Hawks Acquire Kuo Fu-Lin from Uni-Lions
On July 24, the TSG Hawks announced that they have acquired 33-year-old third baseman 郭阜林 (Kuo Fu-Lin) from the Uni-Lions for cash considerations.
“Joining the Hawks marks the beginning of a new chapter, and I hope to live up to the team’s expectations. I am also grateful and will not forget the support and development I received from the Uni-Lions over the past ten years,” said Kuo Fu-Lin.
“Originally, we were planning a 1-to-1 trade with the Hawks, but due to our lack of bench depth within our organization, we decided to use cash instead,” said the Hawks’ GM to Liberty Sports.
Uni-Lions 郭阜林 (Kuo Fu-Lin) hits his 1st home run of the season. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/i6jtz8fvRh
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) August 20, 2023
Kuo Fu-Lin began his professional career in 2009 after signing with the New York Yankees organization for $200,000 as an international free agent. He never reached the majors but peaked at High-A, and at the end of 2013, he left the MLB system and returned to Taiwan.
After spending the 2014 season playing for Taiwan’s national development squad (a temporary baseball team for players serving their military service), in 2015, Kuo Fu-Lin entered the CPBL mid-season draft and was selected in the 7th round by the Uni-Lions.
With his decent offensive and defensive abilities, Kuo Fu-Lin quickly secured a spot as a core member of the Uni-Lions. Unfortunately, in 2020, Kuo Fu-Lin was arrested for drunk driving and was suspended by the Uni-Lions.
Although Kuo Fu-Lin eventually returned to the field after his DUI incident, the rise of top prospect Lin Tzu-Hao led the Uni-Lions to give Kuo Fu-Lin fewer opportunities on the first team.
Uni-Lions’ 郭阜林 (Kuo Fu-Lin) backhands a grounder that carries him into foul territory and fires a long throw across the diamond for the out. #CPBL 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kHTjDrHW1f
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) September 25, 2020
In 2024, Kuo Fu-Lin was only given a handful of at-bats on the first team. For most of the first half of the 2024 season, he was with the Uni-Lions farm team. However, it is worth noting that Kuo is currently slashing .375/.450/.670 in the minor leagues as of July 24. So, he obviously can still hit; there just isn’t a spot for him on the first team.
- 2021: 81 games
- 2022: 43 games
- 2023: 21 games
- 2024: 9 games
Apart from his many home runs and impressive defensive plays, one of the most famous moments for Kuo Fu-Lin came in the 2018 season, when he hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to secure a perfect game.
Kuo Fu-Lin’s Trade Deal Cash Amount Speculation
While the exact cash amount from this trade was not disclosed, the TSG Hawks’ general manager revealed that the value is calculated based on the expansion draft transfer fee, free agency compensation fee, player’s salary, and age. NOWNews speculated it could be somewhere between $100,000 and $160,000 USD.
CPBL columnist Vincent Liao said on the July 25 episode of his baseball podcast, The AV Show, that he thinks the Uni-Lions are likely to use the extra cash to upgrade their foreign pitcher before the August 31 trade deadline.