Yankees Become First Team To Sign Players From China

The Yankees signed a pitcher and catcher from China, the first Major League Baseball team to acquire players from the world's most populous country.

The Yankees, who began a partnership with the Chinese Baseball Association during a trip to the country in January, signed left-handed pitcher Kai Liu and catcher Zhenwang Zhang to minorleague contracts.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

New York will introduce the players in a July 6 news conference at Yankee Stadium, and the two players then will go to the team's minor-league facility in Tampa, Florida, according to a statement from the Yankees.

Major League Baseball wants to spread the sport in China and sent a group of league and club officials on a five-day trip there last month looking for places to play. Baseball is considering staging games there next year and the Yankees are among the teams that have asked to play.

The sport also is on the schedule for next year's Olympics in Beijing, the capital of the nation of 1.3 billion people.

The 19-year-old Liu started playing baseball in 2000 and was picked as a member of the Chinese national team. Zhang, also 19, began his professional career in 1998, with his team winning the Chinese Baseball League championship in 2002, 2005 and 2006. He played for China in the World Baseball Classic last year without getting an at-bat.