Via Taiwan Baseball, the Yankees are after 16-year-old Taiwanese shortstop Tzu-Wei Lin. They had originally agreed to sign him for $350k back in 2010, but the deal fell apart because he was too young to turn pro at the time. Bidding is expected to approach $2M this time around. “For sure we will make an offer that is higher than the current offers to get him to join the Yankees,” said Ken Su, the team’s scout in Taiwan. “Our organization has given instructions to get (Lin) at any cost.”
MLB.com recently ranked Lin as the 18th best international free agent on the market, noting that he’s a burner from the left side of the plate with little present power but a strong arm and solid defensive skills. He’s listed at 5-foot-8 and 160 lbs., so c’mon growth spurt. It’s worth noting that Lin will be subject to the spending restrictions implemented by the new Collective Bargaining Agreement come July 2nd, so expect him to sign before then. The Yankees are a very popular team in Taiwan thanks to the success of Chien-Ming Wang, and that can only help their pursuit of Lin and other prospects.