A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 327

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good – Episode 327

The New Recruit of the Baseball Team is Too Good 327

78 The Road Not Taken (1)

-Trades are not possible.

That was what the Baltimore Orioles’ general manager said in an interview on the first day of July.

-Vincent Hyama will be with us until the end. The postseason elimination hasn’t been confirmed yet, so what’s with the trade? You’re talking nonsense!

The Baltimore general manager even clenched his fist and passionately spoke, but unfortunately, no one believed him.

Baltimore had been on a roll at the beginning of the season, but since mid-May, they had been stuck in a swamp of endless slump.

The batting lineup wasn’t great either, but the pitching was especially problematic. Except for Vincent Hyama, who was doing both pitching and hitting, only Jimmy Morris was properly rotating.

Thanks to this, by July, the Baltimore Orioles were at the bottom of the AL East [American League East division], a whopping 15 games behind the first-place Boston Red Sox.

With the situation like this, people who knew a thing or two about baseball probably heard the Baltimore general manager saying this:

-Trades are possible!

-Vincent Hyama can be with you! To do well in the postseason, a trade is necessary. Please contact me anytime!

As if responding to these people’s views, the media began to pour out various stories almost simultaneously with the arrival of July.

The movement of clubs to acquire Vincent Hyama was detected, or the Baltimore general manager receives dozens of calls a day.

In fact, Jiseop felt like it was someone else’s business when he read these articles, but soon he was able to feel it firsthand.

The war of nerves between each major league club surrounding Vincent Hyama.

-Nicholas, have you arrived?

When he was reading the data ahead of the team’s regular meeting, this message came up in the group chat room of the MBA [Master of Business Administration] team members at Port Myers University.

-When you arrive, go straight up to the 3rd floor. There are many reporters on the 2nd floor, so be especially careful.

It was a message from Lonnie Cordell.

He is a Baltimore Orioles team employee sending a message to Nicholas, the New York Yankees’ general manager assistant.

At first, he tried to pass it off as ‘whatever’, but when he thought about it, something was strange.

Of course, Jiseop wasn’t the only one who noticed the strange thing.

-What’s this message from just now? Why is Nicholas in Baltimore?

It was Jessica from the Boston Red Sox.

-Am I wrong? The Yankees are playing us today.

-And Baltimore has a game against our Blue Jays. Here in Toronto.

Toronto Blue Jays’ George chimed in.

-So, the two of them are meeting in Baltimore right now? Wow, I feel like I’ve got some great information…

-No, no!

It was at this moment that a lot of emoticons drawing a big X on the group chat screen popped up.

-We’re not meeting in person! Internet! We’re meeting through an internet game! I’m playing a game with Nicholas right now!

-Ah, a game? The Yankees’ general manager assistant? At 2 pm on a weekday?

-The Yankees have become very comfortable? When I was an intern there, I couldn’t even touch my cell phone carelessly?

As soon as the excuse came up, people threw out a word or two.

In response, Baltimore’s Lonnie Cordell changed his strategy.

-Please just pretend you don’t know.

It was with tearful emoticons.

-You know I almost got demoted to the rookie league for causing an accident a while ago. If it gets out that I sent the wrong message here… I’m dead. I’m really deadㅠ.

In the face of the tearful appeal, the trouble itself was settled amicably.

What’s the point of having good colleagues if they don’t keep things like this from the higher-ups?

Jiseop also sent an ‘I understand’ answer, but a strange smile was blooming on his face as he pressed the send button.

‘Hehe, a message transmission mistake.’

It was an obvious act.

Message transmission mistake? No way.

The group chat room was full of trivial stories shared that morning, so how could you make a mistake while clearly seeing that?

In Jiseop’s view, this was information intentionally leaked by him, a direct subordinate of the Baltimore general manager.

-Everyone, the Yankees have arrived.

-The New York Yankees are showing interest in Vincent Hyama.

-Are you going to stand still? The Yankees are trying to take the biggest fish in this trade market?

A trick to create competition.

A trick to raise the price.

Because Lonnie Cordell usually seemed relatively naive, Jiseop was even feeling a slight chill down his spine.

‘……Everyone is serious.’

Teams with good records are good in their own way, and teams with bad records are bad in their own way.

Jiseop could sense that each major league club was diligently moving behind the scenes.

‘And that… we are no exception.’

What choice will the Tampa Bay Rays make?

By the trade deadline, what lineup will the Tampa Bay Rays have?

While thinking about that and quietly putting down his cell phone, he heard someone’s voice from behind.

“Kim, shall we leave soon?”

It was John Llama’s voice.

“It’s almost time for the meeting.”

*

It could be said that it was a historic day for the Future Strategy Planning Division.

Because it was the day to attend the Tampa Bay Rays’ regular strategy meeting.

A meeting led by Brian Spon, the general manager, a meeting attended only by the core departments of the Tampa Bay Rays.

So, after Benjamin Oznovich’s transfer, he was able to re-enter the meeting that he couldn’t even dream of.

“Oh, the conference room! It’s been a long time since I’ve been here!”

John Llama Taylor with an excited expression.

