Villain On The Mound [EN]: Chapter 211

The Mound’s Villain – Episode 211

Chris remained silent for a long time after hearing owner Louis’s words.

Louis frowned at his reaction and asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“…I apologize. It’s just so unexpected…”

“Unexpected? You knew there were many teams interested in him, didn’t you?”

“Of course, I knew. But I never considered trading him.”

Chris composed himself and continued, “Jung Ha-sung is a superstar who boosts the popularity of Major League Baseball as a whole. Especially since he started as a two-way player this season, the team’s overall revenue has noticeably increased. Now, he’s becoming a global star, not just in America.”

Ha-sung’s commercial value was immense.

Beyond just the sport of baseball, he had become a global sports star, attracting immense popularity.

His value was beyond numerical quantification.

“Trading him is out of the question.”

“I’m aware of his commercial appeal, of course. But I think you’re missing the reason why you can’t keep him.”

“Is it because of his salary?”

“So you knew. I thought you were unaware of the reason.”

That couldn’t be.

He was the one directly experiencing the impact of the player’s salary.

Even so, Louis’s words were a subtle power play.

The owner owns the team.

But the general manager directly manages the team.

In other words, Louis was eyeing Chris’s authority.

Of course, the agent had no right to interfere with the owner’s handling of his property.

However, Chris voiced his opinion.

“Of course, it’s true that Ha-sung’s salary is increasing exponentially. And there’s a high possibility that the team won’t be able to afford his salary next year.”

“That’s right. The media says his salary will rise to $50 million next year.”

Louis’s voice turned cold.

“That’s ridiculous. A player’s salary rising to $50 million? Does that make sense? If his value rises that much, it’s impossible to run the team.”

“But the revenue Jung Ha-sung generates far exceeds that.”

“Far exceeds, you say. You’re not considering the ripple effect.”

“Excuse me?”

“If we give Jung Ha-sung that much money, how will the other players react? Won’t they ask for that much money for themselves?”

“That’s…”

“I’m not a philanthropist. If I pay that much, there’s no reason to run the team.”

Chris bit his lip.

‘That’s not it. You’re planning to operate it for only a few more years, so you want to reduce expenses in the meantime.’

Louis had been working behind closed doors to sell the team.

His desire to relocate the team was also an effort to sell it.

That’s why he had no choice but to save money on the team’s expenses.

Even if the team’s value increased and future revenue rose, it wouldn’t matter much to him.

“Having Jung Ha-sung would be better for selling the team.”

“It could be worse.”

“Excuse me?”

“Most buyers looking to acquire a small-market team like the Athletics dislike high expenses. Some may like having a superstar like Jung Ha-sung, but others may find it burdensome.”

Louis’s words were correct.

“Besides, even without Jung Ha-sung, we can still claim to be a team with a farm system [a system for developing young players] that produced him, so it doesn’t matter.”

The Athletics’ farm system is definitely excellent.

But it wasn’t true that they produced Ha-sung.

Ha-sung was a player who passed through the minor leagues in the shortest amount of time and debuted in the major leagues.

There was no way Louis didn’t know that.

It was just not an important fact to him.

“More than anything, I’m not sure if Jung Ha-sung will perform the same next year.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You know how absurd being a two-way player is. It’s impossible to keep doing that in modern baseball. Other teams will analyze his strengths and weaknesses, and more than anything, the human body can’t endure it.”

“Are you saying Ha-sung might get injured?”

“The possibility is high enough. No one can be sure about the future.”

“He may continue to perform as he does now.”

“Of course, that’s one possibility. But I’m betting on something with a higher probability.”

Louis’s lips curled up.

“His value is at its peak right now.”

“I don’t know. But I’m going to take the profit of this moment rather than his uncertain future.”

Louis’s words were not wrong.

Ha-sung was performing incredibly.

He achieved seemingly impossible results every year and returned with a more evolved version of himself.

But his actions were causing concern among experts.

‘In modern times, the human body is considered expendable, and the same goes for players. No matter how good Ha-sung is, he will eventually decline.’

But not now.

In the eyes of the general manager who runs the team and watches the players up close, Ha-sung was still a player with growth potential.

‘At least there’s no sign that his current performance will end anytime soon. But this guy is trying to recover his investment safely before that happens.’

There are many ways to invest.

Each person has a different way of judging where the high and low points are.

And the timing of selling the item was also different.

Louis saw now as the most appropriate time to sell Ha-sung and recover his investment.

“I’ll take the lead on Jung Ha-sung’s trade.”

Originally, it was something he should have done himself.

But Jung Ha-sung had already grown into a player beyond the team.

In short, he was beyond his influence.

For the owner, Louis, to step in directly meant that directly.

“Please reconsider. If he’s here, our team can win the World Series this season.”

“Winning the World Series doesn’t necessarily increase the team’s value.”

