The Pitcher Just Hits Home Runs Well [EN]: Chapter 54

54. Words to Texas, People to New York (3)

“The Marlins will pass on the 11th round.”

The Marlins passed on their 11th pick. It wasn’t anything special. The total number of players drafted this time was 103. Not every team drafts players up to the 11th round.

“Team Manager.”

“It’s not that it requires a huge investment, but I didn’t particularly want to do it.”

Originally, among the Marlins’ various plans, there was a plan to bring in Ahn Byeong-yeong from Joongang High School in the 11th round. Of course, their expectations for Ahn Byeong-yeong’s individual performance weren’t that high. They estimated Ahn Byeong-yeong’s chances of professional success to be less than 1%.

“His velocity has increased a bit, but it’s still not enough.”

“His location, which was his only strength, is shaking very badly.”

“His pitches feel like feathers. At the high school level, it’s hard to hit the sweet spot with a wooden bat, but in Ahn Byeong-yeong’s case, the rate at which he gets hit for extra bases is too high.”

But even so, the reason they planned to bring Ahn Byeong-yeong in the 11th round was solely because of Choi Soo-won.

The right to next year’s draft belongs to the team that finishes last this season, but whether Choi Soo-won will choose the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization] or MLB [Major League Baseball] is uncertain at this point.

“How about bringing in a player from the same team?”

“Do you think a player’s mind will change with just that?”

“Appealing to emotions like that can surprisingly work well with kids that age. Back in our day, there were cases where guys lowered their standards because they were promised to be sent to college as a package deal.”

“So, Jo Gyu-hyeok? Hmm… He’s too weak for the 1st pick in the 3rd round. But I don’t think he’ll be available until the end of the 4th round either…”

“Jo Gyu-hyeok is going to go pro anyway, so he won’t be that grateful. How about Ahn Byeong-yeong instead? He’s around the 11th round.”

Previously, the signing bonus for an 11th round pick, which was practically the same as the 10th round of the second draft, was typically 30 million won [approximately $25,000 USD]. Adding that to the professional baseball minimum salary of 30 million won this season makes a total of 60 million won. It wasn’t an amount they couldn’t invest.

But at the last moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

You can feel grateful when you help out a friend from the baseball team. But a senior? Maybe a cute and sociable junior would be different. But a senior? Of course, there have been stories recently that Choi Soo-won and Ahn Byeong-yeong have been hanging out a lot. But is that really because of friendship? What if it’s not?

Wouldn’t it be a better choice to bring in someone like Park Kyung-seok, a classmate whose professional prospects are ambiguous, in the 11th round?

KBO League 2025 Draft

No team picked Ahn Byeong-yeong.

***

The plane was uncomfortable.

It was only natural since it was an economy seat. Moreover, Gyu-hyeok was sitting next to me on the right. It was truly agonizing. 190cm and 88kg versus 179cm and 97kg. [Approximately 6’3″ and 194 lbs versus 5’10” and 214 lbs] From the start, neither of us had the physique for economy class.

Honestly, I wanted to tell my father to at least book a business class ticket. But no matter what, considering Korean sentiments, if the youngest player on the national team was the only one flying business class to the United States, there would inevitably be a lot of unnecessary talk. I didn’t want to create gossip for something that could be endured for a short time.

It was a truly foolish thought.

Thirteen hours. Yes, a full thirteen hours. I tried to recall how I had endured economy class before my regression, but when I thought about it, I hadn’t flown economy class since I had grown this tall.

“Hey, Soo-won. They have the latest movies here. Wow, I was worried and saved them in offline mode on my phone, but I didn’t need to.”

Gyu-hyeok somehow managed to squeeze his large body into the small seat, pressing here and there on the screen, enjoying the in-flight service to the fullest.

“Since we’re going to America, I guess Western food is good for getting used to it in advance, right?”

“Yes, if you’re not full, try asking for more.”

“Really? They give refills?”

“They don’t usually, but they usually give you more if you just ask.”

“Awesome…”

“Oh, but don’t tell everyone. There’s a limited number, so you won’t be able to eat if they run out.”

Gyu-hyeok’s voice became very small.

“Oh, really? Then is it okay to eat Western food and ask for more Korean food?”

“Korean food is usually more popular, so if you eat Korean food and there’s any left, they’ll give you Western food.”

“Huh? Baek Ha-min. Weren’t you sleeping?”

“I was trying to sleep. Since it’s daytime there when we go to America. I need to adjust to the time difference in advance.”

My left.

Baek Ha-min, who was sitting in the aisle seat, raised his eye mask.

“Oh, then should I get some sleep too?”

Leaving the senior in contemplation, Baek Ha-min looked at me and threw a question.

“Are you going straight to the majors?”

“I don’t know… What about you, senior?”

“Senior? We didn’t even go to the same school. Just call me ‘hyung’ [older brother or older male friend]. And I…”

Baek Ha-min was drafted as the overall number 1 pick in yesterday’s draft. Before my regression, the Marlins drafted Jung Byeong-cheol as the overall number 1 pick, so is this the butterfly effect?

But I didn’t feel sorry for Jung Byeong-cheol.

No, honestly, Jung Byeong-cheol should bow to me several times. The Seoul Elitz over the Marlins? Ah… Or is it? If it’s the Elitz, it might not be that much different from the Marlins?

Anyway, Baek Ha-min, who originally signed as soon as he was called, hadn’t signed until today, when he was taking a plane and leaving the country. Considering that everyone on the plane except me was drafted yesterday, and all the first-rounders had signed, it was a bit strange.

