A Rookie In The Baseball Team Is Too Good [EN]: Chapter 127

Guaranteed Permanent Retirement Number (1)

A week after the Major League Winter Meetings ended,

KH Cannons signed two additional foreign players, following ‘Ace’ Jimmy Morris, whose contract had already been finalized.

The first player was Paul Owens, 27 years old.

A left-handed overhand starting pitcher whose main weapons were a fastball averaging 152 km/h [approximately 94 mph] and a sharp curveball.

The second was Terry Foster, 32 years old.

A right-handed slugging first baseman who recorded 126 home runs in the minor leagues and 31 home runs in the major leagues.

Both players were publicly known to have a strong desire to continue challenging themselves in Major League Baseball.

Because of this, they were somewhat outside the scope of Korean professional baseball teams.

However, KH Cannons boldly made offers and succeeded in snatching both players at a much lower cost than everyone had expected.

Of course, all of this was possible thanks to the information from the Boston Red Sox, with whom KH Cannons had a business partnership.

-The agent was quite surprised. He said it hadn’t even been a week since the player asked him to look into Asian teams, and we contacted him first?

-Terry Foster said something similar. He was worried about what to do with his newborn twins, but then he received a call from KH at just the right time…….

Both players were capable of making significant contributions to KH Cannons in the upcoming season.

In Korean professional baseball, where ‘you can easily make the top 5 if you pick the right foreign players,’ their addition was definitely a positive sign.

However, no one in the KH Cannons front office could afford to relax yet.

For KH Cannons, the stove league [the off-season period of player recruitment and trades], and their efforts to strengthen their team, the real game was just beginning.

“We still need pitchers.”

After signing two foreign players, a power-up meeting was held at KH Cannons Field.

It was a Saturday morning, a time when most people would be inclined to relax, but the expression on the face of the head of the power analysis team, who was on the platform, seemed more serious than ever.

“I think I’ve said this several times already, but our Cannons lineup has now reached a level where we can compete with any team.”

Veteran Chun Jin-woo, who still showed skillful hitting despite a slight decrease in long hit power compared to his prime.

Super rookie Lee Soo-bin, who still had a tendency to swing wildly without thinking, but showed tremendous distance once he made contact.

And Ryu Jang-ho, who was scheduled to advance to the major leagues at the end of the upcoming season.

KH Cannons’ offensive power was considered to be among the top three in the entire Korean professional baseball league.

“The problem is…… the pitchers.”

The head of the power analysis team turned to the screen and clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“The starting pitchers are at least a little better off. Fortunately, Jimmy Morris agreed to re-sign, and Paul Owens, who just joined, was a professional starting pitcher who pitched over 150 innings every year in the minor leagues. However…….”

“There are still many holes in the bullpen…… is that the gist of it?”

At General Manager Seo Chang-gi’s question, the head of the power analysis team quickly nodded.

“You probably remember. Our Cannons’ weakness during the last post-season was the bullpen. Because there was no guarantee that we could reliably maintain the lead in the late innings…… that burden was passed on to the starting pitchers and had a considerable impact on the lineup.”

Looking back, Ryu Jang-ho’s serious slump was also due to the relatively weak bullpen.

As the team’s main hitter, he tried to relieve the burden on the bullpen pitchers, which resulted in a larger swing and a breakdown in his hitting balance.

“Of course, Kim Jung-gyu, our current closer, is also a great asset. But his style of inducing ground balls has clear limitations, and we can’t put all the burden on him alone…….”

Sigh,

The head of the power analysis team raised his head.

“In order for our Cannons to climb higher next season, I think it is urgent to secure a strong bullpen pitcher, and if possible, a professional closer.”

A pitcher who can be trusted to pitch one inning in any situation.

Ideally, a pitcher who can make the opposing team think, ‘Ah, this game is over,’ just by warming up in the bullpen.

This off-season, the head of the power analysis team seemed to want to secure just such a pitcher.

“Hmm, a strong closer…….”

General Manager Seo Chang-gi quietly pondered, clasping his hands together.

Around him, the Cannons’ front office staff were gaping like goldfish.

Some of them seemed to want to talk about ways to secure a strong closer.

Others seemed to want to mention the difficulty of securing a closer.

Whichever side gained the right to speak, the atmosphere suggested that a rather fierce debate would take place.

However, General Manager Seo Chang-gi announced the end of the meeting by tapping the desk a few times.

“Okay, let’s continue the discussion about securing a closer at the next meeting.”

Everyone was puzzled by the meeting, which ended much earlier than expected.

It was at this moment that a slight bitter smile appeared on General Manager Seo Chang-gi’s face.

“Oh my, these guys…… they’ve completely forgotten about it?”

Kim Jung-gyu! Our team’s closer, Kim Jung-gyu!

General Manager Seo Chang-gi mentioned the name of the bullpen pitcher again.

“Isn’t it his wedding today? If we want to go on time…… shouldn’t we hurry up?”

* * *

For professional baseball players, December could be called the ‘wedding season.’

This was not limited to professional baseball players. The same was true for the front office staff working in the baseball team.

Of course, it was impossible to even dream of a wedding during the busy season, and even in the off-season, some people became busy with overseas expeditions or personal training after January.

As a result, many players and front office staff had their weddings in December.

This year was no exception, and Jisub was attending weddings almost every weekend except for his business trip to the United States.

Last Saturday was the wedding of Kwon Dae-woong, the manager of the public relations team, and on Sunday, there was the wedding of rookie shortstop Shin Min-sung.

