According to Yankees Source, there is interest from the Bombers in Taiwanese pitcher Wei-Yin Chen. They would be looking at him as a second lefty out of the pen and spot starter.

Chen has spent his entire career with the Chunichi Dragons in Central League of the Nippon Professional Baseball. He also pitched for Taiwan in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

The site goes on to speculate that Chen will draw interest from the Mets, Red Sox, and others because there will be no posting fee.

According to Baseball-Reference Chen’s ”fastball usually sits around 90 mph (tops out at 96 mph). The best breaking ball of his package is a slider. He commands his fastball well, but his slider isn’t that effective with common quality and control.”

Both teams could use a quality lefty, but is Chen that guy? He’s been used primarily as a starter in NPB, but I could see him filling the starter/reliever role ala Hisanori Takahashi (10-6, 3.61, 8 saves) in 2010. This is exactly the type of pitcher the Yankees could use out of their bullpen.

If you remember, Takahashi didn’t have the best NPB numbers, but he came here and knew how to pitch and seemed to assimilate to American baseball very well. What many forget is that Japanese players success is often predicated how well they adjust to the game physically, but also culturally being away from home.

That was something that hurt Ryota Igarashi during his tenure as I was told he didn’t particularly like it here.

For the record, Takahashi had another solid year out of the Angels bullpen (3.44 ERA, ERA+ of 111).

You can also watch him Chen in this video

http://youtu.be/2FqQXZCGC8c

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The Yankees appear to be more “in” on You Tube sensation Yoenis Cespedes than the Mets. According to MLB’s Peter Gammons, “two dozen Major League teams that have been in constant contact with his agent, Adam Katz, for weeks.” Among them are Miami, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Oakland, the Yankees, and Boston.

Andy McCullough of the Star Ledger reports the Mets sent a scout Cespedes work0ut as “due diligence.” Historically, the Mets haven’t been aggressive in the Cuban baseball market, although they did sign Alay Soler in 2004 and he made one memorable start in Arizona in 2006 when he threw a complete game shutout.

The Yankees signed one of the most famous Cuban defectors, El Duque, but have been burnt by it the past decade. Back in 2001, they signed 3B Andy Morales to a 4 year/$4.5 million dollar contract, but found out he lied about his age and voided the contract. Juan Miranda signed a 4-year contract worth $2 million dollars after the 2006 season. The lefty power-hitting first baseman never saw much time in the Bronx as he was stuck behind Jason Giambi and Mark Teixeira. After a trade to Arizona, he collected 200 plate appearances and hit .213 with 7 HRs and 23 RBI. Don’t forget Adrian Hernandez aka El Duquecito might have been related to Orlando Hernandez, but certainly couldn’t pitch like him (0-6. 6.55 ERA).

Morales and Miranda were for small amounts of money. Cespedes is rumored to want at least $30 million for five year; perhaps as much as $60 million. A team like Boston or the Yankees could risk $12 million plus dollars a year, but the Mets and some of the other smaller market teams would be burnt.

Cespedes is 26 years old with a 37-inch vertical and a 6.35 time in the 60-yard dash, and power. He put up a .333/.424/.667 line with 89 runs, 33 home runs and 99 RBI in 90 games in 2010-2011.

The big question, if you are the Yankees, is which unknown quantity do you splurge on? Yu Darvish or Cespedes?

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Have to give Cespedes agency credit for using technology to market their client. Have you ever seen a player become more publicized overnight than Cespedes? Last week we didn’t know about him; today there is a bidding war. Check it out below.

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

Mike Silva

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Tags: Boston Red Sox, Chunichi Dragons, Cleveland Indians, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Wei-Yin Chen, Yoenis Cespedes