After a moment of thought, Baek Ha-min replied.

“I’ve already submitted my draft application and was picked in the first round, so how can I go to the majors?”

“Whether you submit the application or not, you can’t play in the KBO for two years if you go abroad anyway. It doesn’t really mean anything.”

“That’s true, but national sentiment is different. And the Marlins fans will be furious. Those team fans are scary.”

“That’s true. But you don’t have to worry about that when you go to America, right? Honestly, did you get an offer from the United States, senior?”

Instead of answering my question, Baek Ha-min asked me a question.

“So, what do you think would happen if I went to the United States?”

Baek Ha-min in the majors…

I thought about it for a moment. Is it possible? Honestly, I don’t know. Clearly, the potential Baek Ha-min showed in the game that day was hard to believe for an eighteen-year-old. Just looking at the pitches he showed that day, he’s almost at the level of a major league mop-up pitcher.

But pitchers often show something beyond their skills on days when they’re on a roll. Baek Ha-min might have been one of those days.

Moreover, before my regression, Baek Ha-min was a pitcher who couldn’t properly complete his career due to a series of injuries. He injured his elbow, his shoulder, and his back.

When I thought that far, I was convinced.

Baek Ha-min shouldn’t go to the United States. He was managed quite a bit since he entered the KBO in the first round, but he still exploded like that. What if he starts in the minors? Moreover, the minors don’t have proper health insurance. Even if he goes to the majors, he’ll only get a few hundred million won more in signing bonus than in the KBO, and after paying for medical expenses, he won’t have anything left.

Of course, even if I tell Baek Ha-min this now, I don’t think he’ll nod. I’ve seen his competitive spirit on the field, and he’s not ordinary. It would be a relief if he doesn’t rush to the majors to test whether my words are right or wrong.

“Well… How much would I know as a high school senior?”

Baek Ha-min shook his head at my answer.

“Jjo-yu said that you’re strangely knowledgeable about the American side. Oh, you know that Jjo-yu is my middle school junior, right?”

That Jjo-yu, anyway… I vaguely glossed over it.

“Ahaha. That’s probably because Jjo-yu doesn’t know anything.”

“Really? It’s not because you’re often contacted by the major league side? Well, anyway, what do you think? I won’t get mad if you say it’s impossible, so just tell me honestly.”

“So, this is just a general theory, not about you, senior.”

“Okay. I’ll filter it out myself. And I told you to call me ‘hyung’.”

Based on the time when I was playing in the majors, the probability of a player drafted in the first round in the United States debuting in the majors is about 70%. The sandwich pick between the first and second rounds is in the 50% range. Even just the second round drops below 50%.

The really scary thing here is that this is just the probability of debuting. If you narrow the scope to players who have played meaningfully, excluding players who were just called up and played a few innings or a few at-bats and never set foot in the majors again, the first round is less than 40%. The sandwich pick to the second round is 15%. Anything below that is less than 10%.

The time it takes to get called up is also a factor that cannot be ignored. I heard that the period that the top picks in the recent 1st and 2nd rounds stay in the minors is getting longer and longer. When I was playing in the majors, the average was three and a half years, targeting only those above the 2nd round. Even that was because some small market teams called up players a little faster, and prestigious teams like the Yankees and Boston often left 1st rounders to rot in the minors for more than four years. I think they would have left them even longer if there hadn’t been a Rule 5 draft [a MLB rule that allows teams to draft certain players from other teams’ minor league systems].

On the other hand, the time it takes to get to posting [being posted by a KBO team to be available to MLB teams] in the KBO is seven seasons.

Of course, when you advance to the majors after that, you have to pay about 15% to 20% of the total contract amount to your original team.

“But in terms of money, even if you go up to the major leagues, you’ll be at the minimum salary for three years. In terms of expectations, the cumulative income you can get in the MLB is probably not much bigger than going through the KBO. It’s probably smaller in most cases, right?”

“But you get the right to negotiate your salary from the fourth year, right?”

“That’s true. But in fact, even that is about ten million dollars at the highest? That’s the record when you win Rookie of the Year and MVP. But if someone with that much skill was in the KBO, their salary would probably be close to 1 billion won [approximately $830,000 USD] before posting, right? Moreover, if you go to the majors with that much skill through posting, you have to give money to the team, but you’re a free agent. If you sign a four-year contract, you can get much more money than your salary in the 4th to 6th years of salary negotiation and the 1st year of free agency.”

“But there will be a difference in major league career. And the higher the league level, the more experience you can get.”

“That’s true. But all of that is based on the premise that you’re going straight to the majors without any problems, above the average of the 1st round of the draft. You can’t even communicate properly in a foreign country, and you have to eat tearful minor league bread in a place where no one cares for three years. On the other hand, if you have that much talent in Korea, you can be a national-level star from the first year and be taken care of in many ways. Moreover, if you think about living expenses and everything else, the difference will be even greater.”

“Just listening to you, it sounds like you’re going to choose the KBO? No, wait, or is it not that…”

More than major league first-round drafts.

Maybe that’s what Baek Ha-min was trying to say but stopped? I just smiled and replied.

“Well? I’ll know more when a little more time passes.”

Baek Ha-min frowned slightly at my answer.

The 13-hour flight continued.

We got off the plane that arrived in Chicago and immediately boarded a plane heading to Albany, New York.

Of course, this time too, the seats were economy class.