The Yankees television network just gained a potential 1.5 billion viewers with this deal.

These signings are surprising, especially due to fact that baseball is a recent (extremely recent) addition to the Chinese sports scene (I would bet that over 90% of the Chinese population knows little to nothing about baseball or have actually played it, although televised games between teams in a newly created Chinese MLB have been broadcast within the last two years). But then again…as boycaught (hat tip for the pointer) mentions…there is probably more to the signings (read: marketing potential) then hoping to find the next A-Rod.

Yankees sign Chinese pitcher, catcher to deals