Ace of Ace

Chapter 16





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 .





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