Oakland A’s amongst teams eyeing Chen-Wei Lin

The Oakland A’s are continuing to scour the globe in hopes of finding pieces for their next core. They have signed relative unknowns in the international prospect community, hoping that one of those diamonds in the rough can turn out to be a part of the future.

The A’s most recent prospect target is not nearly as unknown. According to reports, they are one of several teams interested in signing Taiwanese pitcher Chen-Wei Lin.

Oakland A’s looking to sign Chen-Wei Lin

Lin is an interesting prospect from his bloodlines. He is the nephew of former Dodgers reliever Hung-Chih Kuo, which will allow him to have plenty of guidance as he decides whether or not to come stateside or head to Japan first.

He first began to receive attention during the WBSC U-23 Baseball World Cup. Although he was just 19 years old at the time, his fastball reached 95 MPH while showing impressive arm side run. That was enough to put him on the map as teams watched his collegiate performance.

Lin has added a bit more velocity since. He is now up to 98.2 MPH on the fastball while sitting in the mid 90s. At 6’7″ tall and 192 pounds, he still has room to grow as he fills out, potentially resulting in even more velocity as he gains strength.

This will not be the same under the radar signing. The A’s are going to have competition for his services, both domestic and international. However, if they do sign him for that projected $500,000 to $700,000 bonus, Lin could be a tremendous bargain based on the potential he has already displayed.

The Oakland A’s are amongst the teams pursuing Taiwanese pitcher Chen-Wei Lin. He could be a bargain if they can get him to sign.