CPBL moves up foreign player negotiation deadline to Jan. 15

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has decided to move up its deadline for teams to negotiate a contract with their foreign players before they become free agents to prevent breaches of the league's anti-tampering rules.

Previously, under Article 96 of the CPBL's rules and regulations, each team retained exclusive negotiating rights to its foreign players until the end of February of the following year. The deadline was commonly referred to by many as the "228 clause."

The decision to make the change came after several cases in which teams reportedly did not respect the rule, including an apparent tampering incident earlier this year during spring training involving the TSG Hawks and Fubon Guardians.

TSG Hawks manager Hung I-chung (洪一中) revealed that he had contacted pitcher David Buchanan before the deadline had arrived, prompting the Fubon Guardians, who still held the player's priority negotiating rights, to express dissatisfaction.

Buchanan eventually signed with the Hawks on Feb. 28, and has started six games for them to date, posting a 4-2 record and an ERA of 2.50 while striking out 38 and walking only seven in 39.2 innings pitched.

CPBL Commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said Monday that all teams had agreed to make the change, which effectively shortens the period during which clubs hold exclusive negotiating rights to their foreign players.

Tsai said the Jan. 15 deadline was chosen to accommodate teams' administrative schedules, account for foreign players returning home during the year-end holidays, and avoid overlapping with the South Korean league's timetable.

Foreign players who fail to reach an agreement with their current clubs by then will become free agents, he said.