TSG Hawks Sign Star Outfielder Wang Po-Jung
Welcome home, Wang Po-Jung! On December 13, the TSG Hawks announced the signing of 30-year-old outfielder 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) to a 3-year deal worth 1.2 million USD.
“We signed Wang Po-Jung to a 3-year contract because we want to provide him with peace of mind. He is still young, after this 3-year deal, we hope to offer him another 3-year deal,” said the TSG Hawks chairman.
From CPBL to NPB to CPBL
Wang Po-Jung began his professional career in the CPBL in 2016 with the Lamigo Monkeys and was posted to the NPB at the end of 2018. After spending five seasons playing for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, he decided to leave the NPB and return to the CPBL.
“The last five years in Japan have been very fulfilling, and I cherished my time with the Fighters organisation. I have grown tremendously in both my baseball skills and life experiences,” said Wang Po-Jung. “I want to share what I learned in the NPB with the younger Hawks players and start contributing to the TSG Hawks.”
Under the CPBL regulation, Wnag Po-Jung was supposed to return to his former team, the Lamigo Monkeys, which has now been rebranded as the Rakuten Monkeys. However, back in August 2023, Wang’s CPBL negotiation rights were traded to the TSG Hawks in a 5-player trade deal. [Further Reading]
“I admit it was a huge gamble to trade our 2023 first-round pick for Wang Po-Jung’s negotiation rights. But as a new team in the CPBL, we need to have a marquee player, and Wang Po-Jung has this kind of value,” said TSG Hawks’ general manager. “After a lengthy negotiation with Wang’s agency, I am extremely pleased to bring Wang Po-Jung back to the CPBL, Taiwan and the City of Kaohsiung.”
RongRong HR!
Nippon-Ham Fighters 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) crushes his 1st home run of the season! 💪 #NPBTW pic.twitter.com/yodPZMCBJE
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) August 17, 2023
Hawks Expect Wang Po-Jung to be a Leader
With the TSG Hawks currently still playing in the 2023 CPBL Winter League, the Hawks manager, Hong I-Chung, left a video message for Wang Po-Jung at the press conference. Hong, who managed Wang Po-Jung during his time at the Lamigo Monkey, expressed his welcome and wished Wang would be able to set an example and provide guidance to the younger Hawks players.
“It is great to be reunited with my Lamigo Monkeys manager and several other Monkeys teammates at the TSG Hawks,” said Wang Po-Jung. “I am thrilled to play alongside them again and work together to secure more victories for the TSG Hawks.”
When asked what sort of personal goals Wang Po-Jung has for the upcoming 2024 CPBL season. Wang told the media that he is very excited to return to the CPBL again, and he wants to stay healthy and play over 100 games to help the team.
Solo shot (HR#16) from #Lamigo Monkeys’ 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung). With 7 games remaining, Wang will have a chance to take home the hits and the RBI titles. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/9Wg0Z4agBz
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) October 6, 2018