CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #104
Fubon Guardians News: Henry Sosa
On December 13, the Fubon Guardians announced the signing of Henry Sosa for the 2020 CPBL season. The 34-year-old right-hander is scheduled to report to the team early next year for his second CPBL season.
“I’m thrilled to put on my Guardians uniform once again and play alongside with my old teammates,” said Henry Sosa.
According to the Guardians’ representative, Henry Sosa will stay in Taiwan for the full 2020 season. To read between the lines, this suggested that the Guardians have signed Sosa to a full-year deal.
Based on several media outlets, Henry Sosa’s salary is roughly $50,000 USD per month. Given the Guardians have offered Sosa a full-year contract, he is likely to receive between $500,000 to $600,000 USD in the 2020 CPBL season.
Another terrific outing from Henry Sosa last night. The #Fubon Guardians' right-hander struck out 8 over 8 innings and only gave up 2 earned runs against the Brothers. #CPBL ? pic.twitter.com/U6q1Jksnlq
— CPBL STATS (@GOCPBL) March 30, 2019
Henry Sosa’s Strong 2019 Season
Henry Sosa began his first-half of the 2019 season in Taiwan with the Fubon Guardians. The team initially acquired Sosa back in January 2019 then sold his contact to KBO’s SK Wyverns in early June.
Sosa started 12 games for the Guardians in the first half of the 2019 season and absolutely dominated the league. Across 86.2 innings, he posted an outstanding 1.56 ERA and 0.81 WHIP with 85 strikeouts.
Henry Sosa vs Other CPBL Teams (2019)
Below is the breakdown of Henry Sosa’s stats against three other CPBL teams. It would appear the Lamigo Monkeys is the only team in the league that can put up a decent fight. Both the Uni-Lions and Brothers struggled hard when facing Sosa.
| TEAM (2019) |
G | IP | ERA | WHIP | SO | BB | HR |
| Monkeys | 3 | 21.2 | 3.32 | 0.97 | 16 | 2 | 2 |
| Uni-Lions | 5 | 34.0 | 1.06 | 0.91 | 36 | 3 | 1 |
| Brothers | 4 | 31.0 | 0.87 | 0.58 | 33 | 5 | 2 |
| Total | 12 | 86.2 | 1.56 | 0.81 | 85 | 10 | 5 |
Further Readings
Foreign players come and goes, therefore we compiled a foreign players tracker to keep track of all the foreign players signing for the 2020 CPBL season.
Maybe the start of bigger salaries for the best foreign pitcher on each team, as you’ve been advocating? Doesn’t hurt that Sosa has CPBL experience, pitched great and then pitched well in the KBO in the second half.
CPBL hitters may catch up with him a bit in 2020, and there’s always the chance that Henry Sosa will get hurt. He might be due for an injury, as he’s been remarkably healthy for a number of years now
If he’s really likely to earn $500K to $600K for the year in Taiwan, there isn’t much reason for him to leave in the second half for the KBO in 2020.
I put $500-600K USD because I wasn’t sure if Fubon Guardians meant full-year (12 months) or full-season (10 months). Would be interesting to see what sort of incentive they offered to Sosa in this contract as well. Could potentially up to $650-700K USD if include that.
There are rumours floating around that Loree might be looking at $40-45K USD monthly salary this season. Mitch Lively could be on $30K USD monthly.
It is good to see the Guardians fired the first shot. Hopefully they will dominate the 2020 season and start the “money wars” in the CPBL. Not asking for all 3 to be on that level, but at least 1 foreign player per team would be a good start.