He seemed to want to enjoy this historic day to the fullest.

He chattered about his own grand dreams, such as taking commemorative photos and giving wonderful greetings to the attendees – but to put it bluntly, it wasn’t the atmosphere for that.

“Oh, everyone’s here.”

Brian Spon, the general manager, appeared 5 minutes before the meeting time.

Almost at the same time as he sat in the middle seat, the meeting began to unfold breathlessly.

“As you know, this month will be busy with trade discussions.”

There was no time for John Llama to say hello.

“Let’s quickly go through the depth chart and collect opinions from each team. Rebecca?”

“Yes, Mr. President.”

It was Deputy Rebecca Carney who put her hand on the microphone button.

The head of the Baseball R&D team, and the very person who once helped the Future Strategy Planning Division with the ‘Yellow Book Project’.

She opened her mouth while gesturing to the employee she brought.

“The overall depth situation is not bad. The pitchers are in good condition and the lineup is active. We’ll have to look at the situation of other teams, but there shouldn’t be any major problems in the regular season.”

The Tampa Bay Rays were chasing the Boston Red Sox, the leaders of the division, by just one game.

It was perhaps natural that the situation itself was good.

“However, as always… our problem will be after we advance to the postseason.”

Jiseop felt the atmosphere in the conference room become slightly heavier.

“Our team’s number one starter, Victor Johnson Jr., has now completely emerged as an ace. That’s a good thing. But to achieve results in the postseason, we need one more ace-level pitcher.”

They called it a one-two punch.

The idea was that two pitchers who could reliably take charge of a game had to be secured.

“The lineup is in a similar situation. Alex Montero and Julio Arcos are good hitters, but they still haven’t overwhelmed the opposing pitchers. Again, we need a player to lead these two.”

“Ha, does that mean we need one more key player for pitching and hitting?”

One of the department heads sitting across from Jiseop scratched his head.

“Deputy, aren’t you setting the bar too high? These days, everyone is complaining that there are no players, but not just one ace-level player, but two…”

“Isn’t that what the ideal is, the ideal?”

It was Brian Spon, the general manager, who answered.

“Either way, there is no team that enters the postseason with 100% of its weaknesses compensated. All we can do is find the best answer that reality allows.”

This is our situation.

What are everyone’s opinions?

As Brian Spon, the general manager, looked around the conference room, each department head began to present their prepared opinions.

“If we prioritize, wouldn’t it be more important to strengthen the lineup? There are still lottery tickets left to scratch on the pitching side.”

Christopher Ben, that is.

It was the opinion of the baseball operations division.

“It’s a little funny to have such expectations for a pitcher who is still in the minor league, but there was also the case of Matt Moore in the past, wasn’t there? In terms of expectations alone, Christopher is not inferior to Matt Moore in those days…”

He was referring to a pitcher who only pitched in 3 games for Tampa Bay a long time ago and won the postseason number one starter.

“If that’s the case, I think the lineup is more urgent right now. Fortunately, compared to starting pitchers, there are many players with long hitting power on the market…”

“For example?”

When Brian Spon asked, Jiseop unknowingly perked up his ears.

Who is it? Who are they thinking about? Who are the core members of the Tampa Bay Rays front office thinking of recruiting?

“In my opinion…”

The man, who had been rummaging through the data for a while, answered in a calm voice.

“Sanders. Jeremy Sanders of the Cincinnati Reds. Wouldn’t that guy be okay?”

The extent of this player’s reputation could be gauged by John Llama’s reaction.

“…Who is that?”

He muttered with a slightly disappointed face as he belatedly looked up the data.

“Ah, the Cincinnati’s number 3 hitter? Not bad, not bad.”

Then, John Llama was about to sit up straight to hear the names of other candidates, but unfortunately, the following names did not seem to meet his standards either.

“I think Butera would be good too. His long hitting power has dropped a little, but he is an experienced player.”

Butera?

John Llama tilted his head.

“If you’re talking about postseason experience, wouldn’t Saud be better? He’s a friend who is evaluated to have some leadership…”

Saud?

This time, he scratched his head.

“…….”

The main director of the Future Strategy Planning Division quietly wrote down the names that were pouring out in his notepad.

Around the time when ‘candidate registration’ was over and full-fledged discussions were about to begin, he couldn’t stand his curiosity and raised his hand.

“Um… can I ask you just one thing?”

“What is it?”

It was Deputy Rebecca Carney who reacted.

“Does the Future Strategy Planning Division also have candidates to recommend?”

“No, that’s not it…”

John Llama blinking his eyes.

“You need an ace pitcher who can take charge of a game and a hitter who can be the number 4 hitter… right now, right?”

“That’s right?”

“Then… shouldn’t we be discussing that friend first?”

Vincent Hyama, you know.

The owner’s son’s eyes turned to Brian Spon, the general manager.

“I don’t understand why you are discussing other players when you have the most suitable candidate right in front of you… I don’t understand that very well.”

It was a story that Jiseop couldn’t easily ask because he was watching the situation.

The owner’s son is so convenient.

At this time, Jiseop was thinking that.