And today was the wedding of Kim Jung-gyu, who was the main closer for the KH Cannons last season.

“Oh, Mr. Kim Special Envoy! You came!”

In fact, Jisub didn’t enjoy giving up his weekends and chasing after wedding halls.

He hadn’t even dared to think about dating a girlfriend for several years, so how could he feel comfortable seeing people who had made it to the altar?

But at this point, Jisub was in a position where he had to take care of the players’ family affairs.

“Congratulations on your wedding. Manager Arthur Freeman in the United States also asked me to convey his congratulations.”

“The manager did? Oh, thank you. Please tell him that I will work really hard next year! Really!”

Delivering congratulations on behalf of Manager Arthur Freeman, who had returned to his home in the United States for a break, and paying the congratulatory money.

Occasionally, when Seo Chang-gi’s schedule overlapped and he couldn’t come to the wedding hall, it was also Jisub’s role to take his place.

As Arthur Freeman’s former exclusive interpreter and Seo Chang-gi’s current special assistant, these were unavoidable tasks.

“Hehe, you’re going through a lot.”

Fortunately, Go Chang-deok from the power analysis team followed Jisub that day.

He didn’t have anything specific to do, but it was helpful in many ways to have a friend next to him to talk about trivial things.

“Not just anyone can be the general manager’s assistant, huh? You have to take care of all the players’ family affairs…….”

“I guess it’s a relief that it’s concentrated in December. If it was during the season, I would really collapse holding the back of my neck.”

“Still, Jisub, you…… have some clout now? Did you see Kim Jung-gyu? As soon as he saw you, his face lit up, calling you ‘Special Envoy!’?”

“Hey, what kind of clout are you talking about?”

Jisub waved his hand at Go Chang-deok’s teasing and started walking towards the reception hall.

Just as he was taking a ticket, going inside, grabbing an empty seat in the corner, Go Chang-deok, who was looking around, asked in a subtle voice.

“Hey, Jisub.”

“Yes?”

“Do you have any…… good news?”

Go Chang-deok’s eyes sparkled.

“It’s December, you know. The season of weddings, the season of love! Haven’t you heard of this? Those who miss December may end up scratching the floor alone next year!”

“……I haven’t heard of it.”

Jisub’s answer was cold.

“Don’t you do that either, hyung [older brother/friend]. My parents at home are already nagging me about not dating…… Do I have to come all the way here and hear that kind of story?”

“Man, you think you have a lot of time? You’ll get wrinkles around your mouth soon, and you’ll get gray hair soon? Do you want to be a wrinkled, gray-haired groom?”

“……Geez, watch your words.”

Jisub stared silently at his colleague, who was nagging him with the same repertoire as his parents.

If he left him alone, it seemed like he would go on endlessly from the first verse to the second verse, so Jisub quickly decided to throw out a topic to divert his attention.

“Stop talking about things that won’t come up with an answer even if you think about them…… Let’s have a constructive conversation, hyung.”

“……Constructive conversation?”

“I’m talking about our closer.”

Jisub brought the issue that had been postponed due to Kim Jung-gyu’s wedding to the surface.

“There must have been some talk within the power analysis team. About who to recruit.”

The power analysis team that Jisub knew was always like that.

People who somehow found a breakthrough even in situations that seemed hopeless.

Jisub asked the question based on his past trust, but the answer that came back was lukewarm.

“To be honest…… recruiting a closer is more hopeless than your love life.”

“……Is that so?”

“You know it too. There are hardly any decent pitchers in this FA [Free Agent] market.”

Much ado about nothing.

That was the public’s assessment of this FA market.

Because each team had been giving major players large extension contracts for several years, the number of players entering the FA market itself was greatly reduced.

“If we can’t find a player in the FA market, we have no choice but to turn our eyes to trades…….”

Go Chang-deok stroked his chin.

“What we need is a really strong closer, right? To recruit a pitcher of that level, we have to be willing to make considerable sacrifices.”

It was a situation where it was easy to take from Peter to pay Paul.

Jisub, who had brought up the story, couldn’t readily come up with an answer and was quietly looking down at his toes, at that very moment.

“Oooooh!!!”

“Waaa, waaaa!!!”

The relatively quiet reception hall suddenly became noisy.

People who were eating stood up, and people who were carrying food put down their plates and stood on tiptoes.

“……Hmm?”

Go Chang-deok stretched his neck out like a meerkat at the sudden commotion.

“What is it? Did someone famous come?”

“Did a celebrity come or something?”

It was a scene that could often be seen at the wedding halls of professional baseball players.

The bride or groom’s acquaintance was very famous, so the wedding hall became noisy because of his appearance.

But on this day, the person who made Kim Jung-gyu’s wedding hall stir was not a singer or an actor.

“That, that person is…….”

Go Chang-deok’s eyes widened.

“Isn’t that Jang Dae-woo?”

“Yes?!”

Jisub was startled and got up.

He could see it clearly in his view as well.

A tall height of almost 190cm [approximately 6’3″].

Angular shoulders, a coolly extended nose, and eyebrows as black as if they had been painted with charcoal.

And above all, the man with the large hands that seemed to be able to easily grab a basketball-

‘New York Mets’…… Jang Dae-woo?’

A man who once reigned as the best closer in Korean professional baseball.

A man who left for the major leagues 10 years ago, after brushing off numerous love calls right after obtaining FA qualification.

And now, the very person who is playing an active role as a fixed setup man for the New York Mets in the American Major League.

‘Jang Dae-woo…….’

Jisub swallowed hard without realizing it.