Nineteen-year-old Xu Guiyuan was trained at the MBL development center in Wuxi. (Photo : China Daily)
Xu Guiyuan becomes the first Chinese player from MLB's three development centers in the country to get signed with a Major League club.
On Monday, the 19-year-old first baseman and outfielder signed an agreement with the Baltimore Orioles.
"Xu has been working hard at the MLB Development Center and we hope he'll be the first of many future Major League players from China," Dan Duquette, Orioles's vice president of baseball operations, remarked.
"He has excellent balance at the plate and very good left-handed power, which we think will play well at Oriole Park at Camden Yards," Duquette added.
MLB's director of game development in Asia Rick Dell, who has been watching Xu for the past years, also echoed the same sentiment.
"You have to like his hitting. He really swings the bat well and has been doing a lot to continuously improve. He's a lefty hitter with a good swing and good bat speed," he shared.
Xu is a two-time Most Valuable Player of the China National Youth Baseball League. He was also an MLB Taiwan Elite Camp All-Star both in 2013 and 2014.
Also included in his achievements are the 2011 Shenzhen Baseball League Best Hitter Award and Most Improved Player tilt, and the 2012 China National Youth Baseball League Home Run Derby.
For MLB, the Chinese player's success mirrors the success of the development centers they established in the country, which is known to have a rich baseball history in the first half of the 20th century.
"All the ethereal things about baseball--no clock, the sacrifice, the journey around the bases that starts and finishes at home--it all resonates in Chinese culture. I'm convinced that if baseball was around during Confucius' time, he would have been a huge fan," MLB vice president Jim Small enthused.
Back in 2000, MLB, through its international ownership committee, decided that there was a need for them to train and develop players from China. In 2009, the first development center debuted at Wuxi's Dongbeitang School with 16 local players. A year after, the team has already played in around 130 games.
Currently, there are three MLB development centers in the country, one in Nanjing and the remaining in Changzhou.
