The Chinese Professional Baseball League(CPBL) is highest level of professional baseball in Taiwan. Founded in 1990, the CPBL comprises six teams, each team plays 120 regular season games in a year starting in late March and ending in mid-October with playoffs of a round or two. Four foreign players are allowed in each club with a maximum of three on the major league roster and two in the game. Each CPBL team had 5 foreigners on average on 2024 Opening Day. Most of the foreigners are pitchers and most pitchers have starting experices before coming to Taiwan.
- Salary: from USD 20K/month to USD 800K/year, depending on the experience. AAA experience is preferred in the offseason recruitment.
- Reporting Date:Feburary or March spring training.
- Departure Date:A week after the season/playoff is over, from late October to mid November.
- Perks:Housing and round-trip flight tickets are covered. Meals are covered while the player is at the stadium.
You could make 10 TIMES more than in independant ball. But that's just a START !
CPBL is an deal stepping stone for KBO(Korea) and NPB(Japan), where the salaries are 3-10 TIMES and 5-30 TIMES more, respectively. Teams from both leagues send scouts to Taiwan to scout outstanding foreign players. Below is the list of CPBL foreigners whose contracts were purchased in mid-season or signed with the KBO or NPB, even MLB teams in the past 10 seasons.