The TPBPA (Taiwan Professional Baseball Players Association) have published the 2018 CPBL average salary figures. Each team’s payroll covers its entire 60-man roster, which include both the first and the farm team.
- The figures below are in US Dollar. We use the exchange rate of $30 NTD to $1 USD.
- All figures have been converted to annual salary instead of monthly salary.
- The salary figures does not include foreign players and the developmental players.
- The CPBL foreign players’ salaries are not transparent at the moment. The standard rate is roughly $15,000 to $25,000 USD per month. There are a few cases like Freddy Garcia, who was getting paid $50,000 USD per month.
- In the CPBL, teams will cover the living cost such as meals and accommodations for all the players during the season.
- The data does not include incentives and post-game bonus.
- The incentive is normally around $5000 to $15,000 USD per year based on performance goals set by the organisation. High profile players may have an incentive bonus around $34,000 per season.
2018 CPBL Average Salary
For the 2018 CPBL season, across a total of 223 players, the average salary is at $61,200 USD. Leading the league are the Fubon Guardians with an average salary of $66,400 per player, followed by the Chinatrust Brothers with $61,600.
The Uni-Lions takes the third place with $58,800 USD, while the Lamigo Monkeys comes in last with $58,000 per player.
It is worth mentioning, despite having a slight 1.9% decrease in 2018 average salary, when comparing with the data from 2014, it is still a 13.3% increase.
Since 2014, teams are more willing to sign high school players and spend time to develop them in the farm team. With high school players generally receive minimum salary until they get the first team call-up, this might be one of the main reasons causing the decrease in average salary for the 2018 season.
CPBL Average Salary (2014 to 2018)
Fubon Guardians Average Salary (2014 to 2018)
For the fourth consecutive season, the Guardians have had an increase in average salary with 6.4% in 2018. They have been one of the most consistent team in the team when it comes to salary increase, always stay within the range of 5 to 6% increase year by year.
2019 forecast: The average salary will continue to increase, especially with the Guardians picking up five heavily discounted former Brothers’ players in the off-season, those players will most likely get a reasonable pay bump after 2018.
There is also 林益全 (Lin Yi-Chuan) who will be up for a contract renewal at the end of 2018. 32-year-old Lin is currently on an annual salary of $320,000 USD and will be eligible to apply for free agency at the end of this year.
*Note: From 2013 to 2016 they were the EDA Rhinos. The Fubon Guardians purchased the team at the end of 2016 season.
Lamigo Monkeys Average Salary (2014 to 2018)
Traditionally speaking, no teams will cut their players’ salary after winning the Taiwan Series. This is the case for the Monkeys in 2018 with a 4.3% increase in average salary.
2019 forecast: Will most likely to see the salary to go up in a steady pace, as the Monkeys are known for locking up their primary players to multi-year contracts.
Having said that, this is heavily dependent on two of the Monkeys high profile players’ in this off-season. As 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) will eligible for international free agency, and 林泓育 (Lin Hung-Yu) who will be eligible for free agency.
Should both players left the Monkeys, there will be a gap for $420,000 USD in the Monkeys 2019 annual payroll.
Uni-Lions Average Salary (2014 to 2018)
For the third straight seasons, the Uni-Lions have had a decrease in average salary, dropping another 2.1% in 2018. This is caused by the team is still in the process of rebuilding with plenty of high school and university signing the last few seasons.
2019 forecast: The payroll will neither maintain or dip slightly for the next two season. The reason being, it takes time for those under 23 youngsters to develop and fully takeover the primary position in the first team.
It is also safe to assume players like 陳傑憲 (Chen Chieh-Hsien) and 蘇智傑 (Su Chih-Chieh) will likely to receive a $140,000 to $160,000 contract after this season. Or alternatively, the Uni-Lions might lock them to a multi-year contract around $180,000 to $200,000 per year.
Chinatrust Brothers Average Salary (2014 to 2018)
It is not a surprise to see the Brothers 2018 average salary suffered a 12.5% drop this year, as the team released seven core players for disciplinary reasons during the 2017 off-season.
From looking at the 2017 data, those seven released players worth about $890,000 a year in total value. This is one of the main reasons that contributed to the massive 12.5% drop in 2018.
2019 forecast: Will most likely to maintain the same level. However, this is heavily dependent on what will happen to 彭政閔 (Peng Cheng-Min) and 林智勝 (Lin Chih-Sheng) after 2018.
It is still unknown whether the 40-year-old Peng Cheng-Min (2018 salary, $280,000) will retire after this season or not. Peng is currently on his final year of his two-year contract with an option either continue as a player (should the team agree) or taking a four-year coaching deal.
There is also the status of Lin Chih-Sheng (2018 salary, $480,000), nobody knows whether the Brothers will re-sign him or not. There have been plenty of rumours about Lin and the Brothers’ manager Cory Snyder does not get along with each others.
2018 CPBL Average Salary by Age Bracket
Breaking down the average salary by the age bracket, it will provide a much clearer picture on each organisations’ team structure and their overall strategy.
- Uni-Lions lead the under 23 age bracket with $34,400.
- Lamigo Monkeys lead the 24 to 29 age bracket with $48,000.
- Fubon Guardians lead the 30 to 35 age bracket with $102,800.
- Chinatrust Brothers dominate the age of 35 and above bracket with $267,200.
Age Under 23 Bracket Average Salary
The Uni-Lions takes the lead in the under 23 age bracket with an average salary of $34,400. With this data we can clearly see the Uni-Lions are trying to rebuild their team, which also match their drafting strategies in the past few seasons.
