According to several Taiwanese media outlets, the Minnesota Twins have signed RHP 鄧愷威 (Teng Kai-Wei / Deng Kai-Wei) for $580,000 USD. At this stage, Teng’s agent has declined to comment on the signing.
Teng participated in the MLB tryout back in May, and was able to hit 150kph (92mph) on the radar in front of scouts from more than ten MLB organisations.
*Note: Deng Kai-Wei was his official spelling during his student baseball day. But it seems he has now adopted the “Wade-Giles system” to spell his last name. Therefore it is now spell as Teng.
Quick Profile of Teng Kai-Wei
- Born: 1st December 1999
- Height 188cm. Weight 100kg
- Throws Right. Bats Right.
- Curve, Sinker, Changeup
Not the First Taiwanese in Twins Organisation
The signing of Teng makes him the fifth Taiwanese players to play for the Twins organisations since 2006.
The last Taiwanese player signed by the Twins was 胡智為 (Hu Chih-Wei) back in 2012, who have since then made his MLB debut with the Tampa Rays. As of today, Hu posted a record of 1.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 9K over 8 innings in 2017 MLB season.
- 2006 林旺衛 (Lin Wang-Wei) – Returned to CPBL (Fubon Guardians)
- 2010 陳泓亦 (Chen Hung-Yi) – Returned to CPBL (Fubon Guardians)
- 2011 羅國華 (Lo Kuo-Hua) – Returned to CPBL (Fubon Guardians)
- 2012 胡智為 (Hu Chih-Wei) – Currently in the MLB with the Tampa Bay Rays
- 2017 鄧愷威 (Teng Kai-Wei)
胡智為 (Hu Chih-Wei) coming out of the bullpen today – 4 IP, 5K, 2H, 1ER (ERA 1.13) #RaysUp pic.twitter.com/xiRj9q070Y
— CPBL STATS (@GOCPBL) June 11, 2017
Looks like The Twins did a pretty good job scouting Taiwan in the past 5-10 years or so.
They tend to jump around from team to team, but during that time, the Twin’s scout in Taiwan was Cary Broder.