A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 121

Spotlight (1)

The day before the Winter Meetings.

A hotel in San Diego, USA.

“…….”

Ji-seop bit his lower lip nervously.

One of the most important missions of this U.S. trip was about to be accomplished.

That is,

Re-signing ‘Ace’ Jimmy Morris.

“Hmm…….”

Jimmy Morris, buried in the sofa, quietly reading the contract.

When a concerning phrase appeared, he asked his agent sitting next to him, and the agent inquired about the content from the Cannons staff.

“Ah, that is…….”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s what it means.”

Questions and answers went back and forth in such a serious atmosphere for about 10 minutes.

Soon, Jimmy Morris tapped the contract on the table and raised his head.

And he said one word.

“It’s good.”

Jimmy Morris said.

“Almost all the parts I mentioned are reflected. I don’t think I have anything else to ask for.”

“Th, then…….”

As Seo Chang-ki, the general manager of KH Cannons, looked at him expectantly, Jimmy Morris nodded coolly.

“I’ll sign the contract!”

Jimmy Morris held out his hand to Ji-seop, who was standing across from him, his palm wide open.

“Hey, Ji-seop! Can you lend me a pen?!”

* * *

Jimmy Morris’s re-signing.

In fact, it was an unexpected achievement.

Jimmy Morris, who showed overwhelming performance as KH Cannons’ ace last season.

Of course, a return to the U.S. Major League or advancement to the Japanese professional baseball league was strongly considered.

Why did such a player decide to stay for a ‘cheap amount’ of $1.8 million in total annual salary?

Jimmy Morris’s own answer to this was as follows.

“Didn’t I say it last time? I think I promised to discount up to $500,000?”

It was a word he said while going down to the hotel lobby for dinner after signing the contract and taking commemorative photos.

“Just between us… the contract offered by the Japanese team was about $4.5 million for two years.”

Dividing it in two is $2.25 million a year.

It means he gave a ‘discount’ of $450,000 as promised.

However, Ji-seop did not take those words at face value.

“Do I not know you? From the beginning, you weren’t very interested in Japanese professional baseball, were you?”

“…….”

“What I’m curious about is the U.S. Did you receive an offer from a Major League team and then decide?”

At this time, he was asking not as a special advisor to the KH Cannons general manager, but as a friend of baseball player Jimmy Morris.

Although it was limited to the independent league level, Ji-seop was also a person who once dreamed of the Major League and threw the ball.

He knew what the Major League meant to a baseball player.

Of course, realistically speaking, it was something he could ask after signing the contract, but… anyway.

“Last season, I worked hard with the single thought of returning to the Major League. But now that you’re coming back like this, I’m grateful, but on the other hand…….”

“Are you a little worried…… or something like that?”

“That’s right.”

As Ji-seop nodded obediently, Jimmy Morris snorted.

“Anyway, you’re so nosy…….”

Still, Jimmy Morris smiled faintly, as if he didn’t dislike his friend’s concern.

“To be honest… yes, I didn’t receive any special offers from Major League teams.”

“What?”

“No, no. It would be more accurate to say I haven’t received them ‘yet’.”

Jimmy Morris smacked his lips.

“This off-season… a lot of big-name FA [free agent] pitchers have been pouring into the Major League.”

Ji-seop also knew about the story roughly.

Although contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars are often signed every year in the Major League, there are cases where players in certain positions ‘flock’ to become free agents.

Coincidentally, this year, that position was starting pitcher.

“Kansas City’s Lewis, Seattle’s Erickson, and Ruben Acosta, who won the Cy Young Award [award given to the best pitcher in each league] this year…….”

Jimmy Morris scratched his chin.

“Thanks to that, the Major League is frozen right now. Everyone is busy checking the whereabouts of those big-name FA pitchers.”

He said that the market would start moving only after their destinations were decided.

After the contracts of big-name FAs are signed, contract discussions for mid-tier FA players begin.

After the mid-tier FA players have roughly settled down, opportunities come to the next tier of players.

“Considering that contracts are made in that order… the timing for me to receive a proper offer from a Major League team would be around mid-February next year.”

“……Then is that two months from now?”

Ji-seop did not say, ‘Why didn’t you wait until then?’

Jimmy Morris is a pitcher in his mid-30s.

For a pitcher of this age to spend several months without a team, it took more determination than the average person would think.

It was not certain whether he would get a contract or not, and even if he did, he did not know what position he would receive.

‘In such a situation, making a proper body is… close to impossible.’

Rather than wasting a season because he couldn’t get in proper shape, he decided to secure a team early and spend the season for sure.

It seemed that Jimmy Morris had such calculations in deciding to return to KH Cannons.

Ji-seop, whose thoughts reached this point, tapped Jimmy Morris on the shoulder and opened his mouth.

“Well, now that it’s like this… I guess you have no choice but to aim for the regular season MVP [Most Valuable Player] next year.”

“What?”

“Or it would be okay to aim for the Triple Crown, including most wins, most strikeouts, and first in ERA [Earned Run Average]…….”

No, isn’t that right?

Ji-seop continued.

“No matter how proud the Major League teams are, if you get that kind of record… wouldn’t they bring a wad of dollars and beg you to sign a contract?”

“What, are you comforting me now… no, are you encouraging me?”

“Haha, you’re doing something you wouldn’t normally do.

Is it because you became a special advisor to the general manager?”

Jimmy Morris laughed in disbelief at Ji-seop’s words.

However, he soon nodded slowly with a serious expression.

“Well, I’m going to do that anyway.”

Jimmy Morris said firmly.

