The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 254

254. There’s No Second Marlins in My Dictionary (2)

[Is the Secret Brian Cashman’s Choice Not to Ride the Building? Included in the Final Candidates for the New York Yankees!!]

Brian Cashman raised his tablet high before gently placing it down. Then, he slammed his innocent desk once, hard.

-Bang!!

“Damn it, this is the problem with the advancement of science. In the old days, when there was annoying news, I could just crumple up the newspaper and throw it away, but now I can’t just throw it away as I please.”

“Wouldn’t your salary be enough to cover it, sir?”

“Once or twice would be fine. But it’s not like there are only one or two articles that I don’t like.”

“Haha······.”

Josh Harold laughed awkwardly.

“Anyway, we have to make this happen. It’s a project that can be my last achievement and your first.”

“I think you said something similar about Erickson last time, or am I mistaken?”

“Ahem······. No, I can’t retire with those kinds of results. Besides, Erickson is just a product of the draft anyway. Swan is like getting an additional first-round draft pick. Anyway, let’s not act like we’re the Yankees and try to accommodate him as much as possible.”

“That’s what I said. The reason for the failure with Ohtani in the past was that we acted like we were the Yankees and ‘what are you going to do about it,’ so let’s not do that this time. Honestly, getting eliminated in the initial document screening was a bit of a problem.”

“You have a knack for saying the right things in an unpleasant way.”

“And you valued that highly and promoted me from the management support team to deputy general manager.”

“Yes, so go and work hard so that it doesn’t become the biggest mistake of my life.”

***

[New York!! And Another New York!! The City Swan Loves]

[The Yankees and Mets are both included in the final five candidates chosen by Swan. Will New York be able to get this young star? If so, will it be the Bronx that smiles? Or will it be Queens?]

Steve Cohen, the king of New York hedge funds and owner of the New York Mets, frowned.

“You know, no matter how I think about it, these systems plastered all over baseball are problematic. When I was young, it was very simple. Good teams gathered good players, achieved good results, earned more money, and used that money to gather even better players. That’s how the Yankees built their empire. But now there are drafts, bonus pools, international prospects, and a bunch of useless systems. People don’t like this complicated stuff. They just want the strongest team and the challengers who challenge that team. That’s why baseball’s golden age can’t come back. Don’t you think so, Josh?”

“Well, I think fun is subjective.”

Joshua Pagno Manley smiled bitterly at Steve Cohen’s words.

Was he not happy with that answer? Steve Cohen said curtly.

“You still have the habit of beating around the bush when saying no. Well, if baseball was the way I wanted it to be, there would be no reason to hire you at such a high price. So, how is Swan doing?”

“Although there are five teams left as final candidates, I think it’s essentially a three-way battle between us, the Yankees, and the Dodgers. Realistically, these are the only three teams that can meet Swan’s current demands.”

“That’s too obvious.”

“Isn’t the royal road [a straightforward and conventional path to success] always in obvious stories? A trick is only needed for teams that can’t walk the royal road. With the owner’s Mets, the royal road is enough.”

“Hmph, if you’re just going to spout such obvious stories, there’s no reason for me to hire you at such a high price.”

“You know that general managers who can properly walk the royal road are rare in this industry. No, rather, a general manager who can walk the royal road is truly rare.”

Steve Cohen replied with a displeased expression.

“Well, whatever. All I want is to bring Swan to our team. And for Alex and Swan to become Mets legends.”

There is a person who has made a lot of money.

The money he has earned is astronomical.

A net worth of $25 billion.

Even with an annual return of only 3%, it is a huge amount that can ‘buy’ a small market team.

So, what does this person want?

Of course, it will be different for each person. But considering a very basic model of satisfying needs, what this old man, who is well over seventy, wants is probably honor.

So, what Steve Cohen said, that he wants to create Mets legends with his own hands, is probably true. If the New York Mets can truly become an evil empire like the Yankees in their prime, how great will the honor he receives be, and how will the ten million citizens of New York evaluate him?

“I understand.”

Joshua Pagno Manley nodded at his words.

***

Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets.

Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers.

These were the last five candidates. And there was one difference between the first three teams and the last two teams. It was none other than Shohei Ohtani’s training data.

“I think it’s an important condition. I can’t apply it as is, but the difference between having reference data and not having it is very big.”

Even if it wasn’t Jack and Sundar’s story, I fully agreed.

“But I think it’s ridiculous to completely exclude Boston and Texas from the candidates for such a reason.”

Ted Park’s story was also right.

To be honest, if it was Shohei Ohtani that I remember, he was the kind of person who would tell me if I asked him to tell me something.

