The Cincinnati Reds have made another big splash on the international market in 2023. Today they signed Sheng-En Lin out of Taiwan for a bonus of $1,200,000. There will be a press conference and announcement on Tuesday in Taiwan.
A position player and pitcher during his time in high school, the Reds are signing the 17-year-old as a shortstop/center fielder, though he’s been up to 99 MPH on the mound. He’s very athletic, as you would imagine. He’s got plus-plus speed on the bases and in the field. At the plate he’s got an advanced hit tool from the left side and he’s already showing power with more in the tank down the line. Obviously with the arm strength he showed on the mound, he stands out with his arm in the field as well. During this past year’s Under-18 Baseball World Cup, Sheng-En Lin played for Taiwan and hit .375 in four games.
This signing, coupled with the signings back in January and February bring the Reds international signing group for 2023 to a near close. Cincinnati’s bonus pool for the 2023 signing period was $6,366,900. If my math is correct, this signing leaves the team with less than $100,000 remaining (and it could be even less than that).
The signing is the second largest this signing period by the club. Alfredo Duno, a catcher from Venezuela, was rated as high as the #3 overall prospect in the international group this signing period. With the new rules in place with hard-capped bonus pools, Cincinnati has been doing a good job of lining up both deep classes and signing higher-end talent than they had in the decade prior. They would occasionally sign an internationally teenager to a mid-to-high tier bonus, but ever since the capped system has been in place they’ve made multiple 7-figure signings in their signing groups.
What’s this player’s height/weight? TIA.
Last fall when he was playing in the World Baseball Cup he was listed at 5′ 11″ and 181 lbs. I do not have a more current listing than that.
More info
http://cpblstats.com/cincinnati-reds-sign-lin-sheng-en/
Great find thx. I’m shocked that the Reds have signed 3 Taiwanese players already before him
Fun to hear. Do you think we will see him soon in the ACL?
I imagine he’ll be in Arizona soon, but that’s just me guessing.
So what happened? I though Doug said the Reds didn’t have $1m to spend a couple weeks ago but now they found 1.2m under the couch??
Doug was wrong, but I am so happy he was wrong.
I had the bonus for a player with an extra zero on it in my spreadsheet, which made the math not work. As the kids say: Whoopsie Daisy!
It really looks as a great sign. I like it. Will he be assigned to ACL Reds? or Will they be agressive and send him to Daytona?
I am curious if he will start out as a 2 way player. Hopefully the Reds let him do both until he reaches A+ in the minors unless he proves he can still be a 2 way player in the upper minors.
They signed him as a shortstop/outfielder, as noted above. He’s not going to pitch.
How can the Reds not try him as a 2 way player when he can touch up to 99mph as a 17 year old? They should let him do both until he proves that he can’t.
For the same reason they didn’t really let Hunter Greene play shortstop despite him being a borderline 1st round caliber shortstop…. it’s not worth the risk if you believe he’s just better at the other thing.
Nick Krall strikes again. Got the draft coming up too. Hope he finds another Collier.
I like a LHB in the middle infield, so this seems like an international signing to be excited about. I dunno if it’s a Duno level of excitement, but time will tell.
What excites me the most about this signing is that as a pitcher he throws 99 and is so much better as a hitter that he is giving up pitching.
This is the first signing from an Asian country of an amateur in a long time for the Reds isn’t it?
The last one I can remember was Tzu-Kai Chiu and that was in 2007 or 2008. It’s possible I am forgetting someone, though.
I checked the internet for Reds connection to Asian signings and of course hit on Shogo. For information purposes he is hitting .347 this season in Japan.
Look at Mark’s CPBL link above. Red’s have signed 3 Taiwanese payers already alone and the last 2 were in 2010-2011.
seems like we have some good possible teenage talent, here’s to hoping most of it develops. I wonder since we look like we are on the outside of the opportunity of drafting one of the top outfielders in July that this takes the place of that and we are going to draft a college arm. Maybe Lowder out of Wake Forest.
How come this post gets accepted and my post comparing Andrew Abbott and Randy Wolf via the two links from mlb reference got rejected?
More info here :
http://cpblstats.com/cincinnati-reds-sign-lin-sheng-en/