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Yu Chang Likely Joining CPBL’s Fubon Guardians

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Infielder Yu Chang announced on his social media that he is planning to enter the 2024 draft for the Chinese Professional Baseball League of Taiwan, relayed by CPBL Stats on X. Per a report from Kayleigh Madjar at the Taipei Times, the Fubon Guardians have the top pick in the draft, which is scheduled for Friday next week. It seems the Guardians plan to select Chang as the club released a statement saying that they have been in contact with Chang for some time, adding that the “look forward to [Chang] wearing a Fubon Guardians jersey in the second half of the season.” Per CPBL Stats on X, the Guardians will likely offer Chang a contract of 3.5 years worth between $2.34MM and $2.67MM USD. The Guardians are also expected to give the Rays $100K to buy Chang out of his minor league deal with that club.

“It’s been ten years working away from home, I miss home very much,” Chang said on his social media. “Therefore I’ve decided to enter the 2024 CPBL draft. I really appreciate that the Rays organization has been very understanding and supportive of my decision. I’m currently in Florida playing rehab games, will be 100% healthy and get back to the game soon!”

Chang, now 28, was born in Taiwan and signed with Cleveland as an international free agent in 2013. On his way up the minor league ladder, he was generally considered one of that club’s top prospects. Baseball America had him on the Cleveland top 30 for seven straight years starting in 2015.

Broadly speaking, he hit well in the upper levels of the minors but was never able to do much at the major league level. His Triple-A production was usually solid, as he hit .264/.339/.436 at that level over multiple seasons. He was also a good defender around the infield. Both Defensive Runs Saved and Outs Above Average considered him an above-average fielder at all four spots on the dirt.

But multiple call-ups with Cleveland saw him struggle at the plate and get sent back down. He exhausted his final option year in 2021, which kicked off a nomadic period of his career. He was designated for assignment by the Cleveland Guardians in May of 2022 but got plenty of interest from other clubs, hoping that he could bring some of that Triple-A production up to the majors and combine it with his strong glovework. He would go to the Pirates, Rays and Red Sox on cash deals or waiver claims throughout the 2022 season, failing to stick with any of them.

Boston non-tendered him after that season and then re-signed him for 2023. He played for Chinese Taipei in that year’s World Baseball Classic, putting up a huge line of .438/.500/.938. But he suffered a hamate fracture early in the MLB season which sent him to the injured list for a few months. His offensive struggles continued when he returned and he was designated for assignment in August. Over the five big league seasons from 2019 to 2023, he hit .204/.265/.359 in his 650 major league plate appearances.

Chang signed a minor league deal with the Rays coming into 2024 but hasn’t been able to play much this year. An oblique strain suffered in late February came with a six to eight week recovery timeline. Per his MLB.com transactions tracker, he was activated off the minor league injured list on April 26 but was sent back there on May 22. He had appeared in just 14 games in the interim.

If all goes as reported, it’s possible Chang’s time in North American ball is over. If he signs a deal that covers the remainder of this season and three more, he will be 32 years old by the time that pact runs out.

Drew Gagnon, Eric Stout Sign With CPBL Teams

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Former big league pitchers Drew Gagnon and Eric Stout have both signed on with teams in Taiwan’s Chinese Professional Baseball League. Gagnon, the reigning CPBL MVP, re-signed with the Wei Chuan Dragons, per a team announcement. It’s a two-year deal for the former Mets righty, who’s repped by GSI. The left-handed Stout, who’s previously pitched in the big leagues for the Royals, Cubs and Pirates, has signed with the CPBL’s CTBC Brothers, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes reports. The 30-year-old Stout, a client of NPG Sports, finished out the 2023 season with the Brothers as well after beginning last year with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate.

Gagnon, 33, has spent the past three seasons pitching with the Dragons and cemented himself as one of the top starters in the CPBL. Since debuting there in 2021, he’s pitched 451 1/3 innings of 3.07 ERA ball with a 20.5% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. The 183 innings Gagnon pitched this past season were a personal-high at any level in his 13-year professional career, and he turned in a sharp 3.00 ERA with a 20.8% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate.

Gagnon hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since a 2018-19 run with the Mets that saw him record a 7.32 ERA in a small sample of 35 2/3 innings. He spent the 2020 season with the KBO’s Kia Tigers, pitching to a 4.34 ERA in 159 2/3 frames, and his new two-year pact — one of the most lucrative for a foreign player in CPBL history — will keep him in Taiwan for his fourth and fifth CPBL campaigns.

