BEIJING — China's baseball association accused the Seattle Mariners on Thursday of acting unethically in signing a 16-year-old Chinese pitcher and said the team was duped by a sports agent.
Firing back in the battle over Wang Chao, the association said the right-hander signed a 12-year contract last year with a Beijing team.
The association, which is under the government's Sports Ministry, plans to complain in writing. Association official Yang Jie said the Mariners never contacted them about Wang. He also expressed concerns about Wang's future if he is hurt while playing in the United States.
"We think it's bad that the Seattle Mariners acted this way, that the player is unprotected and they acted unethically," Yang said. "We've not had a single fax, phone call or met anyone from Seattle."
Ted Heid, director of Pacific Rim scouting for the Mariners, said Wednesday the team never dealt with Yang during contract talks and never heard of him.
"We're a little confused, to say the least," Heid said. "This is not just something we came in and did a snap decision. It was a long process."
He said Major League Baseball has rules on how old players must be when teams sign them.
"We followed those rules impeccably. We signed him to a 2002 contract per Major League Baseball guidelines," Heid said.
The 6-foot-4, 160-pound Wang, from Beijing, spent several weeks with the Mariners in Peoria during spring training this year.
Yang said an American sports agent — whom he refused to name — took Wang to the United States, but because he wanted to profit on the deal, withheld from the Mariners that the pitcher was already under contract.
Chinese regulations require Wang to have approval from his Beijing team and the association before joining the Mariners, Yang said.
He said the association would not have blocked the transfer and that it wants Chinese players to play overseas so they can improve before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
"We would have been very supportive," Yang said.