“I don’t even have to go until next off-season. By next July… no, around June, I’ll make sure that Major League scouts gather at our home stadium to watch my games.”

A firm determination.

Boiling fighting spirit.

Ji-seop smiled faintly as he looked at Jimmy Morris.

“Wow, then can our ticket sales increase thanks to you?”

“Of course it will increase! Don’t you know that Major League scouts always sit in the central table reserved seats?”

Jimmy Morris showed his fist ‘clenched’ like that.

Then, as if he had remembered something, he looked at Ji-seop and opened his mouth.

“Anyway… how about you guys? Is the preparation going well?”

“Preparation? What preparation?”

“I think I heard it vaguely earlier? That KH Cannons is aiming for a business partnership with a Major League team at this Winter Meetings…….”

His words were true.

A business partnership with a Major League team.

Along with Jimmy Morris’s re-signing, it is one of the missions that must be accomplished on this U.S. trip.

But Jimmy Morris’s expression when mentioning it looked quite serious.

“I’m a current player, so I don’t know the details… but anyway, I think it would be good to be prepared to some extent.”

“Prepared?”

“It means that meeting Major League team officials at this Winter Meetings won’t be easy.”

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Jimmy Morris counted his fingers.

“Kansas City’s Lewis, Seattle’s Erickson, and Milwaukee’s Ruben Acosta, who won the Cy Young Award this year.”

“…….”

“Major League teams are now completely focused on signing big-name FA pitchers.”

He continued.

“I think you should assume that there are virtually no teams that can be interested in business partnerships with Korean teams.”

* * *

The expectation that a business partnership with a Major League team would not be smooth.

In fact, Ji-seop didn’t pay much attention to Jimmy Morris’s words at first.

‘Jimmy Morris is a veteran, but he probably doesn’t know much about front office work…….’

According to the staff’s report, KH Cannons has been continuing negotiations with Major League teams since the middle of this season.

The rough outline has been drawn to some extent, and now all that remains is for General Manager Seo Chang-ki to meet with the top executives of the opposing team and make a final decision.

Even if one or two teams put up a fight, preparations have been made to continue negotiations with the remaining teams.

So it was thought that by the end of this Winter Meetings, they would be able to form a business partnership with at least one team-

“Hehe, this is…….”

On the second day of the Winter Meetings.

A bitter smile bloomed on the face of KH Cannons General Manager Seo Chang-ki.

“So the Boston guys suddenly canceled the appointment? Without even saying when to meet again?”

“Yes, General Manager.”

One of the Cannons staff bowed his head.

“There was no mention of anything even when I made a confirmation call two hours ago. But like this suddenly…….”

“Well, isn’t it obvious without looking? That team’s general manager must have entered FA negotiations.”

This was already the third time that day.

A Major League team’s unilateral notice of cancellation of appointment.

Without even properly stating the reason, without even saying a word of apology.

No matter how great the Major League team is, isn’t this a bit too much?

Ji-seop, who was watching from the side, felt a subtle sense of anger, but Seo Chang-ki, who had a lot of experience in this area, was rather calming Ji-seop.

“Relax your expression, my friend.”

Seo Chang-ki smiled softly.

“If you go around with me, there will be countless things like this, are you going to blush every time? Your blood pressure goes up. It’s not good for your body, you know?”

“Th, that’s true, but…….”

“Remember this. Persistence is always necessary in negotiations with Major League teams.”

General Manager Seo continued.

“To put it coldly, we have almost no merit to offer them. Are we going to pass on our player development program to them? Or are we going to give them our data analysis know-how?”

“…….”

“Since we can’t give and take definite merits, negotiations with them will always take time.”

Keep calling.

And keep asking to meet.

Then, if a meeting happens to be held, we have a meal together and talk about baseball together.

That’s what’s formed at some point while spending time with such sincerity.

“Connections. Human relationships.”

General Manager Seo said in a firm tone.

“Is there any place in the baseball world where connections aren’t important… but in negotiations with Major League teams, it’s safe to say that it’s decisive. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes, General Manager.”

As Ji-seop nodded, General Manager Seo took out his cell phone from his arms.

“Well, then I think I’ll have to scrape together all the connections I’ve built up so far, and in the meantime, you…….”

Ah, that’s right.

General Manager Seo snapped his fingers and made a ‘snap’ sound.

“This is your first time, right? I mean, you’re participating in the Winter Meetings.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hehe, I almost forgot. When our Cannons staff participates in the Winter Meetings for the first time, there is a mission that must be done.”

“Did you say mission……?”

“Yes.”

Getting up, General Manager Seo moved towards Ji-seop’s desk.

And he picked up a small plastic box that was placed on it and handed it to Ji-seop.

“First, take this.”

“This is…….”

It was a business card.

Ji-seop’s business card, which was newly issued when he was appointed as a special advisor to the general manager this time.

General Manager Seo pointed to the business card box and gave instructions.

“From now on, go outside and give your business card to everyone you meet.”

“All of this……?”

“All of it. Without exception!”

He said it didn’t matter who it was.

You can give it to a traveler you meet while passing by, or you can hand it out to an employee working in the hotel lobby.

However, one restriction was attached.

“It doesn’t matter who you give it to… but you must get that person’s business card in return.”

“Do you roughly understand what it means?”

A playful smile bloomed on General Manager Seo Chang-ki’s face.

“When you fill this business card box with the business cards of new people you meet… let’s come back and talk with me.”

“…….”

“Who you met, and what kind of story you had with that person.”

It seemed that General Manager Seo Chang-ki had decided to train Ji-seop rigorously.