For a former third-rounder who’d become something of a minor league journeyman before making his first jump to the professional ball in Asia, Gagnon has carved out a nice career with better compensation and job security than he’d have had jumping from Triple-A club to Triple-A club in hopes of a perhaps brief MLB return. Present-day CPBL salaries for first-year foreign players can range from $300-400K, and with Gagnon coming off an MVP season and a strong three-year run, he’s quite likely priced himself north of those figures.

As for Stout, he’d been pitching in the bullpen with the Mariners’ Triple-A affiliate but stretched out as a starter in Taiwan, ultimately taking the ball a dozen times and pitching to a 3.28 ERA with a 27.9% strikeout rate and 4.6% walk rate in 68 2/3 frames. He’ll head back to the Brothers’ rotation for the upcoming season. It’s not uncommon for former big leaguers pitching in the CPBL to draw interest from larger Asian professional leagues as the season wears on, but even if he spends the whole year in the CPBL, Stout could parlay a strong showing there into interest from KBO, NPB and/or MLB teams.

In the majors, Stout has just 24 2/3 innings under his belt. He’s been tagged for an unsightly 7.30 ERA in that time.  In parts of six Triple-A seasons, he carries a 4.63 ERA in 286 innings, with particularly solid results over the past two years between the affiliates for the Pirates, Cubs and Mariners. Stout drew some interest from big league clubs early in the offseason, though that was presumably on minor league arrangements. He’ll instead head back to Taiwan and hope that continued success there can either lead to a multi-year deal like the one signed by Gagnon or perhaps a larger guarantee with a team in the KBO, NPB or even back in MLB at some point.

Nick Margevicius Signs With CPBL’s TSG Hawks

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Left-hander Nick Margevicius has signed with the TSG Hawks of Chinese Professional Baseball in Taiwan, per CPBL Stats on X. The lefty is represented by the Beverly Hills Sports Council.

Margevicius, 28 in June, has 32 games of major league experience. He threw 110 1/3 innings for the Padres and Mariners over the 2019-2021 seasons, making 22 starts and 10 relief appearances, allowing 6.12 earned runs per nine innings in that time. He struck out 18.3% of batters faced, gave out walks at an 8.1% rate and kept 41.3% of balls in play on the ground.

He was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome in May of 2021 and didn’t pitch for the rest of that season. He was outrighted by the Mariners early in 2022 and stayed in their organization, tossing 49 Triple-A innings that year with a 7.53 ERA. He signed a minor league deal with Atlanta going into 2023 and had a 6.82 ERA in the minors last year, split between Double-A and Triple-A.

It’s been a rough few years with the injury and subsequent poor results. Margevicius would have been limited to another minor league deal if he stayed in North America but will instead head to Taiwan to join the Hawks. The financial details of his contract aren’t known but he’ll surely make a larger salary than if he were stuck in Triple-A somewhere, in addition to getting a chance to showcase himself in a prominent foreign league.

Manny Bañuelos Signs With CPBL’s Rakuten Monkeys

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Left-hander Manny Bañuelos has signed with the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, per Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. It’s a one-year deal with a vesting option for the Beverly Hills Sports Council client. The details of the vesting option aren’t publicly known.

Bañuelos, 33 in March, has 58 games of scattered MLB experience. He made seven appearances for Atlanta in 2015, 16 for the White Sox in 2019 and 35 more in 2022, split between the Yankees and Pirates. He logged 118 innings total between those stints and posted an earned run average of 5.64 in those. His 19.8% strikeout rate, 12.4% walk rate and 41.4% ground ball rate are all a few ticks worse than typical league averages.

In addition to that time in the majors, Bañuelos has shown a willingness to travel for new opportunities. The southpaw has played winter ball in Mexico many times, the country of his birth, as well as having played in Asian leagues. He played for the CPBL’s Fubon Guardians in 2020 and 2021 before returning to North America in 2022. Last year, he joined the Rakuten Golden Eagles of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Both the Golden Eagles of the NPB and the Monkeys of the CPBL are owned by the Japanese technology conglomerate Rakuten, hence the names.

With the Golden Eagles in 2023, Bañuelos was mostly kept in the minors, only tossing two thirds of an inning with the big league club. But his 90 innings in the minors resulted in a 3.90 ERA. He’ll now return to Taiwan, rejoining the league that he played for in 2020 and 2021. As mentioned, he seems to have a willingness to travel for work and could wind up finding interest from varying countries at this time next year, depending on his performance and the outcome of that vesting option.

Daniel Mengden, Kirk McCarty Sign With CPBL’s CTBC Brothers

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Pitchers Daniel Mengden and Kirk McCarty have signed with the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, according to CPBL Stats. The CTBC Brothers have also re-signed pitcher José De Paula, who has been playing in Taiwan since the 2020 season (per CPBL Stats).

