CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #159
Fubon Guardians News: JC Ramirez
It would appear the Fubon Guardians have no intention of slowing down when it comes to signing foreign players. On December 28, the Guardians announced the signing of 32-year-old right-hander JC Ramírez as their fifth foreign pitcher.
“JC Ramirez has a dominating fastball along with several sharp breaking pitches,” said the Guardians general manager. “After seeing him in action in the Mexican winter league, we decided to sign him to strengthen our team.”
According to source, the Fubon Guardians were in touch with JC Ramirez last year, but both parties failed to reach an agreement. Ramírez is set to report to the team before February 1, 2021.
JC Ramirez was active in the MLB from 2013 to 2019 pitching for several MLB organisations. He is best known for his 2017 season with the Angels where he posted a 4.15 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over 147.1 innings.
During the 2020 offseason, he went down to Mexico and pitched for the Tomateros de Culiacan of the LMP. As of December 28, he posted a dominating 1.74 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 41.1 innings.
#JCTIME HACE HISTORIA ?
El derecho se convierte en tercer pitcher de la @Liga_Arco que retira 1️⃣ entrada con 3️⃣ ponches en 9️⃣ lanzamientos#QueSean13? #NaciónGuinda? #LAMPxSky #SkySportsMX pic.twitter.com/gZYfmls99l
— Tomateros de Culiacán (@clubtomateros) December 9, 2020
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 2021 CPBL season.
Surprising to see Fubon sign a 5th pitcher, since it means two foreign pitchers paid to pitch at the minor league level. However, in light of the delays in bringing in new foreign pitchers due to Covid, it makes a certain amount of sense to bring in a fifth foreign pitcher to start the season.
On twitter, you suggest Fubon could sign six or seven foreign pitchers before the season starts. CPBL teams averaged six foreign pitchers each last season, so signing seven seems like overkill, although it could be a good idea to bring in some cheaper Indy-A/Winter League stars as 5th and 6th signings to see which ones pitch effectively at the minor league level.
We’ll see if any of the other CPBL teams decide to follow Fubon’s lead and sign a 5th foreign pitcher before the season starts. As it stands, the Monkeys are the only team left that hasn’t signed a 4th foreign starter yet.
I think they want to create a competitive environment for the foreign players during spring training.
Also based on Taiwan CDC recommendation, all the foreign players will now have to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine plus an additional 7 days of home monitoring before they can report to the team.
It is probably safer to bring in 5 pitchers this season just to be on the safe side given there is a longer turnaround time with new signing. Also with Loree has a history of injury and Sosa is getting up there with his age too, probably want some back up just in case.
Or… Maybe they can see them losing some players to the KBO during the mid-season, that’s why they want to stock up on foreign players this year.
As for 6th and 7th, we will see what happen. I don’t think it will happen though. Seems unnecessary at this stage.
But Mike Loree is no longer a foreign pitcher, right? For the purpose of the number limit at least.
Oh, it’s is based on service years. Mike Loree is currently around 7.5 he will not be eligible until the end of 2022 season.
Ervin Santana, who we briefly discussed earlier, just signed a minor league deal with the Kansas City Royals that would pay him $1.5 million for major league service. One of the advantages of being a former MLB star is that teams still see you as a potential MLB player after a big winter league season.