On June 17 the New York Yankees baseball team signed two Chinese players – catcher Zhang Zhenwang and left-handed pitcher Liu Kai – to minor league contracts. They’ll play for the Yankees’ farm system and work their way up to the majors. Their contracts have the approval of the China Baseball Association.
Liu Kai, from Guangdong province, and Zhang Zhengwang, from Tianjin, are both 19 and are members of the China national team. The general manager of Yankees, Brian Cashman, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for us to integrate Chinese players into the organization.”
This contract is based on a memorandum of cooperation, which was signed between China Baseball Association and the NY Yankees. The memorandum states that they will work together to popularize baseball in China and improve influence of this sport at the coming Beijing Olympic Games.
UPDATE: The Black China Hand comments:
The Yankees television network just gained a potential 1.5 billion viewers with this deal.
- The First (竞报) (Chinese): Chinese young player was selected by MLB (image source)
- NY Yankees Hompage: Yankees sign two Chinese prospects
- Sina Sports (Chinese): First time to enter MLB, 2 young stars signed NY Yankees
- People’s Daily: Yankees sign up teenage prospects