CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #379
CTBC Brothers News: Nivaldo Rodriguez
On March 5, the CTBC Brothers announced the signing of Nivaldo Rodriguez for the 2025 CPBL season. The 27-year-old Venezuelan right-hander will return for his second season in Taiwan, this time with a new team. Rodriguez previously pitched for the Fubon Guardians in 2024.
According to ETtoday, Nivaldo Rodriguez’s annual salary with the Brothers, including performance incentives, is reportedly around 600,000 USD. SET News also reported that Rodriguez’s contract includes an escape clause, allowing him to leave mid-season if an opportunity arises in NPB or KBO.
Fubon Guardians’ Nivaldo Rodriguez allows 2 runs and strikes out 10 over 5 innings. #CPBL pic.twitter.com/ZI39DurLQc
— CPBL STATS 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) April 13, 2024
Nivaldo Rodriguez was dominant in 2024 as a member of the Guardians, making 26 starts and posting an impressive 2.16 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 24.9 K%, and 6.2 BB% over 154 innings.
- 2.16 ERA (3rd in the league)
- 26 starts (1st in the league)
- 154 innings pitched (2nd in the league)
- 156 strikeouts (2nd in the league)
During the offseason, Nivaldo Rodriguez represented Venezuela in the 2024 WBSC Premier12 tournament, recording a 3.27 ERA, 0.82 WHIP, and 14 strikeouts over 11 innings against Panama, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and the USA.
Guardians Struggling to Re-Sign Nivaldo Rodriguez
Given Nivaldo Rodriguez’s stellar 2024 CPBL performance, re-signing him for 2025 was a top priority for the Guardians. However, negotiations proved more difficult than expected.
Throughout the winter, rumours swirled that NPB and KBO teams were considering signing Nivaldo Rodriguez. Reports also indicated that he received minor league offers from multiple MLB organisations and was weighing his options. Broadcaster Wang Yi-Hsuan revealed that the Guardians offered him nearly 600,000 USD, yet he still did not commit.
Once the Guardians’ exclusive negotiation rights expired on February 28, other CPBL teams immediately jumped into the mix. According to UDN, multiple teams pursued Nivaldo Rodriguez, with the Guardians even offering a multi-year deal to retain him. However, in the end, the CTBC Brothers won the bidding war and secured him for the 2025 season.
With the signing of Nivaldo Rodriguez, the CTBC Brothers now have Kirk McCarty, José De Paula, Humberto Castellanos and Mario Sanchez as their foreign players. On the day of signing Rodriguez, the Brothers terminated the contract of Daniel Mengden over an internal failed drug test.
Further Readings
Foreign players come and go. Therefore, we have compiled a foreign player tracker, and I’ll be updating that list regularly to keep pace with the ever-changing roster shuffle throughout the 2025 CPBL season.
I think Rodriguez’s best professional future lies in Asia, and he’s put himself in the best position to win and possibly move up to the KBO or NPB by signing with the Brothers. It doesn’t sound like the Brothers offered him much more money than Fubon did.
The Brothers would seem to be the prohibitive favorite to win the first half of the 2025 season and possibly set best half record unless all of their position players get hurt in short order.