Hawks-Monkeys Trade Deal (5 Players)

What an exciting time for CPBL fans! This league has gone from almost no trades to two multi-player trade deals in the past two seasons.

On August 10, the TSG Hawks and Rakuten Monkeys announced a 5-player trade deal. The Hawks will trade their 2023 first-round pick 林子偉 (Lin Tzu-Wei) in exchange for the Monkeys’ 王溢正 (Wang I-Cheng), 翁瑋均 (Weng Wei-Chun), 藍寅倫 (Lan Yin-Lun) and the negotiation rights of 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) when he returns to CPBL in the future.

  • Age and Position Breakdown
  • Lin Tzu-Wei – 29 years old – Infielder / Outfielder
  • Wang Po-Jung – 29 years old – Outfielder
  • Lan Yin-Lun – 33 years old – Outfielder
  • Weng Wei-Chun – 24 years old – RHP
  • Wang I-Cheng – 37 years old – LHP

TSG Hawks manager Hong I-Chung told the media that the Hawks is a new baseball team with a lot of young players that need some experienced players to provide leadership and help them develop further on and off the field.

“Having these four players will help our team tremendously. I coached all four of them before during my time with the Lamigo Monkeys, and I wholeheartedly trust their on-field experience and attitude towards the games,” said Hong I-Chung to ETtoday.

Lin Tzu-Wei (Rakuten Monkeys)

  • 29 years old, infielder / outfielder.
  • Active in MLB from 2017-2021.
  • 2024 CPBL Season Projection: Once Lin Tzu-Wei adjusts to the CPBL, he is highly likely to be an above 130 wRC+ hitter with a plus glove and healthy enough to be the Monkeys’ middle infielder.

“There is no doubt about Lin Tzu-Wei’s baseball ability. He can offer his teammates a lot of insights and even provide some technical improvements, which is always a good thing for the team,” the Monkeys manager Tseng Hao-Chu told TSNA. “Lin can hit, has good arm strength and can play both infield and outfield, which can provide versatility for the team.”

The Monkeys manager also revealed that the front office has been working with the Hawks on this Lin Tzu-Wei trade deal for almost a month. At this stage, the team expects to assign Lin Tzu-Wei to an infield position after he reports to the Monkeys on August 15.

“Lin Tzu-Wei is a very skilful player, and we initially hoped we would be able to sign him,” the Hawks manager Hong I-Chung told ETtoday. “But after reviewing different trade proposals from other teams, we realised trading Lin away for more experienced players would benefit the team more, and this is what the Hawks need the most right now. This is why this trade came to be.”

Wang Po-Jung (TSG Hawks)

  • 29 years old, outfielder
  • 2015 CPBL 1st round pick
  • 2016 and 2017 CPBL MVP
  • Posted to the NPB at the end of the 2018 CPBL season
  • Finished the 2021 NPB season with an above-average .750 OPS with nine home runs and 118 wRC+ across 95 games. (Pacific League’s average OPS is .683). But was not given enough opportunities in 2022 and 2023 by the Fighters management.
  • 2024 CPBL Season Projection: Assuming Wang Po-Jung will return to the CPBL. He is already an established hitter in the CPBL. He is very likely to be one of the candidates for the 2024 MVP award.

Regarding how to handle Wang Po-Jung’s contract, as he is currently playing in the NPB, the Monkeys GM Roger Pu told Liberty Sports that once Wang Po-Jung decides to return to the CPBL, the Monkeys will sign him first and then transfer the contract to the TSG Hawks.

“If Wang Po-Jung becomes a free agent at the end of the year, the TSG Hawks will fly to Japan to negotiate the contract and demonstrating our utmost sincerity to sign him,” the TSG Hawks GM Liu Dong-Yang told Yahoo Sports.

“TSG Hawks, as an expansion team, needs power hitters in our lineup, and with Wang Po-Jung and Lan Yin-Lun, it would cover our lack of power issue,” the Monkeys manager Hong I-Chung told ETtoday. “Both players would be great role models for the younger Hawks hitters.”

Wang I-Cheng (TSG Hawks)

  • 37 years old, left-handed pitcher
  • 2008 CPBL 2nd round pick
  • Went to NPB and joined DeNA Baystars in 2009
  • Return to the CPBL and joined the Lamigo Monkeys in 2013.
  • Potentially still have 1-2 years left in his gas tank as a slightly below-league-average pitcher. But it all depends on his condition.
  • 2024 CPBL Season Projection: Wang I-Cheng is very likely to be used in a low-leverage situation to eat innings and get the occasional spot start here and there to stabilise the Hawks’ overall pitching depth. He will most likely serve as an unofficial player-coach for the Hawks.

