Taiwan's Closer Is Coming: Jyun-Yue Tseng Enters MLB Posting System on His 25th Birthday

The paperwork landed on Jyun-Yue Tseng's 25th birthday, which feels about right for a pitcher who has spent his whole career arriving early. On Saturday, the Taiwanese reliever officially entered Major League Baseball's posting system, and from Sunday he will be free to negotiate with any big-league club that wants him. The window runs until December 22 — though it may not stay open that long. Tseng is not a mystery to the people who watch baseball beyond America's borders. The right-hander from the Fubon Guardians has been one of the Chinese Professional Baseball League's best relievers since the day he arrived, and this season he was as good as he has ever been: a 5-3 record with a career-high 25 saves in 48 appearances, a 1.57 ERA across 51 and two-thirds innings, 65 strikeouts against just 13 walks, and a WHIP under one. His fastball averages 93.7 mph and touches 98, remarkable numbers for a pitcher listed at five foot eight and 150 pounds — he would be one of the smallest pitchers in the majors the moment he signed. His story starts a long way from a big-league bullpen. Born in Taichung on November 7, 2001, Tseng pitched for Taiwan in the 2014 Little League World Series as a boy, and the Guardians took him in the seventh round of the 2020 CPBL draft. He made his professional debut at 19 in 2021 and was named the league's Rookie of the Year after posting a 1.80 ERA in 57 games. The seasons since have read like a metronome: a 1.22 ERA in 2023, a 1.52 ERA in 2024, a rare wobble to 3.00 in 2025, then this year's return to dominance. He has pitched in two World Baseball Classics for Taiwan, including a pair of scoreless innings and a save in this year's tournament. This is not his first brush with the posting system. He became eligible after the 2023 season and the Guardians agreed to post him then, but with little market outside Taiwan he chose to stay home. Three years on, the calculation looks different. Reports out of Taiwan have already linked the Chicago Cubs with a minor-league deal carrying an invitation to spring training, though nothing has been confirmed and he could draw interest from other clubs — and from teams in Japan — as he weighs his options. The mechanics are straightforward enough. Under MLB's posting agreement with the CPBL, a team signing Tseng to a major-league contract would owe Fubon a fee of 20 per cent of the first $25 million, 17.5 per cent of the next $25 million and 15 per cent of anything above $50 million; for a minor-league deal the fee is 25 per cent of the signing bonus. What is less straightforward is the calendar. Major League Baseball is widely expected to lock out the Players Association when the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1, and a lockout would freeze negotiations with three weeks still left on Tseng's window. Clubs that want him may have to move before the sport shuts down — which makes a quiet posting announcement on a Saturday in November a good deal more urgent than it looks.