Mengden, 31 in February, played six seasons in the majors, with a brief stop-off in the KBO in between his fifth and sixth MLB campaigns. He was drafted by the Astros in 2014 but traded to the Athletics the following summer as part of the return package for Scott Kazmir. The righty made his debut in Oakland the year after that, and over the next five seasons, he appeared in 60 games (48 starts) for the A’s, tossing 302 2/3 innings with a 4.64 ERA.

After being designated for assignment and electing free agency, Mengden spent the 2021 season with the Kia Tigers in the KBO, making 21 starts with a 3.60 ERA. Most impressively, he threw 120 innings, more than he ever reached in a single season in MLB. He returned stateside in 2022, signing a minor league deal with the Royals and earning a couple of big league call-ups, tossing 109 innings at Triple-A Omaha and another seven with Kansas City. He then split the 2023 season between the Royals’ and Nationals’ organizations, although his 7.25 ERA kept him from earning another call to the show.

McCarty, 28, was drafted by Cleveland in 2017, where he slowly rose through the minor league ranks before making his MLB debut in 2022. He was DFA’d that summer and briefly picked up by the Orioles, but less than two weeks later he was DFA’d again (having pitched just one game for Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate) and wound up back in Cleveland. Overall, he appeared in 13 games during his one and only big league season, tossing 37 2/3 innings and posting a 4.54 ERA and 4.57 SIERA.

While McCarty has far less MLB experience than Mengden, he’s coming off a strong season with the SSG Landers in Korea. He signed with the Landers in November 2022, shortly after he was released by the Guardians, and went on to make 24 starts in his lone KBO season, pitching to a 3.39 ERA over 130 frames. Presumably, Mengden and McCarty will both join the CTBC Brothers rotation in 2024.

Those two will be joining mainstay De Paula, who has led the team in innings pitched each of the the past four seasons. Soon to be 36, the southpaw first played affiliated ball for the Padres organization in 2007 and briefly appeared in the majors with the Yankees eight years later. However, he has more recently made a name for himself in foreign leagues; he spent two years playing in Mexico from 2018-19, and since 2020 has pitched for the CTBC Brothers in Taiwan. He was named the CPBL MVP in each of his first two seasons and has continued to succeed into his mid-thirties; in 2023, he made 27 starts with a 3.53 ERA.

Nivaldo Rodríguez Signs With CPBL’s Fubon Guardians

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Right-hander Nivaldo Rodríguez has signed with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan, per CPBL Stats.

Rodríguez, 27 in April, was a notable prospect in the Astros’ system as he climbed the minor league ladder. From 2016 to 2019, he threw 225 1/3 minor league innings with a 2.40 earned run average, pairing a 25.6% strikeout rate with a 7.5% walk rate. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in November of 2019 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft and was considered the #23 prospect in the system by Baseball America going into 2020.

He then appeared in nine major league games over the next couple of seasons, pitching in five contests in 2020 and four more in 2021. He tossed 16 innings with a 4.50 ERA in that small sample. The Tigers claimed him off waivers in August of 2021 but kept him in the minors. He finished that year having thrown 62 Triple-A innings between the two systems, with a combined 5.37 ERA.

The Tigers outrighted him off the roster in November of 2021 but he didn’t have the ability to elect free agency, sticking with the club as non-roster depth. In 2022, he made 15 starts and four relief appearances at Triple-A with a 6.92 ERA in his 65 innings. He was released in August and signed on with the Sioux City Explorers of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an independent league. He tossed 30 innings over five starts for that club with an ERA of 1.50. He then spent 2023 with the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League, posting a 2.76 ERA in 94 2/3 innings there.

The former prospect obviously struggled in his last taste of affiliated ball but has shown some encouraging results over the past year-plus. The righty will now head to Taiwan to see how things fare over there. The CPBL is considered to be a lower level of competition than Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball or the Korea Baseball Organization, but Rodríguez is still young and could perhaps get himself back on track and pitch his way into other opportunities.

Eric Stout Drawing Interest From MLB Clubs

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Free agent left-hander Eric Stout is drawing interest from all over the baseball world, with Jon Heyman of The New York Post reporting that the southpaw has interest from clubs in Major League Baseball, Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization.

Stout, 31 in March, has very limited major league experience, having appeared in three games for the Royals in 2018 and 20 games in 2022, split between the Cubs and Pirates. His 24 2/3 innings have resulted in an unsightly earned run average of 7.30, though in a very small sample. His minor league work has naturally been stronger, including an ERA of 4.63 in his Triple-A career.

