2021 CPBL Foreign Players Tracker

Foreign players come and goes. So, here is the 2021 CPBL foreign players tracker. We will continue to update this blog post throughout the season. [Last updated: April 7, 2021]

NameCPBL TeamHighest LevelSeasons in CPBL
Tim MelvilleUni-LionsMLB2
Brock DykxhoornUni-LionsTriple-A / KBO2
Teddy StankiewiczUni-LionsTriple-A2
Félix DoubrontUni-LionsMLB / KBO1
Mitch LivelyCTBC BrothersTriple-A / NPB4
José De PaulaCTBC BrothersMLB2
Onelki GarciaCTBC BrothersMLB / NPB1
Gabriel YnoaCTBC BrothersMLB / NPB1
Esmil RogersCTBC BrothersMLB / KBO2
Evan GrillsCTBC BrothersTriple-A1
Keisuke TakanoCTBC BrothersNPB1
Ryan BollingerRakuten MonkeysTriple-A3
Aaron WilkersonRakuten MonkeysMLB1
Dillon OvertonRakuten MonkeysMLB1
Deck McGuireRakuten MonkeysMLB / KBO1
Bradin HagensRakuten MonkeysMLB / NPB1
TBARakuten MonkeysMLB1
Henry SosaFubon GuardiansMLB / KBO3
Mike LoreeFubon GuardiansDouble-A / KBO9
Manny BañuelosFubon GuardiansMLB2
Héctor NoesíFubon GuardiansMLB / KBO1
J. C. RamírezFubon GuardiansMLB1
Yomar Flande ConcepcionFubon GuardiansLCBP1
Yamaico NavarroFubon GuardiansMLB / NPB / KBO1
Eduardo NúñezFubon GuardiansMLB1
Jake BrighamWei Chuan DragonsMLB / KBO1
Drew GagnonWei Chuan DragonsMLB / KBO1
Junichi TazawaWei Chuan DragonsMLB1
Rosell HerreraWei Chuan DragonsMLB1
Bryan WoodallWei Chuan DragonsTriple-A7

Uni-Lions Foreign Players

Tim Melville (猛威爾)

Brock Dykxhoorn (布雷克)

Teddy Stankiewicz (泰迪)

Félix Doubront

  • 1987/10/23
  • Pitcher (LHP)
  • MLB 2010-2015 (Red Sox, Cubs, Blue Jays, A’s)
  • First CPBL season (Uni-Lions)
  • Baseball Reference profile
  • 2021 CPBL status
    • Signed (TBA)

CTBC Brothers Foreign Players

Mitch Lively (萊福力)

José De Paula (德保拉)

Onelki García – Released

Gabriel Ynoa

Esmil Rogers

Evan Grills

Keisuke Takano

Rakuten Monkeys Foreign Players

Ryan Bollinger (包林傑)

Aaron Wilkerson (威克森) – Released

Dillon Overton

Deck McGuire

  • 1989/06/23
  • Pitcher (RHP)
  • MLB 2017-18 (Reds, Blue Jays, Angels)
  • First CPBL season (Monkeys)
  • Baseball Reference profile
  • 2021 CPBL status
    • Signed (December 30, 2020)

Bradin Hagens

  • 1989/06/23
  • Pitcher (RHP)
  • MLB 2014 (Diamondbacks)
  • First CPBL season (Monkeys)
  • Baseball Reference profile
  • 2021 CPBL status
    • Signed (December 30, 2020)

TBA – Yet to be Named

Fubon Guardians Foreign Players

Henry Sosa (索沙)

Mike Loree (羅力 / 雷力)

Manny Bañuelos (邦威)

Héctor Noesí [Released]

  • 1987/01/26
  • Pitcher (RHP)
  • MLB 2011-15, 2019 (Yankees, Mariners, Rangers, White Sox, Marlins)
  • First CPBL season (Guardians)
  • Baseball Reference profile
  • 2021 CPBL status

JC Ramírez

Yomar Flande Concepcion

Yamaico Navarro [Contract Terminated by CPBL]

Eduardo Núñez

Wei Chuan Dragons Foreign Players

Jake Brigham

Drew Gagnon

Junichi Tazawa

Rosell Herrera

Bryan Woodall (伍鐸)

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

3 COMMENTS

  1. The Lions have to be excited to bring back the Melville/Stankiewicz/Dykxhoorn trio. Not too often do you see a CPBL team have three big right-hander/big stuff types with AAA success and (even though they didn’t quite show it last summer) historically get the punchouts. All three could realistically still be replacement-level MLB arms and I wouldn’t bat an eye.

