Ace of Ace-Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Chapter 15 - People Scratching at Lottery Tickets
Chapter 15 - People Scratching at Lottery Tickets 04
David got a phone call from Alex and furrowed his brows .
“Hello? What?! No contract?”
David narrowed his eyes .
Whenever a problem occurred, his facial expression changed .
Alex talked to David with a heavy voice .
“I’m so sorry . Top management already found a VIP pitcher . I didn’t know about this . ”
David had been talking with Gun Choi about the Major League .
Free agent(FA) with VIP pitcher .
David spoke loudly .
“You told me yesterday…”
Alex sighed and responded .
“Hmm…Yesterday was yesterday . Anyway, we can’t provide a sign-up bonus . ”
Without a sign-up bonus, it was just a generic Minor League contract .
“Really, is there no way?”
David tried to persuade Alex some more .
“Ok, then can you provide a bigger promotion bonus?”
“Well…”
“Surely you don’t think it’s the same contract? I thought Baltimore had enough money . ”
Alex also wanted to invite Gun Choi . But the owner of team had already made a decision .
“We decided to find a pitcher amongst our own players, not from outside . Most likely it will be an internal promotion . ”
David became speechless . He was caught in a dilemma .
Alex decided to hang up before David could catch his breath, and respond .
“David, hope to see you next time with good news . ”
Alex hung up the phone . David sighed deeply .
“I don’t know what to say to Gun Choi . ”
After a little while, David called Gun Choi .
Gun Choi answered the phone immediately .
“Who called?
David answer frankly .
“It was from Baltimore Orioles . ”
Gun Choi’s voice was cheerful . He didn’t know what Alex and David had discussed .
“Did they want to sign a contract soon? Or review details?”
David spoke with his hands clasped tightly .
“No… Baltimore decided not to provide a sign-up bonus . ”
Gun Choi was shocked by the Orioles rapidly and unexpectedly changing their decision .
“What?!”
“The owner of team is interest in signing free agents for VIP pitchers . ”
Gun Choi realized that this situation put him at a huge disadvantage . Hiring an FA meant there would be no more out of team hiring .
‘Things went badly, as I feared . ’
As he spoke, his face showed mixed expressions .
“If Baltimore doesn’t need me, then don’t I only have one team left? Who’s that?”
David felt relieved due to Gun Choi’s positive outlook . He talked about the team .
“It’s the Cubs . But the Cubs wants you to play in the bullpen . Their pitcher, Samaja, got injured recently .
But if you play well in the bullpen, you’ll absolutely get a chance . You’re still young . ”
Gun Choi answered as he nodded .
“Back up for Samaja . There’s still a chance . ”
“Sure . ”
But being a backup meant having few chances .
Anyway, there’s a vacancy for a starting player .
“How are the contract details? Same as the Orioles?”
“Little better…but it’s not for a starting player . ”
Gun Choi thought debuting at the Major Leagues was better than being a starting player in the Minor Leagues .
“I don’t care about a position . I want to be in the Major leagues by any means necessary . ”
David’s voice became cheerful .
“Do you think so?”
“It was 3 years . I’ll thank whoever calls me . ”
David told Gun Choi that he would try to negotiate a better contract .
Gun Choi’s goal was to play in the Major Leagues, not staying in the bullpen .
“Ok, only 1 year . ”
He wanted more benefits due to his playing in the bullpen .
“Oh, David . I need to add more options instead of the basic conditions . ”
David tilted his head .
Gun Choi’s suggestion had no benefit to him .
“Options?”
“I mean the same conditions as Daiye . ”
Daiye lowered his annual salary, but added several options for a multiple year contract with the
Dodgers . This surprised a lot of people .
At that time, there were lot of concerns about the contract, but he shocked people by
getting a larger amount than expected .
Gun Choi wanted a contract like this .
“What do you want me to put in?”
“There should be good options to hold or save . I made a concession on position, they need to make a
concession on the bonus . ”
David disagreed with Gun Choi . As an agent, he thought Gun Choi’s decision was not reasonable .
“Gun Choi, that’s not a concession . Challenging is good, but wouldn’t you prefer something stable?
And also think about your age…”
Gun Choi flatly refused .
“David, I’m still young . You talked about stability, but I don’t want to make do with the current situation by accepting a sign-up bonus . I’ll raise my salary by entering the Major Leagues . ”
He intended to enter the Major Leagues the next season .
David nodded his head in the end .
“Ok, then I’ll discuss it with the Cubs . ”
Gun Choi hung up the phone and laid down on the sofa .
“I hoped things would go smoothly but… it was same 3 year ago . I thought I had a chance when I was on the expanded roster, but I got injured . ”
As he closed eye, he saw an unusual message .
- Here is your first mission . Make your debut in the Major Leagues . This mission does not expire until you complete it .
There was no conditional term for the mission .
‘You don’t need to say it . That’s exactly what I wanted . ’
He thought it was going to be a simple mission because there was no condition or time limit .
But he couldn’t understand the next message .
-You can’t use the acceleration program until you achieve the mission .
Gun Choi used the ring every day, but he forgot about the acceleration program after he recovered .
‘Hmm, was I allowed to use the acceleration program outside of recovering from my injury?’
Suddenly, he regretted that he didn’t use the acceleration program after live pitching .
‘It might be helpful to increase my physical and muscular abilities, but overall it’s better not to use
it . Baseball should be learned by the body, not by the mind .
Gun Choi didn’t think that the heavy feeling on this body wouldn’t affect his performance .
E/N: FA refers to a free agent . That is a player who is not contractually bound to a team, and can negotiate their own contract and salary .