However, the Shohei Ohtani that I remember was the Shohei Ohtani of 2034, whose prime was completely over and was about to retire, and the current Shohei Ohtani was at the peak of his career, so there was a possibility that he wouldn’t, so it would be more certain to get the data if possible.

Suwon Choi(DH) [Designated Hitter]

Power : 80

Run : 70

Fielding : 35

Arm : 80

Suwon Choi(RHP) [Right-Handed Pitcher]

Fastball : 65

Curve : 60

Slider : 40

Changeup : 35

Control : 40

This was the Dodgers’ evaluation of my pitching and hitting. And the most noticeable part of the conditions they appealed to me was that the Dodgers are a kingdom of pitchers. If I was greedy for both pitching and hitting, there would be no better place than Dodger Stadium to improve my pitching skills and adapt to the league.

And the evaluation of my skills was not much different from other clubs except for one team. There were some slight differences, but most of them would not limit the time to try pitching and hitting, and the gist of their proposal was to help me adapt to pitching.

“In fact, the most decisive reason why Shohei Ohtani decided to join the Angels was the condition that he would not limit his attempts to pitch and hit.”

As Ted Park said, when Shohei Ohtani chose a Major League team in 2018, he focused on support for pitching and hitting. For reference, the Yankees, who even performed a butt dance on the building, shouting ‘Ohtani, come to New York,’ were eliminated from the documents because they were very skeptical about pitching and hitting.

“Okay. Then let’s proceed with meetings with each team.”

***

California was warm as always.

Honestly, if you only think about the weather and environment, there is no team like the LA Dodgers. The distance to the division teams that you have to fight the most is very close, except for the Colorado Rockies, so the travel distance is short, and LA is also the area where Koreatown is most active. If you don’t speak English, I think it’s the right choice to choose this place even if other conditions are a little lacking.

“We value the merit of pitching and hitting more than any other team. The 14th pitcher is actually worth it even if he can only pitch about 20 innings as a pitcher. Ah, of course, in Swan’s case, I think he has the talent to play a starting role in the long term. However, we regret that Swan, who is only twenty years old, is limited to being a designated hitter as a hitter. In that sense, at our Dodgers······.”

It was a good briefing in many ways.

What was particularly impressive was that they were open to my potential as a right fielder. Considering my arm and running speed, it is possible.

Texas was a little colder than California.

If a California midday in January is about the weather of a room with the air conditioner turned on strongly, Texas is the weather where you have to wear a light padding. In addition, the summer is much hotter than California, almost approaching the heat of Korea. In addition, the travel distance was much longer than the Dodgers.

“Oh, Swan!! Nice to meet you. Seeing you like this, your body is much better than I saw in the video?”

Aaron Rizz.

Originally, according to the history I knew, he was a franchise player of the Cincinnati Reds, and at one time, he was evaluated as the reincarnation of the Big Red Machine [Cincinnati Reds’ dominant team in the 1970s], but he was an unfortunate player who never challenged for the championship due to the limitations of the team itself, not to mention the MVP.

“I don’t really know the complicated stories, so I don’t know. But I think your play is completely crazy. And our Rangers have been waiting for a player just like you. So, if you join our team now, I think we can make really legendary seasons.”

Aaron Rizz, who is evaluated as the future of the team, came out himself and actively promoted me while guiding me around the stadium. In fact, the Dodgers’ side, where the stadium manager guided me with detailed explanations about the stadium, was more accurate, but in terms of sincerity, I couldn’t help but feel that the Texas side was much more sincere.

The Boston Red Sox, whom I met after receiving such hospitality from Texas, were a little disappointing. The conditions were not much different, but they did not show as much sincerity as the Texas Rangers, nor did they feel as much sincerity as the Dodgers.

“Let’s erase Boston from the candidates.”

And the fourth.

New York Yankees.

A man of about 170 [cm] with his hair shaved far back walked towards me. It was Brian Cashman in a very vivid form, very different from the image I had in my memory.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Brian Cashman.”

He was full of energy, making it hard to believe that he was 60 years old this year. Considering that the Brian Cashman of 2034 that I remember was an almost dying old man, it was a truly unbelievable sight.

“First of all, what did you think of our evaluation of Swan’s current skills? Wasn’t it a little different from other teams?”

“Yes, it was actually very impressive.”

Suwon Choi(DH) [Designated Hitter]

Power : 75

Run : 70

Fielding : 25

Arm : 55

Suwon Choi(RHP) [Right-Handed Pitcher]

Fastball : 65

Curve : 55

Slider : 35