    De Paula/Miranda/Rogers was pure nasty last year. Good to see Lively back as a familiar face, even if he’s not the most exciting. Low-walk guys tend to do well in this league (Lively, Loree, Woodall for a couple years), even if they don’t have the flashiest stuff. Excited to see who the Brothers bring in to round out the rotation, especially if they continue to go down the hard-throwing, strikeout-stuff mold of pitchers like last season. Throw in Huang En-Sih and the back end of that bullpen, the Brothers might lead the league in K’s again.

    Nothing needs to be said about Sosa, he’s low-walk AND big-stuff. Loree’s run-prevention numbers were up last year but the underlying peripherals remained consistent, he should be fine. Banuelos is intimidating, he might be the best arm in the league. As a Monkeys fan the Guardians rotation scares me, especially if Chiang Kuo-Hao takes it up a notch (he looked really good at times last year).

    What the Monkeys have done so far has been…underwhelming. Interested to see what Bollinger can do for a full season, for sure. Wilkerson I actually think is a decent get, he’s shown the ability to pick up whiffs in the upper minors, we’ll see how the year off affects him. Overton is the signing I find puzzling, nothing in that repertoire/stat sheet looks particularly conducive to CPBL success. I’ll be disappointed but not surprised if he turns out to basically be Wang Yi-Cheng.

    I have high hopes for who the Dragons sign as their foreign players. The Lions showed last year that with three arms, a closer, and a couple decent bats you can compete for a title. I really hope they get a foreign bat who can play an up-the-middle position (shortstop or CF with power come rare in the CPBL), rather than a 1B/DH like Morales, Peguero, or Francisco. Three foreign aces + Wang Wei Chung, and an up-the-middle foreign bat to pair with Liu Chi-Hung and Huang Po-Hao? I think you can dream on that almost immediately.

    • For the Dragons, a few former CPBL players might be worth taking a look at. Roger Bernadina (who briefly played for the Monkeys in 2019 as CF) and Felix Pie who left the Uni-Lions with fractured foot injury. Pie played quite well in the Mexican League last year.

      With Huang Po-Hao out of commission until mid-2021 with a fractured wrist injury, maybe that’s why the Dragons might want to find a 1B/ DH foreign player.

      But there’s also a conflicting reports out there saying they are targeting a player who can play multiple positions.

      Uni-Lions, Brothers and Guardians signing are very safe and not really a surprise. So I skip them and go straight to the Monkeys.

      Yeah, it is interesting they signed 2 pitchers out of the hitter friendly PCL (Triple-A), maybe they saw something in those pitchers. I don’t mind the Aaron Wilkerson and Dillon Overton signing that much, but the whole missing the 2020 season and lack of velocity is a concern.

      I also wonder if that’s the Monkeys foreign players signing strategy this season, picking up players from the PCL.

      I actually quite like Ryan Bollinger, if he is healthy, he can be quite scary. What the Monkeys are lacking right now in my opinion is a power RHP who throws hard.

  2. This will be another great year for Taiwan baseball. The strategies they use to get the right pitchers at the right time of the year has always been the story for success in the playoffs!
    All teams will come out fighting for that first half championship to get the edge over the rest of the year! But as we saw last year that does not mean they will win the Taiwan Series. The Lions made the right moves in picking up 3 North American pitchers to set themselves up for a championship in 2020! Hoping Taiwan opens its borders so I can come back and cheer for this great baseball league! RJ

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