Lins Are March MVPs

The Lins (yes, the same two guys I mentioned two posts ago) have scooped up the monthly MVP awards.

Sinon Bull Lin Yi-Chuan picked up all nine votes to unanimously take home the position player MVP award, while teammate Lin Ying-Chieh beat out Elephants hurler Jim Magrane 6-3 to win the pitching award.

I have no idea where these nine votes come from and would appreciate it if anyone who does could send me an email or add a comment below.

Bulls Add Gulin, Release Rleal

The Bulls added lefty Lindsay Gulin to it's pitching staff yesterday, releasing Sendy Rleal.

Originally drafted by the Mets in 1995, Gulin has bounced around five different organizations in his career. He's spent the last three seasons in the Brewers system primarily at the AAA level. He also has some experience in Asia, playing in seventeen games for the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks of the NPB in 2004.

Rleal gave up four runs in 2 1/3 innings during his only CPBL start.

The Bulls Have a Ton of Ads on Their Shirts

If you've watched any of the Sinon Bulls games this year then you've probably noticed that they've added a few sponsors logos to their uniforms.

And if you were really observant then you might have tried to figure out the exact number of ads.

But you probably haven't, so here's the answer:

17!

There are seventeen ads combined on the Bulls shirts, pants, and hats.

That seems a bit excessive.

Very Brief Season Preview: Bulls

Last season: Did not make playoffs

Number of players banned during off-season: 2

The Good: Hitting. Led by last year's league MVP Lin Yi Quan(2B), the Bulls should have little trouble against the weakened pitching staffs they will face in most games this season.Third baseman Wilton Veras is coming off another great CPBL season. Zhang Jian-Ming (OF), Zheng Da Hong (C), and veteran Zhang Tai-Shan (DH) will all get their fair share of hits. The starting pitchers (Yang Chien-Fu, three guys named Lin, Itsuki Shoda) should be able to do enough to give the team a chance to win most games. 

The Bad: Not too much. The bullpen might be a cause for concern, especially if new 41 year-old closer Shingo Takatsu fails to live up to fan's expectations (he looked pretty great in the pre-season though).

The Unknown: Rookie Wu Zong-Jun has been penciled in to replace banned Hsieh Chia-Shian in the outfield. Import pitcher Sendy Rleal is also new to the league.

End of Season Prediction: Playoffs

Import Report: Bulls

Here are the imports who will take to the field for the Sinon Bulls this season:

Wilton Veras: Veras has the most CPBL experience of any import this season. His first stint in the league came in 2005 with the Macoto Cobras. The third basemen spent the next two seasons in the Independent League before returning to Taiwan and playing for the China Trust Whales in 2008. After the Whales went belly-up, the Bulls became Veras' third CPBL team. He played in every game last season, hitting for a .360 average.

Veras also spent parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons in the majors, playing for the Boston Red Sox.

Itsuki Shoda : Shoda spent five seasons in his native Japan before joining the Bulls last season. The former Nippon Ham fighter went 14-6 in 2009, posting an ERA of 4.44.

Shingo Takatsu: Takatsu has accomplished quite a bit in his long career as a closer. Known as Mr. Zero in Japan (for not allowing any runs in 11 Japan Series appearances) he has pitched in 15 NPB seasons (Yakult Swallows), 2 seasons in MLB (White Sox and Mets) and one season in Korea's KBO (Woori Heroes). The Bulls clearly feel the 41 year old still has something left in the tank as they've made him one of the league highest paid players.

Sendy Rleal: The high point of Rleal's career came in 2006 when he made 42 appearances out of the bullpen for the Baltimore Orioles. Since then he's spent most of his time in the Independent League, most recently with the Newark Bears.

Bulls Fined For Shafting Yeh

The Sinon Bulls were fined NT$1.5 million by the Taipei City Labor Board for their "unfriendly attitude" toward player Yeh Chun-chang.

Basically what seems to have happened is that Yeh was fired for his involvement with the players union. Not content with just releasing him, the Bulls attempted to get him blacklisted by announcing that he had "moral and disciplinary problems". This smear tactic temporarily scared off the Elephants, who had shown an interest in signing the player.

But now the matter seems to be closed. Yeh has joined the Elephants, and has just been re-elected as a director of the players union. The Bulls have lost a veteran catcher and a fair bit of cash.