Houston Astros chairman Jim Crane traveled to Taipei this week and put his signature on a baseball cooperation agreement that Taiwan's own sports ministry describes as the first cooperation MOU signed in Taiwan by a Major League Baseball club. Crane appeared at the 2026 Taiwan Global Investment Forum on Tuesday, where the Astros signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs and its sports authority, covering player scouting, training and talent development between the two countries.
According to starnewskorea.com, Crane made what the outlet described as a surprise appearance at the forum before the signing ceremony for the Taiwan-US Baseball Industry and Talent Development MOU. The deal, as Chron reports, focuses on scouting, player development and talent exchange rather than any single headline transaction. Per taiwanpost.net, future cooperation is expected to span young players training in the United States, joint Taiwan-U.S. events and talent exchanges, sports technology, and commercial development.
Crane Wants the Next Teng, Not Just One
Taiwanese pitcher Kai-Wei Teng stood alongside Crane for the ceremony, a pairing that made the pitch personal. In a statement carried by chinatimes.com, Crane said the Astros are willing to invest more resources in Taiwan to find players like Teng who can reach MLB. The outlet reported that Crane brought Teng with him to witness the ceremony in person.
Teng's own path to Houston began earlier this year. The station's earlier report noted the Astros acquired the right-hander from the San Francisco Giants in a trade for minor-league catcher Jancel Villarroel on Jan. 29. Teng had posted a 3.63 ERA at Triple-A the year before, striking out 89 batters over 57 innings while holding opponents to a .197 batting average, according to the same account.
A Night at the Taiwan Series
After the ceremony, Crane also got a look at Taiwan's top league in action. The dossier's accounts diverge on exactly who the CTBC Brothers faced that night: starnewskorea.com reported Crane watched Game 3 of the Taiwan Series between the Brothers and the Tongyi Lions, while focustaiwan.tw identified the Brothers' opponent as the Wei Chuan Dragons, who won 6-0 at Taipei Dome to take a 3-0 series lead.
Whichever matchup it was, the Brothers have struggled badly at the plate throughout the series. Focus Taiwan reported the club had scored only one run across the first three games, while the Dragons' starting pitchers had allowed just one run over 21 innings in that same span.
Taiwan Calls It a Starting Point
Taiwanese officials were careful to frame the MOU as an opening move rather than a finished product. Taiwan's sports authorities described the memorandum as the starting point for cooperation between the two sides, saying they would keep coordinating with the Ministry of Economic Affairs to gradually turn those intentions into concrete plans, per taiwanpost.net. The same ministry said it marked the first time a Major League Baseball club had signed a cooperation memorandum in Taiwan.
The agreement arrives as the Astros have been expanding their footprint across Asia, according to Chron's reporting. The club hired scouts across Taiwan, Japan and South Korea last year and signed Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai to a three-year deal, the outlet reported, part of a broader effort Crane has framed around hoping the Astros can find more talent across the continent.
A Familiar Playbook, Borrowed From the Dodgers
Houston's move into Taiwan echoes a strategy the Los Angeles Dodgers have run in Japan for decades, Chron noted. The Dodgers have made goodwill tours to Japan dating back to the 1950s, playing exhibition games and hosting spring training clinics there, an investment that has helped produce MLB stars including Hideo Nomo and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Astros have their own history of playing outside U.S. borders too, having staged international regular-season and exhibition games in Mexico, including matchups in Mexico City against the Colorado Rockies in 2016 and 2024 and a game in Monterrey against the Los Angeles Angels in 2019, according to Chron.
For now, the Taiwan agreement is light on specifics. Taiwan's government statement emphasized that the MOU does not outline any exclusive terms, and no timetable, budget or named programs for implementation has been disclosed. Crane and Teng reportedly presented bats and jerseys to Taiwanese officials, including deputy director of athletics Hung Chih-chang, during the visit, a gesture underscoring the relationship both sides say they want to build. Teng, who pitched for the Astros against the Detroit Tigers in June, is one of more than 20 Taiwanese players to have appeared in Major League Baseball, and Crane's camp is betting he won't be the last.
