A’s add pitcher, 21, from Taiwan
The A’s signed Chen ZhongAo Zhuang, a right-handed pitcher from Taiwan, to a minor-league deal Wednesday, the team announced.
Oakland assistant general manager Dan Feinstein said the A’s have followed the 21-yearold right-hander since his high school days and are “excited to bring an arm like this into the system.”
Feinstein said Zhuang has a “strong, sturdy” starting pitcher’s build with a fastball up to 95 mph, curveball and changeup and “a smooth delivery with command of all three pitches.”
“Not a finished product yet but very advanced for” his age, Feinstein said in an email.
According to the World Baseball Softball Confederation, Zhuang pitched for Chinese Taipei in this year’s U-23 Baseball World Cup, starting games against Germany and Colombia. Video of the game against Colombia showed his fastball at 90-95 mph.
Feinstein credited the work of Adam Hislop, the A’s Pacific Rim Coordinator of scouting, in the signing.
“There’s a certain comfort level required by both the team and the family whenever we bring someone over from the Pacific Rim, and a lot of credit goes to Adam for building that trust and creating a smooth transition,” Feinstein said. — Matt Kawahara
Matz to Cardinals: Left-hander Steven Matz, who was 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA for the Blue Jays this season, agreed to a four-year, $44 million deal with with the Cardinals.
After the news broke, Mets owner Steve Cohen — whose team had been among those wooing Matz, who pitched for the Mets from 2015 to 2020 — criticized his agent via Twitter.
The Mets reportedly were ready to meet St. Louis’ fouryear, $44 million offer for Matz and had the impression he was ready to return to the team that drafted him in 2009.
“I’m not happy this morning,” Cohen tweeted. “I’ve never seen such unprofessional behavior exhibited by a player’s agent. I guess words and promises don’t matter.”
Matz’s agent, Rob Martin, texted to the Associated Press: “We handle things the right way and so does Steven.” Davis retires: Reliever Wade Davis, a three-time All-Star, is retiring at age 36, after 13 major-league seasons.
Davis was 63-55 with a 3.94 ERA and 141 saves in 88 starts and 469 relief appearances for Tampa Bay (2009-12), Kansas City (2013-16, 2021), the Chicago Cubs (2017) and Colorado (2018-20). Davis, an All-Star in 2015-17, was 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA in 40 games this year. Briefly: Former USF righthander Kyle Zimmer, designated for assignment by the Royals on Friday, cleared waivers and became a free agent. Zimmer, a first-round pick in 2012, was 4-1 with a 4.83 ERA and two saves this season . ... Outfielder Daniel Johnson, a Bethel-Vallejo alum who appeared in 35 games with Cleveland over the past two seasons, cleared waivers and was sent to Triple-A Columbus by the Guardians . ... The Diamondbacks claimed left-hander Kyle Nelson, a Galileo alum, off waivers from the Guardians.