In 2023, Stout began the year on a minor league deal with the Cubs, then was released and signed another with the Mariners. In early July, he had a 4.20 ERA in Triple-A for the year when he was released to pursue an opportunity with the CTBC Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan. Stout did well with this change of scenery, making 12 starts for the Brothers with an ERA of 3.28. In his 68 2/3 innings, he struck out 27.9% of batters faced while walking just 4.6%.

Based on that strong showing, it seems Stout may have opened other opportunities for himself. Even if he doesn’t get a deal with a major league club, the NPB and KBO are both considered to be a step up from the CPBL. Moving up the ladder in that sense and continuing to have success would increase his chances of getting an MLB deal down the line.

Scott Blewett Signs With CPBL’s Uni-Lions

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Right-hander Scott Blewett has signed with the Uni-Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, per CPBL Stats.

Blewett, 27, signed a minor league deal with the Braves at the end of March. He’s since made 17 appearances for their Triple-A club, including 13 starts, logging 72 2/3 innings. He allowed 4.21 earned runs per nine innings in that time, struck out 24.7% of batters faced, walked 9.4% of them and got grounders on 42.6% of balls in play.

The Braves recently got Max Fried back from the injured list, rejoining the rotation next to Spencer Strider, Charlie Morton, Bryce Elder and Yonny Chirinos. Spot starts this year have gone to players on the 40-man roster like Allan Winans, Michael Soroka, AJ Smith-Shawver, Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster.

Despite Blewett’s generally solid work this year, his path towards a role on the big league club was a steep one. But it will get him a chance to prove himself in Taiwan, likely with a higher salary than he was earning in the minor leagues.

Prior to this year, Blewett spent most of his career with the Royals, who selected him in the second round in 2014. He was able to make his major league debut with that club, tossing eight innings over 2020 and 2021 with a 3.38 ERA. He was outrighted at the end of that latter campaign, then spent 2022 with the White Sox on a minor league deal without getting called back to the big leagues.

Tzu-Wei Lin To Join CPBL’s TSG Hawks

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Infielder Tzu-Wei Lin has agreed to a deal with the TSG Hawks of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (hat tip to CPBL Stats on Twitter).  Lin had been playing with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, and the Ducks announced yesterday that the Hawks had purchased the 29-year-old’s contract.

It’s a homecoming for Lin, as the Hawks play in Lin’s birthplace of Kaohsiung.  However, the signing marks Lin’s professional debut in Taiwan, as he has spent almost his entire pro career in North America since signing with the Red Sox for a $2.05MM bonus in 2012.  Most of that time was spent in Boston’s organization, including 101 Major League games with the Sox from 2017-20.  The Red Sox outrighted Lin off their roster following the 2020 campaign and he caught on with the Twins on a minor league deal, then appearing in a single MLB game during the 2021 season.

That marked Lin’s last trip to the Show, as he spent the rest of 2021 at Minnesota’s Triple-A affiliate, and he then played in the Mets’ farm system throughout 2022 without another call-up.  The Mets released Lin in August 2022 and he caught on with Long Island, plus he spent some time over the winter in the Australian Baseball League.

Lin bought a lot of versatility to the table during his big league career, appearing at every position except first base while primarily suiting up as a middle infielder.  He hit .223/.298/.316 over 218 plate appearances in the majors, and also didn’t contribute much at the plate (.245/.317/.337) over 2828 PA in the affiliated minor leagues.  Lin did hit very well during his stint with the Ducks, and it could be that he might keep this hot hitting going in front of the hometown fans in Kaohsiung.

CPBL’s Uni-Lions Agree To Terms With Keyvius Sampson

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Former Reds pitcher Keyvius Sampson has agreed to a deal to return to the Uni-Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (H/T CPBL Stats).

Sampson, 32 yesterday, made ten starts for the team last year, pitching to a 3.54 ERA over 61 innings. He also spent time in independent ball, logging 37 innings of 3.41 ERA ball for Lexington.

A fourth round draft pick by the Padres back in 2009, Sampson was taken off waivers by the Reds in 2015. He made his big league debut that year, making 12 starts (13 appearances) and working to a 6.54 ERA over 52 1/3 innings. The Reds shifted him to the bullpen in 2016, and Sampson enjoyed a bit of improvement from his rookie campaign, working to a 4.35 ERA over 39 1/3 innings. A high walk and home run rate meant the underlying numbers were far less promising though, and the Reds cut ties with Sampson at the end of the season.

Since then, he’s bounced around a fair bit, inking minor league deals with the Diamondbacks, Rangers, Marlins, Giants and most recently the White Sox back in 2021. He never made it back to the big leagues during that time though, and worked to a 5.40 ERA over 315 innings at Triple-A. Dotted throughout that time has been stints in Korea, Mexico and Venezuela.

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