Sha Tzu-Chen Signs With Oakland Athletics
On February 10, the Oakland Athletics signed 20-year-old Taiwanese right-hander 沙子宸 (Sha Tzu-Chen) as an international free agent. An official signing press conference has been scheduled and will take place on February 15.
According to the local media, Sha Tzu-Chen recently passed the physical and will receive a 375,000 USD signing bonus with an additional $50,000 tuition allowance to bring the whole package over 425,000 USD.
Around mid-November 2022, rumours began circulating that several MLB organisations (Dodgers, Pirates and Athletics) were interested in Sha Tzu-Chen and received offers from multiple teams.
“In the beginning, my goal was to play in the CPBL,” Sha Tzu-Chen told Liberty Sports. “It was not until I was in my senior year of high school, and I heard MLB scouts were interested in me, then I set my goal to go to the MLB system.”
Sha Tzu-Chen Pitching Repertoire
Sha Tzu-Chen stands 190 cm (6′ 24″) and throws a fastball with a high spin rate that tops out at 148 kph (92 mph). He also has a slider, changeup, curveball and 2-seam fastball in his arsenal.
5th Taiwanese to Play for the A’s
With the signing with the Oakland Athletics, Sha Tzu-Chen became the fifth Taiwanese player to play for the A’s system.
- 潘志芳 (Pan Chih-Fang), 2010-15, reached High-A
- 陳鏞基 (Chen Yung-Chi), 2009-10, reached Triple-A
- 王維中 (Wang Wei-Chung), 2019, reached MLB
- 莊陳仲敖 (Zhuang Chen Zhang-Ao), 2022, currently in Single-A