Headlines

  • Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return
  • Mariners Option Jarred Kelenic, Claim Adrian Sampson
  • Kumar Rocker Signs With Frontier League’s Tri-City ValleyCats
  • Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List
  • Bryce Harper Has Tear In UCL, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks
  • Padres Sign Robinson Cano
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Arbitration Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Austin Bibens-Dirkx Signs With Taiwan’s Uni-President Lions

By Mark Polishuk | January 20, 2019 at 7:32pm CDT

The Uni-President Lions of the Taiwan-based Chinese Professional Baseball League have signed right-hander Austin Bibens-Dirkx to a contract for the 2019 season.  NOWnews reported the signing last week (hat tip to CPBLStats.com) and Bibens-Dirkx confirmed the deal himself on his Instagram page (while also announcing that he and his wife Leah are expecting a baby in June — congratulations to the Bibens-Dirkx family!)

This will be the most far-flung destination yet for Bibens-Dirkx over a 13-year professional career that has seen him pitch for six different MLB organizations, as well as a couple of stints in independent baseball.  The 33-year-old spent the last three seasons with the Rangers, which led to his first taste of Major League action.  Bibens-Dirkx posted a 5.27 ERA, 5.6 K/9, and 2.09 K/BB rate over 114 1/3 innings for Texas in 2017-18, starting 12 of his 37 games played.

Bibens-Dirkx underwent knee surgery at the end of last season, though it doesn’t appear to have been too major a setback.  (His Instagram page also has multiple posts chronicling Bibens-Dirkx’s offseason throwing sessions.)  The Rangers outrighted Bibens-Dirkx off their 40-man roster in November and he elected to become a free agent.

Share 0 Retweet 11 Send via email0

Transactions Austin Bibens-Dirkx

Cardinals, Miles Mikolas Interested in Extension
Main
NL Notes: Cubs, Reds, Pederson, Bourgeois
View Comments (16)

Comments

  1. Steve Trachsel

    3 years ago

    Nice

    Reply
  2. lapmando

    3 years ago

    Who?

    Reply
    • ReverieDays

      3 years ago

      Austin Bibens-Dirkx

      Reply
  3. Tcsbaseball

    3 years ago

    Hope he does well, met him at Rangers fanfest last year and he was a very nice guy. Seemed like he legitimately enjoyed interacting with the fans

    Reply
    • dragqueen

      3 years ago

      still didnt win a roster spot beyond that

      Reply
  4. hefe300

    3 years ago

    Would’ve liked to see Texas give him a major league contract. ABD isn’t great but ir’s hard for me to believe the Rangers will break camp with 12 better pitchers next season.

    Reply
    • Groucho

      3 years ago

      Exactly. Decent middle reliever/spot starter, but they’re going to bank on younger I guess.

      Reply
  5. formerdraftpick

    3 years ago

    As a side note, I named my cat Mr. Bibens-Dirkx.

    Reply
  6. HalosHeavenJJ

    3 years ago

    Nothing better than welcoming a baby into the world. Great for him.

    Reply
  7. xabial

    3 years ago

    What’s a “Uni-President”? What does it have to do w/ Lions?

    Reply
    • manuscr1pt

      3 years ago

      The teams in the Taiwan league are all owned by sponsors, not dedicated to a home location. The mascots are pretty random. Uni-President is a huge FMCG group that also owns a stake in 7-11, which has a higher store-to-person density in Taiwan than anywhere else in the world.

      Reply
    • CPBL STATS

      3 years ago

      I might be able to help with that. So baseball teams in Taiwan are all privately own by the local corporation.

      They tend to view operating a professional baseball team as some form of advertisement and marketing. There’s also a little bit of social responsibility in there too.

      Back in 1990, when the CPBL was established, the league actually designed the mascots first, and then in a way letting the teams to “draft” their choice of mascot.

      However, newer franchises that joined the league after 1990 all of them design their own mascots to suit their corporate identity.

      Using Taoyuan Lamigo Monkeys and Kaohsiung La New Bears as examples, both are more willing to integrate with the city, so their mascots are sort of a play on word with the city. (Similar sounding in Mandarin)

      Reply
  8. stjohnhalfpenny

    3 years ago

    Austin Bibens-Dirkx… he sounds like a foppish dandy.

    Reply
  9. troll

    3 years ago

    going to name the baby, if it’s a boy, austin bibens-dirkx-bibens-dirkx

    Reply
  10. Groucho

    3 years ago

    The story I heard on a game one night was he grew up with just his mom, and when she remarried, her name became Bibens-Dirkx, and he took that name, too, I think out of respect for his stepdad. Nice guy. Wish him well.

    Reply
  11. Mrspaul1

    3 years ago

    I know his grandmother. She is truly a lovely woman and so proud of him. I know that she is going to be elated over the birth of their child!!! I will continue to watch his career, even though I am a Yankee fan…strictly for Grandma Karen. Best Wishes, everyone, for a Happy Opening Day!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return

    Mariners Option Jarred Kelenic, Claim Adrian Sampson

    Kumar Rocker Signs With Frontier League’s Tri-City ValleyCats

    Dodgers Place Clayton Kershaw On Injured List

    Bryce Harper Has Tear In UCL, Won’t Throw For Four Weeks

    Padres Sign Robinson Cano

    Gerardo Parra Retires

    Mariners Promote George Kirby, Place Ken Giles On 60-Day IL

    Diamondbacks To Promote Alek Thomas

    A’s Reinstate Ramon Laureano, Designate Jorge Juan

    Mets Release Robinson Cano

    Twins To Promote Royce Lewis

    Carlos Correa Diagnosed With Bruised Finger, May Avoid Injured List

    Miguel Sano To Undergo Surgery To Repair Torn Meniscus In Knee

    Twins Promote Jose Miranda

    Recent

    Giants Activate Tommy La Stella, Place Anthony DeSclafani On 60-Day IL

    Boras: Michael Conforto Not Ruling Out Late-Season Return

    Guardians Acquire Yohan Ramirez From Mariners

    Rays To Place Brandon Lowe On Injured List

    Pirates Claim Tyler Heineman, Designate Andrew Knapp

    Mariners Select Roenis Elias

    Tigers Place Austin Meadows, Victor Reyes On 10-Day IL

    White Sox Select Johnny Cueto

    Royals Fire Hitting Coach Terry Bradshaw

    NL West Notes: Melancon, Dodgers, Bryant

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Trevor Story Rumors
    • Frankie Montas Rumors
    • Michael Conforto Rumors
    • Arbitration Tracker
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • MLB Player Chats
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Top 50 Free Agents
    • 2022-23 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2022
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version