Perfect Agent [EN]: Chapter 29

First Salary Negotiation (1)

Domestic professional baseball players occupy a unique position in the professional world.

Once they sign a contract with a professional team, they’re essentially locked in. They can’t sign with another team until they meet the requirements to become a free agent (FA), which typically takes about 8-9 years.

Even if salary negotiations with their current team fall apart, they can’t simply transfer to another team.

Even if they leave the team, they can’t just transfer to another team whenever they want.

Ultimately, without the team’s cooperation, there’s no way for them to transfer.

This also means they can’t play the ultimate negotiation card: threatening to walk away and sign elsewhere.

Therefore, no matter how well a player performs, unless they have FA status that allows them to sign with any team, they’re in a thoroughly weak negotiating position.

Unless they’re an irreplaceable ace [a team’s best pitcher] of the team, it’s almost impossible for a player to navigate contract negotiations alone, without an agency, and have their true value fully recognized in their salary.

Since Na Jun-ho’s FA negotiation wasn’t on the immediate horizon, I decided to prioritize helping Kim Min-hwan with his salary negotiation first.

The Buffaloes, having failed to make the postseason, were moving quickly with their salary negotiations, as their season had ended early.

The first players I was negotiating salaries for as an agent were Oh Seok-hoon and Park Seong-joo.

I felt a considerable amount of pressure, knowing that my words could directly impact their earnings.

Even though I had prepared meticulously, to the point where I could recite the relevant data in my sleep, it didn’t seem to make much of a difference to my nerves.

I glanced out the window to clear my head for a moment.

But the image of me sitting at the negotiation table quickly resurfaced, cutting my relaxation short.

“Hoo-”

“Why, are you nervous?”

“I’m a little nervous.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Kim Min-hwan said with a chuckle.

“By the way, while Seok-hoon is fine, it might be too much to proceed with Seong-joo’s salary negotiation today… We haven’t had much time to prepare since signing him.”

Kim Min-hwan held up Park Seong-joo’s data, glancing at me as he spoke.

“It’ll be fine. I’ve watched Seong-joo play often while scouting Seok-hoon’s games, and I’ve been consistently checking his stats.”

“Really? So, we can proceed with Seong-joo’s salary negotiation today?”

“Yes.”

“…Are you sure?”

Kim Min-hwan asked again, a worried expression on his face, as if he doubted my confident, unwavering answer.

“Don’t worry.”

“By the way, did you have a personal connection with Park Seong-joo before?”

“Me?”

Kim Min-hwan nodded.

“I became friends with him when I met Seok-hoon this time.”

“You didn’t know each other before?”

It felt more like an interrogation than a simple question.

“Is something wrong?”

“No… well, it’s nothing like that. I just got the feeling that you two are particularly close.”

Is he jealous?

For someone so big.

“That’s not important. Do you know anything about the Buffaloes’ general manager, Choi Min-seong’s, style?”

“No, I’ve never had a direct conversation with him.”

“Ha… That person is all business when it comes to negotiations. His attitude shifts dramatically depending on whether the team is in a strong or weak position.”

“Still, I’ve heard that the Buffaloes’ general manager is reliable when it comes to handling things.”

“That’s also true. Especially when it comes to recruiting free agents, he makes strong requests to the parent company and spends big. But he usually tries to cut player salaries as much as possible to get recognized for his performance. The team owner probably sees him as a very capable general manager.”

Recalling my memories, that seemed accurate.

They were a team that wasn’t afraid to open their wallets to recruit free agents who filled specific needs.

“It’s not that there haven’t been disagreements, but they haven’t been frequent. There have been times when we’ve met more than three times without bridging the gap, even when it wasn’t a free agency negotiation. Of course, it was easily resolved last year.”

“How did you resolve it so easily?”

Kim Min-hwan leaned closer and whispered in my ear.

“We use the FA contract as leverage.”

“What? FA negotiations are still a long way off, aren’t they?”

When I tilted my head in confusion, Kim Min-hwan gave a faint smile, crossed his arms, and said,

“If a player eligible for free agency from the Buffaloes is represented by our company, the salary negotiation that year becomes incredibly easy. In fact, we don’t even come here at that point. Those players practically pack their bags and come to our office.”

“Ah…”

My head nodded in understanding.

“But the problem is that there aren’t any Buffaloes players eligible for free agency this year who are with our company.”

Kim Min-hwan’s face, which had been animated, darkened again.

“Then what strategy should we use this time?”

“There’s no other way. We’ll have to listen to their initial offer today. We should be prepared for at least two more meetings.”

“And if we do that, we’ll get the salary we’re aiming for?”

Kim Min-hwan sighed deeply and nodded.

I reviewed the target salary data that I had calculated in advance once again.

* * *

“Is today for the low-salary players, right?”

“Yes. They’re all minimum salary players. We’re scheduled to meet with the pitchers starting at 10 o’clock.”

“Let’s get through it smoothly today. The real negotiations start tomorrow, so we need to save some energy until then,” Choi Min-seong, the Buffaloes’ general manager, said as he clasped his hands together and stretched his arms.

