Chapter 15: Chapter 14 - People Scratching at Lottery Tickets 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?” S?a??h th? ?0velF?re.n?t website on G??gl? to access chapters of n?vels early and in the highest quality.

    “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 .