Yankees sign RHP Chien-Ming Wang to minor league contract

The New York Yankees today announced they have signed right-handed pitcher Chien-Ming Wang to a one-year minor league contract. Wang is scheduled report immediately to minor league spring training at the Yankees' Player Development Complex in Tampa, Fla.

Wang, who turns 33 on March 31, was originally signed by the Yankees as a non-drafted free agent on May 5, 2000. In 109 games (104 starts) with the Yankees over parts of five seasons (2005-09), he went 55-26 with a 4.16 ERA (670.2IP, 310ER) and 310 strikeouts.

From 2006-08, Wang went 46-15 (.754), compiling the second-best winning percentage among American League pitchers behind only Boston's Jon Lester (27-8, .771). Over the same stretch, his 46 wins were tied for the third-most among all AL pitchers, trailing only Roy Halladay (52) and Josh Beckett (48).

Wang won 19 games in each of back-to-back seasons in 2006 and 2007, becoming the first Yankee to accomplish the feat since Tommy John in 1979-80. He tied Johan Santana for most wins in the American League in 2006 and finished second to Santana in AL Cy Young Award voting that season. Wang was also the Yankees' Opening Day starting pitcher in 2008.

He had his 2008 season cut short after he suffered a mid-foot sprain of the Lisfranc ligament and a partial tear of the peroneal longus tendon in this right foot while running the bases in a June 15 win at Houston. He then endured two stints on the disabled list in 2009, missing nearly a month from April 24 - May 21 with adductor muscle weakness and then undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery on July 29 to repair a torn shoulder capsule.

Wang spent the last three seasons with the Washington Nationals organization, missing the 2010 season as he recovered from surgery and going 6-6 with a 4.94 ERA (94.2IP, 52ER) in 21 games (16 starts) with the Nationals from 2011-12. He was limited to just 10 games (five starts) with the Nationals in 2012, going 2-3 with a 6.68 ERA (32.1IP, 24ER) and missing 100 games while on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring (March 17 - May 22) and right hip soreness (July 3 - September 4).

A native of Tainan City, Taiwan, Wang made two starts for Chinese Taipei during the 2013 World Baseball Classic, going 1-0 and holding opponents scoreless in 12.0 innings pitched (10H, 1BB, 3K).