Fighters Re-Sign Wang Po-Jung for 2022
On November 7, Nikkan Sports reported that the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters have re-signed 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) for the 2022 NPB season.
The 28-year-old Taiwanese outfielder 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)
At this stage, there is no news about Wang Po-Jung’s 2022 contract details, but many speculate he is likely to face a pay cut. Even though Wang posted a 118 wRC+ and performed above the league average, but being a foreign hitter, it might not be enough.
The Fighters signed Wang Po-Jung out of the CPBL at the end of 2018 to a three-year deal worth four million USD.
UPDATE #1: Wang Po-Jung’s agency have revealed the contract detail. The Fighters re-signed Wang to a one year deal worth 70 million yen (roughly 620,000 USD) excluding performance incentives.
UPDATE #2: According to ETtoday, apart from the 70 million yen (620,000 USD) salary, there is also an additional 30 million yen (270,000 USD) worth of performance incentives for Wang Po-Jung in the 2022 season.
王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) went opposite field for his 5th home run of the season! ? #NPBTW pic.twitter.com/0voKZMDWdY
— CPBL STATS ♥️ #95 (@GOCPBL) June 6, 2021
Wang Po-Jung NPB Stats (2019-2021)
- 2019: .255/.321/.327 with 3 HR
- 2020: .207/.263/.322 with 2 HR
- 2021: .242/.322/.429 with 9 HR
- 2021 Pacific League Average: .241/.315/.368
王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) with a timely go-ahead solo shot! #NPBTW pic.twitter.com/hNEhkRaHQS
— CPBL STATS ♥️ #95 (@GOCPBL) October 17, 2021
Thought he was the next great mlb hope for cpbl. Think there are any current players that could potentially jump to mlb at some point? Definitely a tough jump but I thought lin an-ko, chu yu-hsien, su chih-chieh and lin li might have the best tools for hitters. Hsu jo hsi and gu lin rui yang look promising for pitchers.
Like jump straight from CPBL to MLB starting lineup right now? Probably no one at the moment.
But CPBL to Double-A or Triple-A and then promote to MLB after some seasoning? Maybe some of those players you named above have a shot of doing it.
Would love to see MLB taking a chance on the CPBL players. Yes, it would be a gamble, but need to get the ball rolling.