TODAY: The additions of Morimando and Valdez will help make up for the loss of right-hander Gabriel Ynoa, who was released by the Brothers (hat tip again to CPBL Stats). Ynoa has spent the last two seasons overseas, pitching in Japan in 2020 before inking a one-year deal with the Brothers last offseason. A veteran of three MLB seasons, Ynoa had a 5.39 ERA over 163 2/3 innings with the Mets and Orioles from 2016-19.
OCTOBER 8: The CTBC Brothers of Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League announced agreements with left-hander Shawn Morimando and right-hander José Valdez last week (h/t to CPBL Stats). Both Morimando and Valdez have appeared in the major leagues.
Morimando was in the majors as recently as this past August with the Marlins. The 31-year-old bounced on and off the Marlins’ roster a few times, ultimately making four appearances. He was tagged for eleven runs over 10 1/3 innings over his brief MLB look but had a nice 2021 campaign with Triple-A Jacksonville. Morimando made eighteen appearances (including sixteen starts) with the Jumbo Shrimp, tossing 89 2/3 frames of 4.32 ERA ball with strikeout and walk rates not far off the league average and a strong 50.4% ground-ball percentage.
The 2021 season marked Morimando’s second in which he picked up some big league time. The southpaw also worked 4 2/3 innings over a pair of outings with the Indians in 2016. He’s tossed fifteen frames altogether, allowing seventeen runs with fourteen strikeouts and ten walks.
Valdez has appeared in parts of four major league seasons. From 2015-18, he bounced between the Tigers, Angels, Padres and Giants. Overall, he’s worked 55 1/3 innings of relief at the big league level, posting a 6.34 ERA. Valdez has spent the past few seasons pitching in the Mexican League.
What a team name. That’s all I got.
They are also known as the CTBC Brother Elephants. The CPBL is a really fun league to watch—http://cpblstats.com.
do you follow it closely? I was wondering just how good Ryan Bollinger looked this year. i really hope he can get back to the Majors at some point.
Somewhat closely. Found it really helpful in getting through the initial COVID shut down—they did English language broadcasts, which were great because the announcers were essentially just a bunch of random guys who ended up in Taiwan, spoke English, and liked baseball. Bollinger is not in the team I follow the most, but he looked good the two starts I saw. He was very good last year. At the same time, as a general matter, it seems that left-handlers have a lot of success in the CPBL.
cpblstats.com/2021-cpbl-pitching-stats/
They obviously need to sign Rex Brothers. That’s all I got.
He would have his name on the front and back of his jersey
This will sound critical but it’s not intended that way. I honestly am curious.
What is the criteria for a transaction to be included on this site. This one seems about as irrelevant as you can get, yet sometimes we only get a list of daily transactions on one post or no mention at all on others.
He had just been listed in an article that he had been released by the Marlins
coolstorybra
The CPBL is a good bridge to go to
Japan or Korea where you can make some good money
It’s mostly pitchers signing in Taiwan, hardly any hitters go there. But l don’t blame them, you make more $$ in Taiwan, Korea. Japan then you would as an organization player at AAA or AA. Also perhaps can pick something up to make a MLB return or debut.
Teams have foreign player restrictions. I believe it was 2 for the KBO when I lived there. Teams typically sign pitchers, unless the position player has had some prior MLB success or is a name that people know (like a notable former prospect or disgraced blackballed player). I remember one team signed Jorge Cantu and really made it a point to only mention 2008/2009. He actually had a solid year, but not there the next year. I believe he was replaced by a pitcher.
Please that league is considered below A ball. There are zero prospects in that league. The best players from Taiwan usually sign international contacts from MLB teams or japan
I’d keep my eyes on Brock Dykxhoorn, Ryan Bollinger and Jo-Hsi Hsu going forwards. Hsu might just be Taiwan’s answer to Hyun Jin Ryu if he can increase his durability and eat more innings. He gets plenty of strikeouts (30.3%) and doesn’t walk a ton of batters (7.1%)