Minor League Baseball

The Detroit Tigers have side side armed pitcher Fu-Te Ni to a Minor League contract out of Taiwan.

He is a left handed reliever and has been invited to Major League camp for 2009 Spring Training. Ni, 25, spent the previous two seasons pitching in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

If Ni puts together a strong Spring Training with the Tigers then he will be battling for a spot in the Tigers bullpen during the regular season. If not, then Ni will be headed to Triple-A Toledo.

In 2008 Ni went 5-12 with a 3.34 ERA in 145.1 innings pitched. He struck out 132 hitters while pitching for the China Trust Whales in 2008.

In 2007 he secured a 7-12 record with a 3.53 ERA and 125 strikeouts in 122.1 innings pitched.

Ni will pitch for Taiwan in the World Baseball Classic in March. He also pitched for the Taiwan national team at the 2007 World Cup and for Taiwan in the 2008 Beijing Olympic games.

The Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes have named their new manager for the 2009 season. Their new manager is a veteran of 17 seasons in the Majors.

Tim Wallach has been named the Isotopes manager for 2009. He was named to the NL All-Star team five times during his career, he won three Gold Glove Awards, and also won two Silver Slugger Awards.

Wallach won the Golden Spikes Award in 1979 after leading Cal-State Fullerton to the College World Series Title.

Wallach played in the Majors for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Montreal Expos, and the California Angels.

He picked up 2,085 hits, 260 homeruns, and 1,125 RBIs.

Wallach replaces Lorenzo Bundy, who was named the Isotopes manager in October but was then named the Arizona Diamondbacks first base coach for 2009.