CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #321
Wei Chuan Dragons News: Drew Gagnon
On February 6, the Wei Chuan Dragons announced the re-signing of Drew Gagnon to a 2-year deal until the end of the 2025 CPBL season. The 33-year-old American right-hander is set to return to Taiwan for his fourth season in the CPBL.
Drew Gagnon has been one of the foundations in the Dragons’ starting rotation in the past few years. During those three seasons, he logged 451.1 innings with a 3.07 ERA and 1.17 WHIP across 76 games.
In 2023, Gagnon posted a 3.00 ERA and 1.15 WHIP over a career-high 183 innings. He finished the year as the strikeout leader with 155 strikeouts and was named the 2023 CPBL MVP.
- ERA – 3.00 (3rd in the league)
- WHIP – 1.16 (1st in the league, among 100+ innings pitched)
- Strikeouts – 155 (1st in the league)
- Innings Pitched – 183 (1st in the league)
- WAR – 4.17 (1st among all pitchers)
- FIP – 2.94 (1st, among 100+ innings pitched)
- Wins – 13 (1st in the league)
As of today, the Wei Chuan Dragons currently have Jasier Herrera, Bryan Woodall and Drew Gagnon as their foreign players for the 2024 season.
Wei Chuan Dragons’ Drew Gagnon tossed 7 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts. The Guardians lineup were clueless against Gagnon’s changeup. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/ll309sGQ60
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) May 28, 2023
Further Readings
Foreign players come and go. Therefore, we have compiled a tracker to monitor all foreign player signings for the 2024 CPBL season.
Gagnon certainly seems to like pitching in the CPBL, and a two-year contract guarantee is almost certainly a way for the Dragons to pay Gagnon less per year than he was asking for following his league-best 2023 performance.
Any idea what happens if Gagnon gets hurt in year one of the deal? Can he be dropped from the major league roster to allow another foreign pitcher to take his place, or does he have to stay on the major league roster if the Dragons want to bring him back in year two?
Also, any rumors regarding the amount of the two-year guarantee?
Not much information online regarding to Drew Gagnon’s 2-year deal and all the conditions with the Dragons. But I will probably post on Twitter if I come across some news in the future. I wonder if there’s any injury clause in the contract, maybe the salary will change when he is on the injured list? I’m just guessing here.