Generally speaking, the under 23 bracket can be divided into two groups, high school and university players. High school players normally required several years in the farm league before getting the call-up, this is why most of them tend receive the minimum farm team salary at $20,000. (See notes below).
The university players are considered to be more “first team ready”, therefore their salary are higher, normally starting around $28,000 to $40,000.
*Note 1: Technically, there is no minimum salary in the farm team. However, for high school farm team rookies their first contract tend to hover around $20,000 to 28,000 USD.
Age 24 to 29 Average Salary
The Lamigo Monkeys lead the 24 to 29 age bracket with an average salary of $48,800. As an organisation that doesn’t believe in “veteran players”, and traditionally more willing to lock down their young players to multi-year contracts, it is not surprised to see the Monkeys once again lead in this age bracket.
It is also worth mentioning, looking at the top four CPBL players from this 24 to 29 age bracket, two of them are the Monkeys players. 24-year-old outfielder 王柏融 (Wang Po-Jung) with $200,000 USD, and 29-year-old infielder 陳俊秀 (Chen Chun-Hsiu) at $208,000.
The Chinatrust Brothers’ 29-year-old RHP 鄭凱文 (Cheng Kai-Wen) and the Guardians’ 29-year-old outfielder 林哲瑄 (Lin Che-Hsuan) are both tie for first place with $240,000. Both Cheng and Lin are on their final year of their multi-year contract.
Age 30 to 35 Average Salary
The Fubon Guardians lead the 30 to 35 age bracket with an average salary of $102,800. Incidentally, they also have the most players in this age bracket with 20 players.
Guardians’ star infielder 林益全 (Lin Yi-Chuan) is the highest paid players in the 30 to 35 age bracket with an $320,000 USD. The 32-year-old three-time CPBL MVP will be eligible for free agency at the end of 2018. Maybe Lin will be aiming for a salary package around $400,000 to $480,000?
Age Over 35 Average Salary
The Chinatrust Brothers have once again dominated the age of 35 and above bracket with an average salary of $267,200. 36-year-old Brothers’ slugger 林智勝 (Lin Chih-Sheng) is currently the highest paid CPBL player in the league with $480,000 USD.
More 2018 CPBL Salary Data
| CPBL 2018 Season Salary | Average Salary (USD) | Number of Players |
|---|---|---|
| CPBL Positional Players | $69,200 | 129 |
| Guardians Positional Players | $73,200 | 32 |
| Brothers Positional Players | $77,200 | 32 |
| Uni-Lions Positional Players | $63,200 | 31 |
| Monkeys Positional Players | $64,400 | 34 |
| CPBL Pitchers | $50,000 | 94 |
| Guardians Pitchers | $57,200 | 22 |
| Brothers Pitchers | $42,800 | 26 |
| Uni-Lions Pitchers | $53,200 | 24 |
| Monkeys Pitchers | $48,400 | 22 |
| CPBL Catchers | $49,600 | 26 |
| Guardians Catchers | $42,400 | 6 |
| Brothers Catchers | $37,200 | 6 |
| Uni-Lions Catchers | $54,400 | 6 |
| Monkeys Catchers | $61,200 | 8 |
| CPBL Infielders | $74,000 | 56 |
| Guardians Infielders | $66,800 | 12 |
| Brothers Infielders | $90,000 | 17 |
| Uni-Lions Infielders | $66,400 | 13 |
| Monkeys Infielders | $67,200 | 14 |
| CPBL Outfielders | $74,800 | 47 |
| Guardians Outfielders | $91,600 | 14 |
| Brothers Outfielders | $78,800 | 9 |
| Uni-Lions Outfielders | $64,000 | 12 |
| Monkeys Outfielders | $63,200 | 12 |
| CPBL Players (All) | $61,200 | 223 |
| Guardians Players (All) | $66,400 | 54 |
| Brothers Players (All) | $61,600 | 58 |
| Uni-Lions Players (All) | $58,800 | 55 |
| Monkeys Players (All) | $58,000 | 56 |
| CPBL Under 23 (Age) | $30,000 | 52 |
| Guardians Under 23 (Age) | $23,200 | 10 |
| Brothers Under 23 (Age) | $31,600 | 12 |
| Uni-Lions Under 23 (Age) | $34,400 | 14 |
| Monkeys Under 23 (Age) | $29,600 | 16 |
| CPBL 24 to 29 (Age) | $43,200 | 100 |
| Guardians 24 to 29 (Age) | $46,000 | 22 |
| Brothers 24 to 29 (Age) | $38,400 | 33 |
| Uni-Lions 24 to 29 (Age) | $42,400 | 21 |
| Monkeys 24 to 29 (Age) | $48,000 | 24 |
| CPBL 30 to 35 (Age) | $94,400 | 58 |
| Guardians 30 to 35 (Age) | $102,800 | 20 |
| Brothers 30 to 35 (Age) | $95,200 | 9 |
| Uni-Lions 30 to 35 (Age) | $73,200 | 14 |
| Monkeys 30 to 35 (Age) | $102,400 | 15 |
| CPBL Over 35 (Age) | $176,800 | 13 |
| Guardians Over 35 (Age) | $150,000 | 2 |
| Brothers Over 35 (Age) | $267,200 | 4 |
| Uni-Lions Over 35 (Age) | $140,000 | 6 |
| Monkeys Over 35 (Age) | $88,000 | 1 |