Shen Chia-Hsi Joins Seattle Marines
On July 10, the Seattle Mariners announced the signing of 20-year-old right-hander 沈家羲 (Shen Chia-Shi / Shen Chia-Hsi) as an international free agent, making him the 12th Taiwanese player to join the Mariners’ system.
Note: Due to different Romanisation systems, you might see a slightly different spelling of Shen’s name. “Hsi” follows the Wade-Giles system used by Shen’s agency and myself, while “Shi” uses the Mandarin Phonetic Symbols II system used by MLB. Both are correct, but for the sake of consistency, from now on, I will be using “Shi” on this blog.
Welcome to the @Mariners family!
We’ve signed 20-year-old RHP Chia-Shi Shen out of Taiwan. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/aWAA7nt0dz
— Mariners Player Development (@MsPlayerDev) July 9, 2024
Before signing with the Seattle Mariners, Shen Chia-Shi pitched for the New Taipei City baseball team in Taiwan’s industrial league (semi-pro). He stands 186 cm tall and was recently clocked throwing his fastball at 156 kph (97 mph) during a tournament. Shen also throws a changeup, splitter, curveball and cutter.
Shen Chia-Shi was previously rumoured to sign with the Oakland Athletics in November 2022, but the deal fell through for unknown reasons in January 2023. Based on the report by ETtoday in 2023, even though Shen did not sign with the A’s, he was still on the radar of several teams from the American League.
Shen Chia-Shi Arrested for DUI in 2023
In June 2023, Shen Chia-Shi was arrested for drink driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.64 mg/litre (Taiwan’s legal limit is 0.15 mg/litre) and was prosecuted for public endangerment. According to CNA, this DUI incident ultimately delayed his signing with an MLB team in 2023.
Speculation: Shen Chia-Shi’s Signing Bonus?
While the Seattle Mariners have not disclosed Shen Chia-Shi’s contract details, we can speculate based on past reports from 2022 and 2023. Both CNA and TSNA reported that Shen’s contract with the Oakland Athletics in 2022 was somewhere between $300,000 and 350,000 USD. After the deal with the A’s fell through, the Seattle Mariners reportedly offered Shen 250,000 USD in 2023.