Taiwan's professional baseball (CPBL) has also entered the era of super large multi-year contracts. After showcasing its competitiveness in international competitions, the quantitative growth within Taiwan is also experiencing explosive development. Naturally, it has become more difficult to recruit Taiwanese players under the Asian quota that the KBO League will introduce.

On the 22nd, the Uni-Lions of Taiwan's professional baseball announced that they had signed a 10-year multi-year contract with their star player and captain, Chen Chieh-hsien (31). According to the "Liberty Times," "Chen Chieh-hsien has become the first player in Taiwanese professional baseball to usher in the era of 200 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 89 million won)." According to the detailed contract, he will receive a monthly salary of 1.4 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 62 million won). The guaranteed salary over 10 years is 168 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 75 million won), and the total aggregate amount of incentives is 32 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 1.4 billion won). Chen Chieh-hsien has signed the highest contract in history and has become the first player to usher in the era of 200 million Taiwanese dollar contracts.

Chen Chieh-hsien is the player who nightmares Korea at last year's WBSC Premier12 and is a slugger who helped Taiwan win the Premier12. He hit a two-run home run against Koh Young Technology during the qualifying round match against Korea last year. He also contributed decisively to the victory by hitting a three-run home run against Yomiuri Giants' ace Shohei Dogo in the final. He finished with a batting average of .625 (15 hits in 24 at-bats), 2 home runs, 6 RBIs, and an OPS of 1.617, earning him the tournament MVP.

Since 2016, Chen Chieh-hsien has been active only with the Uni-Lions, accumulating a total of 831 games with a batting average of .343 (1,092 hits in 3,184 at-bats), 33 home runs, 386 RBIs, and 623 runs scored, with an OPS of .867. With this contract, Chen Chieh-hsien will only play for the Uni-Lions for life. It is a 'lifetime contract.'

While Chen Chieh-hsien opened the first 200 million Taiwanese dollar era and broke the highest contract record, last winter saw a series of super large multi-year contracts in Taiwanese professional baseball. Slugging outfielder Chen Chih-hao (30), who recorded a career batting average of .288 (990 hits in 3,439 at-bats), 131 home runs, 639 RBIs, and 553 runs scored over 1,040 games with the Chinatrust Brothers, gained free agent status and transferred to the Wei Chuan Dragons. In December of last year, Chen Chih-hao signed a large contract worth 1.3 billion Taiwanese dollars (approximately 58 million won) with Wei Chuan. At that time, Chen Chih-hao's contract was the highest in Taiwan.

However, a month later in January 2025, the starting shortstop of the Taiwanese national team during Premier12, Chang Kun-yu (25), signed a multi-year contract worth up to 1.4788 billion Taiwanese dollars (approximately 66 million won) with the Chinatrust Brothers. The salary is paid in tiers, and it also includes an opt-out clause. In just a month, he broke Chen Chih-hao's record for the highest amount.

Similarly, Chang Kun-yu's record was broken again by Chen Chieh-hsien within three months. The highest contract record has been broken three times in just four months. These events were indicative of the quantitative growth of Taiwanese professional baseball.

Now, the average salary of top-tier players in Taiwanese professional baseball is trending to exceed 1 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 44 million won). In terms of annual salary, it amounts to 12 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 5 million won). The "Liberty Times" reported Chen Chieh-hsien's contract news, stating that "the average salary of captains from the six CPBL teams in 2025 has surpassed 1 million Taiwanese dollars. Overall, the value of captains has significantly risen."

Infielder Chang Wei-cheng, who has experienced 235 games in Major League Baseball, is reported to be receiving a salary of over 1.5 million Taiwanese dollars (approximately 67 million won) from the Fubon Guardians, followed by Chen Chieh-hsien at 1.4 million Taiwanese dollars, Wang Po-jung from the Taichung Hawks at 900,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 40 million won), and Wang Wei-chien from the Chinatrust Brothers at 770,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 34.2 million won). Furthermore, Lin Li from the Rakuten Monkeys is receiving 760,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 33.7 million won), and Chih Chih-wei from the Wei Chuan Dragons is earning 700,000 Taiwanese dollars (approximately 31 million won), the media reported.

Top players in Taiwanese professional baseball are now receiving an average annual salary of about 300 million won based on Hanwha standard. Access for top Taiwanese players under the Asian quota players set to be implemented in the KBO League from 2026 has become exceedingly difficult.

The KBO League will implement the Asian quota for players with Asian and Australian nationality starting in 2026. In addition to the existing three foreign players, one can be filled under the Asian quota. The position is irrelevant, but the total aggregates of transfer fees, salaries, and bonuses are limited to $200,000 (approximately 300 million won).

As the salaries of Taiwanese professional baseball players rise, the options for acquiring Taiwanese professional baseball players under the Asian quota have become significantly limited. It can be said that there are no options other than bringing in promising players through acquisition. However, it is not easy to just bring promising Taiwanese players. Young baseball talents in Taiwan are looking to Japan or the United States. Lin Yu-min (Arizona Diamondbacks), who has emerged as a 'Killer of Korea' through the Hangzhou Asian Games and Premier12, is a prime example.

Last year, Kuo Lin-lu-yi-yang, who topped at 157 km, won the regular season MVP with a record of 10 wins and 2 losses over 21 games with 125 innings pitched and an earned run average of 1.66 while playing for the Uni-Lions in Taiwanese professional baseball. This year, he also signed with the Nippon Ham Fighters in Japanese professional baseball. The talents of Taiwan are not looking towards Korea.

Ultimately, under the current Asian quota amount and system, the options for clubs are inevitably narrowing down to players from Japanese independent leagues and Australian professional baseball. The dilemmas faced by clubs needing to choose Asian quota players from limited resources are bound to deepen.

[OSEN]