Twins sign Taiwanese pitcher

[gmarais66]

According to MLB Trade Rumors: The Twins have signed Taiwanese pitching prospect Chih-Wei Hu for $220K, reports MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. The 18-year-old right-hander reportedly runs his fastball into the low-90s.

[gunnarthor]

Here's some video of him: http://taiwanbaseball.blogspot.com/2012/04/hs-top-gun-vids.html

[notoriousgod71]

Does he pitch to contact?

[darin617]

Does he pitch to contact?

Don't worry, if he doesn't he will soon learn the Twins way to pitch..

[minn55441]

Thanks for the link to the video Gunnar.

 

Pretty animated catcher, hopefully Joe will be playing first base full time by the time he reaches the majors.

[Ultima Ratio]

Are you sure you have the right guy?

The video refers to the pitcher as Wei-Chieh Huang not Chih-Wei Hu.

[righty8383]

It is the 3rd video down.

[Ultima Ratio]

It is the 3rd video down.

Ah, got it. Top video guy looks good though

[Seth Stohs]

18 year old RH. sits upper 80s, but he's been clocked as high as 94. Terrific changeup. Good control.

 

The Twins have done really well in Taiwan the last couple of years. Hung-yi Chen and Kuo-Hua Lo both have shown a lot in the GCL. Obviously a long way to go, but these are good, live arms!

[Seth Stohs]

Teams can spend up to $2.9 million. They can also sign up to 6 guys at $50,000 that don't count under the $2.9 million. So, where are the Twins at:

 

Minier - $1.4 Million

Thorpe - $0.5 Million

Hu - $0.22 Million

 

That's $2.12 Million, and I'm sure i'm missing some.

[bird]

They've only spent $2.12M? And they could have spent $2.9M by now?

 

Clearly we're seeing signs of more bare-bones budget cutting.

 

Right, jokin?

[diehardtwinsfan]

Teams can spend up to $2.9 million. They can also sign up to 6 guys at $50,000 that don't count under the $2.9 million. So, where are the Twins at:

 

Minier - $1.4 Million

Thorpe - $0.5 Million

Hu - $0.22 Million

 

That's $2.12 Million, and I'm sure i'm missing some.

I thought there was at least one more bonus baby... but I cannot remember either.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

Teams can spend up to $2.9 million. They can also sign up to 6 guys at $50,000 that don't count under the $2.9 million. So, where are the Twins at:

 

Minier - $1.4 Million

Thorpe - $0.5 Million

Hu - $0.22 Million

 

That's $2.12 Million, and I'm sure i'm missing some.

Mauricio Silva for .37 Million

^He is a 16 year old righty from Venezuela who has topped out at 93mph.

So 2.49 million for sure and possibly more.

[roger]

Teams can spend up to $2.9 million. They can also sign up to 6 guys at $50,000 that don't count under the $2.9 million. So, where are the Twins at:

 

Minier - $1.4 Million

Thorpe - $0.5 Million

Hu - $0.22 Million

 

That's $2.12 Million, and I'm sure i'm missing some.

Seth, they signed Josh Guyer. Never saw what they paid him, but likely he could be part of the added amount.

 

Here is the link to the Aussie's story...

 

http://www.ibaf.org/en/news/2012/07/31/minnesota-twins-sign-aussie-josh-guyer/a484960c-8e30-4d32-a891-3911b8060f0a

[Seth Stohs]

Yeah, I couldn't find the $ amount on Guyer. They may be up to $2.9 already.

[roger]

Yeah, I couldn't find the $ amount on Guyer. They may be up to $2.9 already.

Knowing how the Twins work in the draft, etc, I expect they have saved a few dollars so they can add a little bump to the six guys they want to sign for $50k or less. As we saw in the first draft under the new CBA, they kept a few hundred thousand and used part of it for Zach Larson. Expect they will do the same with the International budget.

[OtherHoward219]

It's too bad the guy isn't a first baseman.

We'd finally be able to say, "Hu's on first".

[ShaeTwins]

150 km/hr? What's that in American, like 300 mph?

[Seth Stohs]

150 km/hr? What's that in American, like 300 mph?

 

I believe that is correct!

[beckmt]

150 km/hr is 90 miles per hour. Needs to be a little faster like 155km/hr or 160km/hr. conversion is about .6

[righty8383]

150km=93 miles

[roger]

150 km/hr? What's that in American, like 300 mph?

93.75mph

[ashbury]

It's too bad the guy isn't a first baseman.

We'd finally be able to say, "Hu's on first".

What?

[Seth Stohs]

What?

What's on Second. I don't know's on Third.

[righty8383]

It's too bad the guy isn't a first baseman.

We'd finally be able to say, "Hu's on first".

I hear the Twins are thinking of converting him to 1st base just for that reason. I for one fully support this move

[powrwrap]

Mechanics are terrible. Leg kick isn't high enough, he twists his leg and hips too much, and he blows through his balance point. His finish is violent and he turns his back to the hitter.

[Thrylos]

$200K bonus on Guyer IIRC and there was another Aussie they signed for good money.

[bird]

Oh, so they DID spend the whole $2.9M allottment. Well, that still doesn't negate the fact that the Pohlad's only care about money and are cheap.

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Teams can spend up to $2.9 million. They can also sign up to 6 guys at $50,000 that don't count under the $2.9 million. So, where are the Twins at:

 

Minier - $1.4 Million

Thorpe - $0.5 Million

Hu - $0.22 Million

 

That's $2.12 Million, and I'm sure i'm missing some.

 

Mauricio Silva for .37 Million

^He is a 16 year old righty from Venezuela who has topped out at 93mph.

So 2.49 million for sure and possibly more.

 

Argenis Mauricio Silva was signed in January, so he doesn't count against the spending pool.

 

Josh Guyer's bonus isn't public yet - I just checked and Baseball America doesn't have the figure yet - so we're still at $2.12m.

[YourHouseIsMyHouse]

 

Argenis Mauricio Silva was signed in January, so he doesn't count against the spending pool.

 

Josh Guyer's bonus isn't public yet - I just checked and Baseball America doesn't have the figure yet - so we're still at $2.12m.

I don't know much about the rules on international signings. My mistake.