from the New York Times

On the third day of spring training for Yankees pitchers last Saturday, Chien-Ming Wang, a 24-year-old with no major league experience, made an error in fielding practice. Then he made an error in etiquette.

As penance for the fielding misplay, Wang had to choose two teammates to join him on a run from the mound to the foul pole and back. One of them was a thoroughly amused Randy Johnson, the decorated 17-year veteran, who jogged to the pole and faked a limp on his way back.

"He thought that we were pretty good friends," Johnson said.

It was an excusable blunder. Wang (pronounced Wong) worked out at the same Phoenix training facility as Johnson in January. They are represented by the same agency, CSMG Sports, and Wang felt a familiarity with a fellow ace.

Wang, a right-hander, was the best pitcher for the Chinese Taipei Olympic team, making two starts in Athens last summer with a 1.98 earned run average. This season, the Yankees expect him to be the top starter for Class AAA Columbus.

"He's on schedule," General Manager Brian Cashman said. "He's a guy we gave a lot of money to and we had high aspirations for. So far, he's developed as we expected. He's kind of right on line, and he's our No. 1 pitching prospect."

Baseball America ranked Wang 10th over all in the Yankees' system, behind three pitchers at Class A or lower. Those rankings are based on long-term potential, Cashman said, "but this guy, you don't have to project; he's on the verge."

In the Yankees' world, that could mean on the verge of being traded. After the five regular starters, the Yankees' emergency starter is Tanyon Sturtze, who will be in the bullpen. Wang is the seventh starter, and if he continues his progress with Columbus, he could be trade bait in July.

Wang speaks Mandarin, and he politely indicated that his English was not good enough for an interview. Asked if he wanted to pitch in the majors this season, he said, "I hope so."

Manager Joe Torre is a fan. In a previous spring training, Torre said, he was so impressed watching Wang pitch that he called over Mel Stottlemyre, the pitching coach, and George Steinbrenner, the principal owner.

"I like him," said Torre, who watched Wang throw batting practice on a side field on Friday. "He's got good presence out there. It just looks like his ball picks up a little bit on the way to the plate."

Wang, who appears taller than his listed height of 6 feet 3 inches, is sneaky fast, in the baseball vernacular. He has a slow delivery, making the speed on his fastball seem surprising. He throws a slider and has a splitter, just like his idol, Roger Clemens.

"At the time he signed, Roger was with the Yankees," said Alan Chang, Wang's primary agent. "He knew all about the tradition the Yankees have. When he signed there, that was like his dream come true."

John Cox, the Yankees' Pacific Rim scouting coordinator, tracked Wang in 2000 at a tournament in Taiwan. Wang was only mildly impressive, and Cox said other scouts moved on to a tournament in Japan.

"I stayed, and it was one of the best things I ever did," he said. "There was something about him that was getting my attention."

The more he watched, the more Cox noticed Wang's competitiveness. Late in the tournament, in a tight game with runners in scoring position, Wang threw harder, with a better slider. His demeanor changed. Wang, a mild-mannered college student off the field, was tough on it.

In May 2000, the Yankees made the highest bonus offer, $1.9 million, and assigned Wang to Class A Staten Island. He pitched well that summer of 2000 but tore his right labrum the next spring and missed a full season.

He has progressed since then, earning a promotion from Class AA Trenton to Columbus in July and winning the Yankees' minor league pitcher of the year award. After losing his first start at Columbus, Wang went 5-0 with a 1.05 E.R.A.

Just as he had in Taiwan, Wang got tougher in tighter spots.

"You wish he'd get mad like that right out of the chute," said the Yankees' bullpen coach Neil Allen, the pitching coach for Columbus last season. "He'll go along for three or four innings, and all of a sudden a situation develops and he picks his whole game up. It starts boiling inside him, and then he keeps that the rest of the way."

Wang pulled a hamstring in the International League playoffs and returned to Taiwan after the season. On the advice of his agents, he worked out in Phoenix and absorbed lessons there from Johnson and Kimiyasu Kudo, a well-known Japanese pitcher for the Yomiuri Giants.

"He wanted to come early to get himself in the best possible shape," Chang said.

Now that he is here, Wang will keep an eye on his famous friend to make sure he is doing the same.

INSIDE PITCH

General Manager Brian Cashman will have breakfast on Saturday with Arn Tellem, the agent for Hideki Matsui, to begin negotiating a contract extension. Matsui can be a free agent after this season, when his three-year, $21 million contract expires. "He's been a terrific Yankee, and we'd all like to continue the relationship," Cashman said. ... Randy Johnson will start the Yankees' first exhibition game, on Thursday against Pittsburgh. The Yankees play intrasquad games on Monday and Tuesday. ... Fans in Fort Myers, Fla., should not expect to see stars when the Yankees visit the Boston Red Sox on March 7, their only trip to play Boston this spring. The Yankees have two games that day and a long road trip the next day. "I'm not going to feel obligated to bring a full contingent," Manager Joe Torre said.