Uni-Lions Terminate Huang Yung-Chuan’s Contract
On May 15, the Uni-Lions announced that they terminated the contract of their top prospect, 黃勇傳 (Huang Yung-Chuan), due to a serious breach of the team’s code of conduct.
According to the team’s press release, Huang Yung-Chuan requested to go on leave on May 3 to sort out his personal finances but failed to return to the team on May 11 as promised.
The team attempted numerous times to contact the 20-year-old middle infielder, but Huang still did not show up for team practices on May 12, 13, and 14. This action severely violated the Uni-Lions’ regulations, leading to his immediate dismissal.
In an interview with UDN, the Uni-Lions GM revealed that the issue was not gambling debt but rather related to personal loans. The team and Huang’s agency had previously attempted to assist him in this matter, but with Huang Yung-Chuan not returning to the team despite multiple warnings, the team had no choice but to terminate his contract.
Huang Yung-Chuan was the Uni-Lions’ first-round pick in the 2022 CPBL draft. He received a signing bonus of 167,000 USD with an additional 34,000 USD in performance incentives and an annual rookie base salary of 20,000 USD.
The highly touted middle infielder appeared in seven games in the 2024 season in the CPBL major league and slashed .381/.423/.476 over 26 plate appearances.
Best known for his hitting ability, in the past few years, the media has projected him as the future core of the Uni-Lions’ lineup. However, with this incident, it is unlikely that Huang Young-Chuan will return to professional baseball in Taiwan.
Update: May 22 – Huang Yung-Chuan’s Press Conference
On May 22, a week after getting fired by the Uni-Lions, Huang Yung-Chuan resurfaced and hosted a press conference with his agent.
Huang Yung-Chuan began the press conference by apologising for his actions. He decided to disappear because he was scared and was hiding from the loan sharks.
Huang then stressed again that his debts are not gambling-related. At this stage, he owes roughly 71,000 USD in principal (excluding interest) to at least 10 “private lenders”. He revealed that this was all due to his poor spending habits, and he had already spent all of his signing bonus, a total of $167,000.
When asked by the media what he was going to do now, Huang Yung-Chuan said he is currently working in the construction industry and learning about formwork. He still wishes to return to professional baseball one day.
After being fired, former Uni-Lions’ 黃勇傳 (Huang Yung-Chuan) resurfaced at a press conference. #CPBL
– Not gambling debts.
– Owes 71K USD in principal.
– Borrowed from 10 “private lenders”.
– Poor spending habits.
– $167K signing bonus already spent.
– Hiding from loan sharks. https://t.co/aPh74rkn7W pic.twitter.com/jjr9ERuo1w— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) May 22, 2024
So you don’t think another CPBL team would give him another shot if he gets his act together and sorts himself out?
Unlikely, this kind of player (I’m assuming he is hiding from debt) is just a time bomb waiting to happen. With all the CPBL teams’ parent companies using their baseball team for PR purposes, this is just too much risk for them to take on. But again, he is still young, there is always a slim possibility of him returning to pro-ball again if he gets his act together.