Ace of Ace Chapter 13-14

Chapter 13 - People Scratching at Lottery Tickets 02

Gun Choi called the system as he moved to hotel with David.

‘Abilities.’

-Displaying the user’s basic abilities.

Physical strength: A

Muscular strength: B

Agility: B

Reaction: B

Reliability: C

Fortune: B

Mental strength:

Over the last few weeks, Gun Choi succeed in improving his physical and mental strength rank to A. They were very important to a starting pitcher.

‘I have a low rank in reliability. I hope this won’t affect my relationship with a catcher.’

He checked the next abilities.

-Displaying pitcher abilities

Ball Speed: B+

Movement velocity: B+

Ball control: B+

Movement: B

1st Grip: Four-seam fastball B

2nd Grip: Slider B

3rd Grip: Changeup C+

4th Grip: Knuckleball C

Skill: Blood of the wild animal Level 2

Most of the abilities improved through live pitching.

‘I have a rank C knuckleball, this will be enough.’

Gun Choi was confident about his knuckleball in spite of David’s negative opinion.

After they arrived at the hotel, Gun Choi just relaxed on the bed due to jet lag.

‘I can only use the ring for two hours during such a long trip.’

Gun Choi researched records of minor league players who were on the same plane.

Some of them became a main player in the Major League but some of them gave up baseball.

Gun Choi checked the record of Don Blesso, a rival of his, and was surprised.

Don Blesso played actively while Gun Choi was in Korea. He won 31 games for 3 years. 10 wins per year.

He had a large role in the Major League.

“Already 3 years. His salary will be raised a lot next year.”

A player became eligible for negotiating their salary after 3 years, which meant that he would not get minimum salary anymore.

Gun Choi thought that he could play as well as Don Blesso, as long as he didn’t get injured.

’10 wins in the Major League. It’s too hard. He might have a hard time right after entering the Major League and be degraded to AAA’

There was no “if” in baseball.

Gun Choi needed to be able to judge his current situation perfectly.

“I have brace my mind. I need to focus on the showcase.”

He had a deep sleep to recover from his jet lag.

Alex didn’t obtain good results at the winter meeting.

‘I didn’t know I was going to be here.’

His team, Baltimore, had a problem with pitching power during the last season. Alex wanted to find a good pitcher during this winter meeting.

But he couldn’t make a contract until the last day of the meeting, due to insufficient funds.

At the last day of winter meeting, he made his final move with permission from the team owner.

He made an offer to Greg, who won 17 games.

Greg and Gun Choi’s agent was the same David.

David made a counteroffer with amount of fifty million for three years.

Alex gave up on Greg because of his high counteroffer.

“He’s 36 years old next season, it’s not worth it to invest fifty million in him.”

He described David as an exorbitant trader and criticized him.

But Alex is back in Arizona to see him.

‘I need to see him again.’

Pitching power at Baltimore was in a terrible condition, so Alex needed to see David, however unpleasant it would be.

As he opened a door onto the field, he saw a familiar face.

It was Gordon, Strategy Analysis Manager of the Chicago Cubs.

Gordon saw him and waved.

“Alex, you’re here.”

They were in the Minor Leagues before, as players.

Alex shrugged his shoulder.

“I had no choice but to come, I couldn’t find any pitchers during the winter meeting. By the way, why are you here? You already selected all your pitchers.”

Gordon sighed slightly.

“One of our bullpen pitcher got injured.”

“Hmm, you need a backup.”

Gordon didn’t come to the showcase to just find a backup. He had lots of options from AAA.

The reason he’s here due to his interest to Gun Choi.

Gordon had an interest in Gun Choi when he was in Boston.

‘He had a nice pitch three years ago. I’m not sure about today.’

The teams at the showcase were Chicago, Baltimore, Houston, and Colorado.

The four teams were evenly split between the National and American leagues.

They were here to gather a lottery, Gun Choi.

‘This lottery is literally a lottery. Little chance for the jackpot.’

Anyway, he wanted to see the showcase.

David spoke loudly after he saw the PIC (Person In charge) from each of the four teams.

