Taiwan Steel Group (TSG) said Wednesday that it is building a new baseball team, which it hopes will soon enter the country’s premier league.
During the signing of a letter of intent with Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL), Taiwan Steel Group United Co. chairman Joseph Wang (???) said TSG has allocated NT$1 billion (US$35.66 million) for the CPBL venture and will have a proposal ready in 35 days.
Wang, who is in charge of assembling the new premier league baseball team, declined to give the media any hints about his selection of players, managers or coaches.
The new baseball team will be TSG’s third sport venture, following its formation of a football team in 2019 and a basketball team in 2021. The latter, called the Tainan TSG GhostHawks, is playing in the inaugural season of the T1 LEAGUE that started last November.
If the plan for the new baseball team succeeds, it will become the CPBL’s sixth team and will join the league in time for its mid-season player draft in July.
“Fans, as well as the five other teams in the league, have been looking forward to the addition of a sixth team,” CPBL commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (???) said at Wednesday’s signing ceremony in Taipei.
“On behalf of the CPBL, I’d like to express gratitude to the TSG chairman for his support of sports. I’m sure many baseball players will be excited about the new job opportunities,” he said.
Tsai said TSG will next have to submit its proposal to the CPBL board, which will meet in May and decide whether the team should be admitted to the league.
If the TSG team is allowed to join, they will have to play two seasons in the minor league before competing in the CPBL’s regular season games.
The CPBL’s 2022 season opens on April 2, with the CTBC Brothers playing the visiting Uni-President 7-Eleven Lions in Taichung.
According to TSG chairman Hsieh Yu-min (???), Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (???) has already offered the baseball stadium in city’s Chengcing Lake Scenic Area to serve as the home ground of the team that is being assembled by the Tainan-based steel group.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel