Hero Omitted from Taiwan’s WBC Team. — Yang Dai-Kang Appeals to Return to Japanese Baseball

No “heroes” were chosen.

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) began in March. Yang Dai-Kang, 36, who played for Nippon Ham and the Giants and is overwhelmingly popular in Taiwan, was not selected for his country’s team.

Yoh won the Golden Glove Award four times during his career with Nippon Ham, and he is a three-sport athlete, having once won the stolen base crown. However, after joining the Giants in 2016 as a free agent, he failed to produce any significant results. The Giants signed him to a five-year contract worth a whopping 1.5 billion yen, but he only played in over 100 games in 19 years.

In 2021, he played only seven games. It is hard to say that he was worth 300 million yen a year. The reason for this is the number of injuries. After joining the Giants, injuries such as a thigh injury became a regular occurrence. When he was with Nichi-Ham, he was proud of his legs, but he was in no condition to run satisfactorily.

His pride would not allow it.

The Giants expressed their intention to sign him for 2022, but Yang refused. The decision to leave the team was based on his desire to take on a new challenge.”

The Giants’ request for a contract extension was out of respect for Yoh. Yang is a Taiwanese superstar who has played for the national team in Japan since elementary school. His games against the Giants are also broadcast in Taiwan. Yang, the “Hero,” was the reason for the popularity of the Giants in Taiwan.

However, it is also true that he was not a competitive player. It is said that the Giants offered him a substantial salary cut of about 30 million yen for 22 years. This is far more than the 40% reduction limit, and about one-tenth of the 2021 salary. Considering his performance, I think it was a fair amount, but Yo’s pride must have prevented him from accepting it.

Although Yoh had expressed interest in the majors, he was unable to find a new home. In the end, he went to the U.S. to play in an independent league in 2022. In the winter, he played in the Australian Winter League.

In both the U.S. Independent League and in Australia, his batting average was in the mid-20% range, which was not good enough. His physical condition does not seem to be bad, but he cannot hide the decline of his age. It is no wonder that Yang was not selected for the Taiwan national team, no matter how much of a “hero” he may be.

However, he wishes to continue his active career. He has been approached by the Japanese baseball world, but I don’t think any team will be interested in acquiring him. Yang has a lot of pride as a Taiwanese star, and it is difficult for teams to deal with him.

(Sports reporter) The most realistic option is to join the Taiwanese professional baseball team. However, there are obstacles here as well. Yang, who studied baseball at Fukuoka Daiichi High School and joined Nichi-Ham, cannot suddenly play in Taiwan’s professional baseball team. He has to go through the draft process.

The draft in Taiwan is usually held in late June or July. Normally, a player would experience amateur baseball in Taiwan and wait for next year’s draft. For a team of professionals, it would be bad form to have the player play not only a few months before the draft but also for a year, as he or she would be considered a sitting duck. However, a year before returning to the pros is a big time lag for Yang, who is in his late 30s.

Yang does not have a bright future ahead of him. What decision will the Taiwanese star make?