CPBL Foreign Players Updates Volume #424
Wei Chuan Dragons News: Marcelo Martinez
On December 22, broadcaster Wang Yi-Hsuan reported that the Rakuten Monkeys were having some difficulty re-signing Marcelo Martinez for the 2026 season. This was partly due to the team having overspent its foreign player budget on Pedro Fernández (a two-year deal worth at least USD 1.20 million), which left the Monkeys with very little financial flexibility.
Fast forward to January 7, GO Baseball reported that the Wei Chuan Dragons had signed Marcelo Martinez for the 2026 CPBL season. The 29-year-old Mexican left-hander, who pitched for the Rakuten Monkeys over the past two seasons, will return for his third season in Taiwan as a member of the Dragons.
The article also noted that, although under CPBL regulations the Rakuten Monkeys would normally retain Marcelo Martinez’s negotiating rights until February 28, 2026 (the so-called “228 Clause”), there is a special clause in Martinez’s contract required the Monkeys to forfeit those rights in December 2025.
This special clause basically allowed other CPBL teams to approach Marcelo Martinez freely without being restricted by the 228 Clause (having to wait until February 28). The Monkeys have reportedly already provided written confirmation forfeiting Martinez’s negotiating rights.
2025 CPBL Taiwan Series G1
Rakuten Monkeys Marcelo Martinez pitched 7 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, limiting the Brothers to just 3 scattered hits. pic.twitter.com/lvtogAcJZF
— CPBL STATS (Taiwan Dark Lemon) 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) October 18, 2025
The 2025 CPBL season was another strong year for Marcelo Martinez. Although he was not quite as dominant as he had been in 2024, he still delivered excellent report card. In 25 starts, he posted a solid 2.51 ERA (137 ERA+), 1.08 WHIP, and logged 158 innings.
Looking deeper into his numbers, Marcelo Martinez also increased his workload in 2025, raising his total innings pitched from 149.2 to 158, which ranked second in the league. While his K% declined below league average from 18.6% to 15.4%, he managed to cut his BB% from 5.5% to 4.8%, at the same time maintaining a similar Whiff% at a respectable 20.5%, placing him around the mid-70th percentile among league pitchers.
During the 2025 postseason, Marcelo Martinez appeared in Game 1 (starter) and Game 4 (reliever) of the Playoff Series, logging a 2.45 ERA over 7.1 innings. In the Taiwan Series, he started in Game 1 and Game 5, posting a 0.75 ERA and 1.00 WHIP over 12 innings..
With the signing of Marcelo Martinez, the Wei Chuan Dragons currently have Bryan Woodall (domestic status, 2-year deal), Drew Gagnon (2-year deal), C.C. Mercedes and John Gant as their group of foreign players for the 2026 CPBL season.
Rakuten Monkeys’ Marcelo Martinez allowed 1 run and struck out 8 over 7.1 innings. pic.twitter.com/JGqUn48R3J
— CPBL STATS (Taiwan Dark Lemon) 🪬🔮 (@GOCPBL) May 3, 2025
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 2026 CPBL season.