Louis had already decided to sell the team.

He had received inquiries from many places and was in the final stages of substantive discussions.

At that point, Louis was thinking of cashing out for the last time.

By selling the team’s biggest asset.

‘Damn it…’

And Chris had no authority to stop it.

* * *

Regardless of the trade rumors, Ha-sung’s performance continued to soar.

[Jung Ha-sung wins his 7th game of the season, showing an amazing performance by becoming the winning pitcher in every game he has pitched this season.]

[In batting, he has already recorded home runs in 6 consecutive games, leading in all categories such as batting average, home runs, hits, slugging percentage, and OPS [On-Base Plus Slugging].]

[He has also become a player with tremendous commercial appeal.]

[His uniform sales are ranked number one, and his products released by Vigor are so popular that they are sold out all over the world.]

In short, he was a monster.

He became the hottest player in Major League Baseball, capturing both performance and commercial appeal.

In particular, he was praised for changing the paradigm of modern baseball by successfully playing as a two-way player.

[Currently, amateur players are challenging themselves as two-way players in the United States and Korea, as well as in Japan and Taiwan.]

[Baseball experts are also beginning to conduct full-scale research on two-way players.]

[The academic community’s negative evaluation of two-way players, which was considered the accepted theory until a few months ago, has completely changed.]

Jung Ha-sung, breaking the common sense that was like an accepted theory and going his own way.

His achievements were worthy of being recorded in history.

It was natural that Ha-sung, who was like that, suffered from all kinds of rumors.

[Jung Ha-sung, who is showing such great performance, has once again been named in trade rumors.]

[This time it’s the LA Dodgers.]

[The LA Dodgers are a team that has been investing huge amounts of money to modernize their roster and farm system since the owner changed.]

[That’s right. Until a few years ago, they were suffering from financial difficulties, but as the owner changed, their financial power has become very good, and they are aggressively recruiting superstars.]

[And the New York Yankees, who are always connected to Jung Ha-sung, have also released an article saying they want Jung Ha-sung.]

[This time, it’s an official statement from the New York Times interview with Hank Steinbrenner.]

Hank Steinbrenner.

The eldest son of the Steinbrenner family, he was running the Yankees with his younger brother Hal Steinbrenner after the death of his father, George Steinbrenner.

[Unlike his younger brother Hal Steinbrenner, who is reluctant to invest, Hank Steinbrenner wants to invest in the team like his father.]

[That’s right. In the interview, he said that Jung Ha-sung is the Babe Ruth of the 21st century, and that by recruiting him, the Yankees will once again have the appearance of an empire.]

[But Jung Ha-sung is only in his third year in the major leagues, so he doesn’t have much service time left, does he?]

[That’s right. Even though the Athletics are short on funds, it is questionable whether they will trade Jung Ha-sung, who is performing so well.]

Most experts had similar opinions.

Although the Athletics are a small market team, most people thought it was too early to trade Ha-sung.

[Jung Ha-sung has become the best player in Major League Baseball, so he will continue to suffer from all kinds of rumors in the future.]

[What the player himself has to do is to not be shaken by these rumors and continue to play his role.]

[That’s right.]

[Let’s see in tomorrow’s game whether he will achieve the record of 7 consecutive home runs, which is right in front of him.]

7 consecutive home runs.

Ha-sung was the first to approach such a record since Ken Griffey Jr.

Lee Dae-soo recorded 9 consecutive home runs in the KBO [Korean Baseball Organization], but in Major League Baseball, the most consecutive home runs was 8.

If Ha-sung achieves 7 consecutive home runs, it will be a huge topic.

He visited New York for this record.

To play a 3-game series against the evil empire, the New York Yankees.

* * *

The evil empire was powerful.

In the 2011 season, they showed an unstable start as they failed to properly fill the starting lineup due to Alex Rodriguez’s departure.

However, true to their name as the evil empire, they were building a starting lineup by fielding various players and were leading the American League East Division.

It drew a lot of attention as the losers of the East and West Divisions faced off.

In particular, the match between the evil empire’s ace CC Sabathia and the Athletics’ star player Ha-sung was enough to attract a lot of attention.

And until the 5th inning, the game was progressing with CC Sabathia’s complete victory.

[CC Sabathia is showing a perfect pitch in today’s game.]

[He is dominating the game by pitching a perfect game through the 5th inning.]

[It’s impressive that Sabathia is overwhelming even Jung Ha-sung.]

Ha-sung faced Sabathia twice and suffered a defeat as his good hits were caught by the center fielder and the shortstop’s good defense.

[Sabathia seems to have gained confidence by catching Jung Ha-sung.]

[Thanks to Sabathia’s performance, the Yankees are leading the game with a score of 3 to 0.]

The team was losing.

The owner, Louis, was waiting for someone in the VIP room of Yankee Stadium.