As for Wang I-Cheng, the oldest player (37) in this trade deal, manager Hong I-Chung told TaiSounds that the Hawks do not expect him to contribute solely in terms of on-field performance. Instead, they want him to bring his experience to all the younger teammates.

“Some of the younger players might find it challenging to open up to the coaching staff, but having a veteran player around, it could encourage younger players to communicate more freely,” said the Hawks manager.

Lan Yin-Lun (TSG Hawks)

  • 33 years old, outfielder
  • 2013 CPBL 7th round pick
  • 2014 CPBL Rookie of the Year
  • Known for playing 200% on the field and is frequently injured.
  • Used to be the primary outfielder, but slowly lost his starting role due to the stacked roster within the Monkeys organisation.
  • Still a very capable outfielder. Just need to be given more opportunities in the first team.
  • 2024 CPBL Season Projection: Should Lan Yin-Lun stays healthy, he would be an everyday corner outfielder for the Hawks, maybe with a wRC+ between 90 to 110.

Weng Wei-Chun (TSG Hawks)

  • 24 years old, right-handed pitcher
  • 2018 CPBL 1st round pick
  • Has a lot of potential to be a starting pitcher, but he was very inconsistent with his performance.
  • On and off injury issues over the year. (bone spurs and shoulder discomfort)
  • Earlier this year, while playing in the Australian Baseball League, his velocity topped out at 148 kph, but in August 2023, his velocity fell to 138 kph.
  • 2024 CPBL Season Projection: Whether Weng Wei-Chun can stay healthy is the biggest concern here. But assuming he is healthy, Weng ideally should be a 4th or 5th starter in the Hawks rotation.

Who Won the Trade?

Judging from the surface, the Rakuten Monkeys, without a doubt, easily won this trade. They basically acquired a healthy former MLB infielder Lin Tzu-Wei, and it cost them nothing in terms of having zero impact on their existing first-team roster and farm system.

Although the Monkeys seemed to be the ones walking away as the trade winner, it’s not all bad for the TSG Hawks when considering all the factors leading up to this trade.

There were rumours weeks before the 2023 draft hinted that Lin Tzu-Wei is a bit reluctant to join the TSG Hawks.

Based on that information, on the night of the 2023 CPBL draft, the TSG Hawks only had two choices, either pick a polished player like Lin Tzu-Wei, or the other choice would be choosing a high school prospect Wang Nien-Hao.

Under the assumption that Lin doesn’t want to join the Hawks, it is actually more beneficial for the Hawks to pick Lin Tzu-Wei, who has a much higher trade value than high school prospect Wang Nien-Hao.

With that mindset, perhaps we should look at this trade like the Hawks using one high school prospect in exchange for four players consisting of a former CPBL MVP (Wang Po-Jung), an everyday outfielder (Lan Yin-Lun), a young domestic starter (Weng Wei-Chun) and an ageing pitcher (Wang I-Cheng). While it is not perfect, it is pretty acceptable.

Anyway, regardless of which team came out on top in the trade, one thing is certain: we fans are the true winners of this deal.

Rejected Trade Proposals Rumours

Here are some rejected trade proposal rumours reported by the media and via the PTT message board.

Note: This is just some fun and interesting rumours that I gathered online, so take it with a grain of salt. It is purely for entertainment purposes.

  • An unnamed team offered 3 first-team-ready outfielders, but the Hawks wanted more star players, so the deal fell apart.
  • An unnamed team told TSG Hawks could pick any 5 players outside of their 24-man protection roster. But the Hawks rejected the deal.
  • Hawks wanted to trade Lin Tzu-Wei for Chen Tzu-Hao and Chan Tzu-Hsien, but the deal was rejected by the CTBC Brothers.
  • It is supposed to be a 3-team trade deal between the Hawks, Guardians and Monkeys. Initially, Lin Tzu-Wei was going to the Guardians.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

2 COMMENTS

  1. I think this trade only makes sense for the Hawks if Wang Po-Jung returns to the CPBL in 2024, so that seems to be the gamble the Hawks are making. Wang would certainly give the Hawks a player to market, but they only got one young player for Lin otherwise.

    Seems like a good move for the Monkeys, insofar as they are getting what should be as close as it gets to a sure thing for the next three or four seasons.

    • Rakuten Monkeys should renamed their name to the Rakuten Bandits, because what a steal! Yeah, on paper, even a 1 to 1 (Wang for Lin) is worth it for the Hawks. But like you said, that assuming Wang Po-Jung will return to the CPBL next season. Big gamble for sure. I also think the additional players like Lan Yin-Lun and Wang I-Cheng can also serve as the “trainer” to help TSG Hawks’ manager to rebuild “Lamigo Monkeys” with the Hawks.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here