Just read that the Yankees are in China working with local officials on starting some sort of baseball academy here. Appears they’re the first MLB team to venture onto the mainland. I think that strategically, this is a huge move for them from a promotional and marketing standpoint. It gives them a leg up on everyone else in the majors, particularly the rival mega-franchise Red Sox. And by leg up, I mean if the Chinese market for American baseball ever catalyzes into something relevant. Which, at this point, still looks a long way off.

However, it doesn’t appear that the team has any significant expectations on player development in the near term, which means that we won’t be seeing the Yao of baseball anytime soon. Which, given the the amount of times I’ve witnessed Chinese dudes on the street displaying their sweet, perfect swings of the mop in cosmetic fights with other Chinese dudes, seems a little short-sighted on the Yankees’ part.

That being said, if my team the Detroit Lions ever recruited Shanghai construction workers to start for them…I hate to say that we’d probably be doing a lot better.