The New York Yankees will have new players and a new ballpark in 2009, but the team will welcome Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-Ming back into the fold next season. The Yanks have signed the 28-year-old Wang to a one-year contract for $5 million, avoiding salary arbitration for the right-hander.
Wang was 8-2 with a 4.07 ERA in 15 starts for New York in 2008 before his season ended June 17 with injuries to his right foot. He began the year with six consecutive wins after starting the Yankees’ final opener in Yankee Stadium April 1 with a 3-2 win over Toronto. He was 5-0 in April, earning his 50th career win on April 22.
Signed by the Yanks as a non-drafted free agent in 2000, Wang won 19 games in both 2006 and 2007, and his .754 winning percentage since 2006 is second only to Boston’s Jon Lester among major league pitchers during that period. Wang has won more MLB games than any other Taiwanese-born pitcher, and ranks third all-time in wins by Asian-born hurlers, trailing only the 123 victories by Japan’s Hideo Nomo and 117 by Korean Park Chan-ho.
The Yankees have signed first baseman Mark Teixeira and pitchers C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett as free agents, and will move into their new billion-dollar stadium next season.
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