CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #218
Wei Chuan Dragons News: Ronny Rodríguez
DOUBLE DRAGON! The Wei Chuan Dragons will be using two foreign hitters in the lineup.
After weeks of speculations, on January 19, the Wei Chuan Dragons general manager finally confirmed the signing of Ronny Rodríguez for the 2022 CPBL season.
“Both Ronny Rodríguez and Telvin Nash would be able to provide the much-needed firepower in our left field, first base and third base,” Dragons GM told SET News.
Ronny Rodríguez, the 29-year-old Dominican infielder was active in MLB from 2018 to 2019. During his two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, he slashed .221/.254/.396 with 19 home runs over 500 plate appearances. It is worth mentioning that he hit 14 home runs in 2019 with the Tigers.
Despite his less than ideal MLB numbers, Rodríguez’s Triple-A stats are a lot more desirable. From 2018 to 2019, he posted a strong OPS of .923 and .930, respectively. The Triple-A league average were .709 and .789, to give some perspective.
In 2021, Ronny Rodríguez signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of the NPB. In 125 plate appearances, he posted a slash line of .197/.216/ .426. Out of his 24 hits in the NPB, 15 were extra-base hits. There were also signs of him adjusting to the NPB towards the end of the 2021 season.
Defensive wise, Rodríguez would be very flexible for the Wei Chuan Dragons. In the past three seasons, he demonstrated he could play first base, second base, third base, shortstop, left field and right field.
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 2022 CPBL season.
Any more foreigners likely to be signed before the 2022 season begins?
I think that’s it for now, as least the bulk of it.
Some team will probably sign Mike Loree, and if it is not the Guardians, it will need to be after February. So we will likely to see some Loree news after that.
Maybe some team will sign a few more as their 5th backup around mid-season?
I wonder if the Guardians want Loree to take a pay cut. $500,000 is a lot by CPBL standards for merely very good performance. Players are often reluctant to take a paycut from their current team, but will accept it from another team if that is their best offer upon hitting free agency.
Yeah, I wonder what’s the hold up. Loree is very good, but he is also getting up there with his age too, there’s always a risk when signing players over the age of 35.
While I think Loree definitely worth and has earned that $500K price tag, but there’s the idea of there are also a lot of options out there around the $500K bracket.
Anyway, I’m sure Loree will sign with a CPBL team eventually. Let’s just wait and see.