TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Hsu Jo-hsi (徐若熙), from Wei Chuan Dragons (味全龍), has exercised his overseas free agent rights, drawing attention from American and Japanese teams. He reportedly negotiated with the Orix Buffaloes (歐力士猛牛) on Friday (Nov. 7). A day earlier, he visited the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks' (福岡軟銀鷹) PayPay Dome and second-team base according to Japanese news media NISHI SPO.
The Orix Buffaloes have shown significant interest in Hsu, whose fastball reaches 158 kph. They plan to negotiate actively, seeing his smooth pitching motion and diverse pitch repertoire as a perfect fit for their needs. The Buffaloes will meet Hsu and show him their home stadium and training facilities on Nov. 7.
NISHI SPO reported that the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks is the most aggressive in pursuing Hsu. Tomohiro Nagai (永井智浩), the Hawks' General Manager of the Organization and Training division and the Scouting department, has personally scouted Hsu multiple times and believes he can join the starting rotation immediately next year. The team plans to offer a three-year contract worth 1 billion yen (approximately NT$200 million), including incentive clauses.
Nagai expressed high expectations for Hsu's future performance, noting his sharp pitches and mature breaking balls. Scouts from both Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball have closely watched Hsu's every pitch this year, with his final appearance attracting Nagai, Orix's General Manager Junichi Fukura (福良淳一), and Hideki Kuriyama (栗山英樹) from the Fighters.
