First (American) football, now baseball. China is getting more magnetic, it seems, in everything. Yankees wants to establish a toehold in a potentially sports power too. From the New York Times:

The Yankees consider themselves the most driven team in a competitive sport, so their push to boost baseball in China is not purely altruistic. They believe there is talent to be cultivated in China, and when future prospects have a choice of where to sign, the Yankees want their brand and reputation to stand out.

The Yankees have been working with the Chinese Baseball Association for more than six months to forge a relationship that would allow the Yankees to send coaches, scouts and trainers to China. Cashman and three other executives ” Randy Levine, the team president; Jean Afterman, the assistant general manager; and Michael Tusiani, the vice president for corporate sales and sponsorships ” accepted an invitation to travel to Beijing next week. …



But the overriding purpose of the trip is to build a foundation in China, which has produced no major leaguers and lost all three of its games in the World Baseball Classic last March by the combined score of 40-6. [Full Text]

– Also Chicago Tribune’s NFL hopes familiar face sells `olive ball’ in China