Yu Chang Signs With Boston Red Sox
On February 16, the Boston Red Sox announced the signing of Taiwanese infielder 張育成 (Yu Chang) to a one-year Major League deal.
In order to make room for Yu Chang on the 40-man roster, the Red Sox placed Trevor Story, who underwent elbow surgery in January, on the 60-day injured list.
According to Red Sox beat writer Chris Cotillo, Yu Chang is set to receive 870,000 USD with some performance bonuses for the 2023 MLB season.
“Yu Chang is another shortstop, and we need a deeper roster. With him, we accomplished that,” said the Red Sox manager Alex Cora.
“I am so happy that I can finally share this good news with everybody. I can’t wait to join the Red Sox again. But first, the World Baseball Classic!” said Yu Chang on his Facebook.
Boston Red Sox 張育成 (Yu Chang) rips an RBI double off the wall. #MLBTW pic.twitter.com/cnh2IDB7Zp
— CPBL STATS – ♥️ #95, Mina (@GOCPBL) September 19, 2022
Yu Chang is currently in Taiwan training with the Taiwanese WBC national team in preparation for the World Baseball Classic. He made his warm-up game debut yesterday against the Wei Chuan Dragons and went 2-for-2.
According to Team Taiwan’s manager, Yu Chang is likely to play either second base or first base in the tournament. But it all depends on his conditions towards the end of the training camp.
Earlier this year, Yu Chang was under the media spotlight for not wanting to fulfil his contractual obligation with the Taiwanese government by bringing up the idea of turning down the invitation to play for the national team.
Back in 2019, Yu Chang signed an agreement with the Taiwanese government to get a military service exemption, but in exchange, for the next five years, he must be available to play for the national team in international tournaments.
After receiving much backlash from the public, Yu Chang decided to hold up his end of the bargain and announced his commitment to play for Team Taiwan in the 2023 WBC.
The 2022 MLB season was an eventful year for Yu Chang. The 27-year-old infielder played for four different MLB teams (Guardians, Pirates, Rays and Red Sox). In 190 plate appearances, Chang slashed .208/.289/.315 with 4 home runs and a below-league average of 75 OPS+.
Tampa Bay Rays 張育成 (Yu Chang) belts his 3rd home run of the season. 💪 #MLBTW pic.twitter.com/cPApGI4uZd
— CPBL STATS – ♥️ #95, Mina (@GOCPBL) August 10, 2022