“It looks like everybody is here, let me start the showcase. Here is Gun Choi.”

Gun Choi lightly stretched his shoulders and entered ontothe mound.

He already done his warmups.

As Gun Choi ascended the mound, David introduced him again.

“Gun Choi finished his mandatory military service in Korea. Is there anyone worried about his injury? If so, please don’t worry about that. If he got injured, how he could finish his service?”

Serving in the military is respectable in America, so each scout gave Gun Choi a high score on that. But nobody knew how and where he finished his service.

David looked at Gun Choi and spoke.

“Now, Gun Choi will pitch 20 balls. If you want to check their speed with speed gun, please stand behind the fence.”

After his words, 3 of the four scouts moved to the fence.

Alex asked to Gordon as he saw that he hadn’t moved.

“Can you tell the speed just by seeing the pitch?”

“You guys can check the speed. I just want to see his pitching. Frankly, I didn’t bring a gun.”

“Ok.”

Alex shrugged his shoulders and moved to the fence.

‘It’s been a while since I used a speed gun.’

He aimed the speed gun at Gun Choi.

Gun Choi felt little frustrated due to the small number of team at the showcase.

‘Only 4 teams? This is a really tiny showcase.’

He threw his first ball after exchanging a sign with a catcher.

The ball flew through the air and entered into the mitt.

Chapter 14 - People Scratching at Lottery Tickets 03

 

The PICs from the four teams nodded their head with a sound of approval as the ball entered into the mitt.

“92 miles per hour, good.”

“I got 93?”

“Either is good.”

“He must be fully recovered.”

Gun Choi threw five four-seam fast balls, one after another.

At the 3rd ball, his peak speed was 94 mph.

Gordon became aware of Gun Choi’s pitching speed through the others’ expressions.

‘He must be getting good speed. It’s not a lie that he recovered. That’s why he’s putting on this showcase.’

He carefully observed Gun Choi’s pitching balance instead of checking a speed gun.

He evaluated him after 5 pitches, and it wasn’t bad.

‘His center movement is better than before. He must have trained his lower body. He’s prepared as David is his agent’

Gordon thought his evaluation was correct. But he thought that Gun Choi’s success would be based on his continuous training.

Gun Choi pitched a change-up after the fast balls.

He used to get good evaluations on his change-up in the Minor Leagues.

The ball dropped sharply as he played with AT Communication’s batter.

Gordon also gave good grades to Gun Choi’s change-up. But they were less than the fast ball.

‘It’s a nice change-up even though he’s right handed. But I’m not sure of the next pitch. With that foot position, both a curve and a sinker would be better than a slider.’

He remembered that Gun Choi’s main weapons were a slider and a change-up.

If Gun Choi had a skill for a sinker, he would get a contract immediately.

Gun Choi pitched 3 change-ups and threw a slider.

The speed of a slider was about 82 mph which made the hitter to swing, but miss.

Gun Choi’s slider made a smooth arc in the air. But Gordon’s evaluation was different than the previous one.

‘It’s normal.’

The others also though like that. They evaluated also Gun Choi’s slider as normal.

“Angle and speed are normal.”

“This is a slider.”

“We need to see more.”

“Right, we need to check more.”

The top group of players threw a ball over 85 mph, but Gun Choi’s was 3 miles per hour less.

But it’s not enough to devalue him to the Minor League level.

“Show some more.”

“His change-up is good, so he could play a major role in the bullpen.”

“I agree, but his slider isn’t good.”

The PICs of Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies didn’t think that he would be a good starting pitcher in the Major Leagues.

5 more balls remained.

David detained Gun Choi, but Gun Choi wanted to try a knuckleball.

The PICs of each team were shocked by the floating ball in the air.

“This is…”

“Knuckleball.”

“66 mph, it’s great.”

Houston was the only team that had a catcher who could manage Gun Choi’s ball.

But the PIC of Houston was curious about a knuckleball.

“His speed is at 94 mph, but why a knuckleball?”

Alex nodded his head and spoke.

“Absolutely not. He could win 7, maybe 8 games with this ball.”

