Taiwan and overseas.

Former Japanese prime minister Koizumi Junichiro was always identified
in the English-language media as “Junichiro Koizumi.”

However, we never see President Ma Ying-jeou’s (???) name written in
US newspapers as Ying-jeou Ma, do we?

So why does Wang Chien-ming get special treatment by US sports writers?

Notice that not all Taiwanese sports stars playing in North America
have their name order reversed in the US media.

Was it Wang’s wish and desire to be called Chien-ming Wang on US TV
and in English-language newspapers, was it his agent’s idea or that of
US sports editors, and TV and radio newscasters?

Is this to be a new trend, following the Japanese name order trend in
the West, or is this the wrong way to write or say Taiwanese names in
English-language media in Taiwan and overseas?

”Bloom Dan”
Chiayi City
bikolang@gmail.com

http://www.taipeitimes.com/New.....2003558249

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