CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #400
Rakuten Monkeys News: Caleb Baragar
On August 19, the Rakuten Monkeys announced the signing of 31-year-old American left-hander Caleb Baragar. According to the Monkeys’ assistant general manager, the deal came together very quickly, and Baragar is set to arrive in Taiwan tomorrow.
“Caleb Baragar is a high strikeout lefty who has been on our radar for quite some time. From initial approach to signing, it only took us two days to finalise this deal. This has to be one of the quickest foreign player signings of my career. The timing worked out well for both parties,” the Monkeys AGM told Liberty Sports.
The timing really was key. Back on August 7, TSNA reported that the Uni-Lions were planning to sign Caleb Baragar, but the deal fell through because his Mexican League club, Toros de Tijuana, was still in the LMB playoffs and rejected the Uni-Lions’ proposal to buy out his contract. The Uni-Lions eventually picked up pitcher Jackson Stephens instead, who, coincidentally, had also been approached by the Rakuten Monkeys.
Fast forward to August 16, after Toros de Tijuana were eliminated from the playoffs, the Monkeys immediately contacted Caleb Baragar, and both sides quickly reached an agreement.
“Although we are very close to the August 31 trade deadline and Caleb Baragar won’t have much time to adjust, we are confident he can contribute right away since he was still pitching in the Mexican League just last week,” the Monkeys AGM added.
Caleb Baragar began his professional career in 2016 with the San Francisco Giants organisation and made his MLB debut in 2020. Over two seasons with the Giants (2020–21), he posted a 2.78 ERA and 1.17 WHIP across 45.1 innings. From 2022 to 2024, he bounced between the Atlantic League and several Triple-A affiliates, including the Diamondbacks, Guardians, and Twins systems.
In 2025, Caleb Baragar took his career to Mexico. He first signed with the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos but was released before the season began. A few weeks later, he landed with Toros de Tijuana. With the Toros, he delivered a solid 3.59 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, and 44 strikeouts over 42.2 innings, well under this year’s LMB league-average ERA of 5.82.
With the signing of Caleb Baragar, the Rakuten Monkeys now have Jonathan Bermúdez, Pedro Fernández, Beau Sulser and Marcelo Martinez as their foreign players.
As per CPBL regulation, the Monkeys would have to trim the number of foreign players on their active roster down to 4 after August 31.
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.
Baragar pitched well in Mexico this summer but appeared to miss a number of starts due to injury. Otherwise, he’s a good CPBL candidate.