After the short showcase, Gun Choi left the mound.

He did his best, but only got 70 out of 100.

“Speed wasn’t bad, but the breaking balls weren’t good. I need to consider the differences between domestic and Major League official ball.’

He thought that the angle of the breaking ball wasn’t as good as he expected.

While Gun Choi wrapped up his showcase, David was asking the PICs about it.

Only 2 teams expressed interest to him.

The offer David received was exactly what he had expected.

‘I need to deal with these 2 teams for good results.’

He knew exactly what the PICs wanted.

A button clicked, and a familiar voice sounded out.

“Hello? This is David. Is this Gun Choi?”

“Yes, this is Gun Choi.”

“I’ve got good news. Two teams showed their intention to invite you.”

“Two teams?”

That meant two teams gave up, but two teams were interest to him.

Gun Choi furrowed his brows.

“How are the offers? Are they both contracts for the Major League?”

“It’s hard to get a Major League contract with only a mini showcase. This is a split contract which includes a

contract for the Minor Leagues too. But you got bonus options.”

Players in the Major Leagues received a minimum salary, and they had to stay on one team for three years.

But their actual pay was different depending on their contract.

This is because of promotion bonuses and other possibilities.

David was considering how to make more money by increasing the promotion bonuses.

“Bonus options? Are you talking about a promotion bonus?”

“No, there also is sign up bonus.”

Gun Choi’s present situation was uncertain.

Usually players became eligible to be a free agent 5 or 6 years after entering the

Major Leagues. But Gun Choi didn’t have any experience in the last 3 years.

So, Gun Choi would be entering a team as a new player. In this case, he could get a sign-up

bonus like he’s a top pick in the draft.

“Is there any team than will give me a sign-up bonus?”

“Of course. That’s the reason we did the showcase.”

A sign-up bonus ranged between one and two million for the most desirable players.

Some players got more than this, but the ability Gun Choi showed at the showcase couldn’t command that much.

“How much can I get?”

“I’m expecting to get five hundred thousand.”

The offered amount was already larger than what AT Communication offered, even only with a split contract.

“Is there any way I can get more?”

“I don’t think so. But if you moved to AAA, you will get enough money.”

“More than one hundred thousand?”

“Almost.”

Gun Choi thought he could live with that money in America.

‘If I downgrade to the Minor Leagues, I can send a sign-up bonus to my parents, and I can cover my living cost with one hundred thousand.’

David talked to Gun Choi.

“The offered salaries for the Minor Leagues and sign-up bonuses are almost the same. But there

are differences in the promotion to the Major Leagues bonus.”

“Which one is better? More money?”

“No, that’s not the only difference. They offered more of a bonus but overall it’s not good.”

“What?”

Gun Choi didn’t understand what he was being told.

David explained a detail to Gun Choi.

“One team wants you as a starting pitcher and the other team wants you play at bullpen.”

Now Gun Choi caught a meaning. Namely, the position was different.

“I’d prefer to be a starting pitcher. Which team?”

“Baltimore.”

Baltimore Orioles at American league.

This team failed to find a pitcher during winter meeting.

Gun Choi eyes glowed.

“Eastern.”

“The best region in American league. How’s the offer?”

Boston, the team that released Gun Choi, also belonged to Eastern region.

Once signed with Baltimore, he would quickly show Boston and Tomson what they had missed.

“If I’m guaranteed to be a starting pitcher, I’ll sign the papers right now. Are you sure?”

David coughed and replied.

“Yes, but it is important that you are on the top five list. At least you’ll have a chance in spring

training.”

Gun Choi wanted to choose Baltimore due to the chance of being a starting pitcher there.

“Can you give me more details?”

“You will get a hundred thousand if you play for AAA Norfolk. And if you enter the Major

Leagues, you’ll also get three hundred thousand for a promotion bonus, and four hundred

thousand for sign-up bonus.”

Minimum five hundred fifty thousand to max 1.4 million, financially it was not bad.

Gun Choi was in favor of Baltimore.

“Wait, Gun Choi.”

David interrupted, as he got another call.

Chapter end