The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 19-year-old pitcher Po-Yu Chen (陳柏毓) out of Taoyuan, Taiwan.
The Pirates set their sights on Chen, viewing him as equivalent to a second-round-type talent in the MLB Draft, but needed to obtain more international bonus pool space to sign him. So on Sept. 20, the last day to make such trades, they sent left-hander Domingo Robles to the Cardinals and right-hander Conner Loeprich to the Orioles, acquiring bonus pool slots in each deal.Chen received a $1.25 million signing bonus, according to the team's beat writer. The Pirates signed one other Taiwanese player in 2019-2020: 17-year old Cheng Tsung-Che (鄭宗哲).
[General Manager] Cherington said the Pirates have been scouting Chen for three years, writing up more than 25 reports on him.
“In particular, our scout in Taiwan, Fu Chun Chiang, did a great job getting to know Po-Yu and his family and putting us in a position to sign him,” Cherington said. “I enjoyed meeting Po-Yu this week in Pittsburgh, and we look forward to working with him in the years to come.