Cincinnati Reds sign pitcher Chien-Ming Wang to Minor League contract
By Brad Rowland
It has been more than 2 years since former Yankees, Nationals, and Blue Jays right-hander Chien-Ming Wang was even a semi-effective Major League pitcher, but he has managed to gain an invite for 2014 spring training.
Wang has signed a Minor League deal with the Cincinnati Reds (per multiple outlets), and if he were to secure a 25-man roster spot, he would earn $1.25 million with additional incentives that could reach $1.75 million for a 1-year contract. As mentioned above, Wang has been either injured or ineffective for all of the past two seasons, posting a 6.68 ERA over 32.1 innings with Washington in 2012, and a 7.67 ERA over 27 innings with Toronto last season.
It’s mildly surprising that, at age 33 (will be 34 before the season begins), Wang continues to get job offers, but at one point, he was a very solid pitcher. In 2006 and 2007 with the Yankees, Wang threw a combined 417 innings with an ERA in the mid-3.00’s, and while he’s never been a strikeout guy at all (4.13 K/9!), that has some value.
Still, Cincinnati is simply taking a long-shot flyer here, and if Wang gives them anything resembling MLB-quality pitching, it will be a win for the Reds.