“General Manager, here are the materials reflecting the performance evaluations for each player,” the operations team leader said, handing a document to the general manager.

Choi Min-seong brought the document closer to his eyes and carefully examined the contents.

“There are hardly any players today whose salaries are likely to increase based on performance evaluations, so it should be over quickly. We only need to pay attention to Oh Seok-hoon at the end. Ah! And Park Seong-joo.”

“What? Oh Seok-hoon is there? Ha… My head is already starting to hurt.”

Choi Min-seong frowned and pressed his temples firmly several times.

“Oh Seok-hoon was called up in the second half of the season and performed well, but the number of games he played in the first team is small, so it’s hard to make a definitive judgment.”

“Hmm… And since our team didn’t make the postseason, it’ll be difficult to justify a big raise.”

The operations team leader nodded and made a note after hearing Choi Min-seong’s words.

“You know we decided to reduce the team’s overall salary this year, right? Let’s start by cutting 20% off the salary we’ve set for Oh Seok-hoon.”

“20%…? Even as an initial offer, the increase from last year’s salary is very small. Will he accept that?”

“What if he doesn’t? We also have to consider that he was sluggish at the beginning of the season. And he’s still a long way from free agency.”

Unlike the operations team leader, who seemed concerned, Choi Min-seong scoffed and replied.

“But if Na Jun-ho becomes a free agent this time, we’ll have to contact him, so it wouldn’t be good to get on the wrong side of YJ Agency at this point.”

“Ah… Na Jun-ho is with YJ, right? That’s a headache.”

Choi Min-seong sighed deeply and slammed the documents down on the table.

“Salary negotiations have become too difficult because of these agents. We could just negotiate directly with the players. What’s the point of agents?”

Choi Min-seong frowned and said irritably.

“But Park Seong-joo doesn’t have an agent, does he?”

“I believe that’s correct.”

A faint smile appeared on Choi Min-seong’s face, and his expression brightened.

“Then cut some of Park Seong-joo’s salary. He didn’t play many games in the first team either. If we promise to take good care of him next year, he won’t be able to ask for much. If we have to give more to Oh Seok-hoon, we can take it from here.”

“General Manager, still…”

Choi Min-seong picked up a red pen, drew a line through a number, and rewrote Park Seong-joo’s salary.

“Wouldn’t this be okay?”

Unlike Choi Min-seong, who looked relieved, darkness fell on the operations team leader’s face.

* * *

“Hello. It’s been a while.”

I entered the Buffaloes’ office with Kim Min-hwan.

Kim Min-hwan greeted the employee familiarly.

“Team Leader Kim, welcome. Oh? Hyun-woo, you came with him too?”

“Hello. Nice to meet you for the first time.”

The employee, recognizing me, smiled happily and gestured for us to come in.

I walked inside with Kim Min-hwan, following the employee.

It was my first time visiting the Buffaloes’ team office.

The walls were adorned with photos from the Buffaloes’ past championship victories.

I wondered what the players who had been part of those championship moments must have felt.

When we arrived at the round table in front of the conference room, the employee turned to us.

“The negotiations with the previous players aren’t finished yet. Would you mind waiting here for a moment?”

“Sure.”

Kim Min-hwan and I placed our bags on the table and sat down.

“It probably won’t take too long.”

Judging by the short wait, I could easily guess who was negotiating inside.

After a short while, the conference room door opened, and a group of about ten players emerged in a rush.

They were holding document envelopes that appeared to be contracts.

Their expressions were uniformly unhappy, and they walked with slumped shoulders.

Looking at their faces, they were all second-string players receiving the minimum salary.

Since they hadn’t played in the first team this year, there was a high probability that their salaries wouldn’t change this time either.

As someone who knew how negotiations without room for discussion proceeded, I could tell without even listening.

In fact, it was more accurate to call it a notification than a negotiation.

“Let’s go in.”

Kim Min-hwan, holding his bag, got up from his seat and gestured for me to follow.

I followed Kim Min-hwan into the conference room.

“Welcome.”

As Kim Min-hwan and I entered the conference room, Choi Min-seong, the Buffaloes’ general manager, and the operations team leader, who were sitting opposite us, stood up to greet us.

I bowed slightly to them.

It was understandable that they would be tired after negotiating with so many players, but looking at their faces, I couldn’t detect any signs of fatigue.

“Team Leader Kim, thank you for coming such a long way.”

“You’re welcome.”

The general manager exchanged perfunctory greetings with Kim Min-hwan, and then his eyes met mine, and he wore an interesting expression.

“It feels different seeing Kang Hyun-woo here. No, I should call you an agent now. Hahaha.”

“Please take good care of me.”

The general manager laughed heartily and extended his hand towards me.

I shook hands with him without hesitation.

And fortunately, I was also able to shake hands with the operations team leader next to him.

“I hope we can achieve positive negotiation results together.”

The general manager made that final remark and sat down, gesturing for us to sit as well.

As I sat down, my gaze naturally turned to the general manager and the operations team leader.

Bingo!

A smile appeared on my face as I checked the information visible above the two people.