Chapter 13: 4 Million dollars

The conference room of Rahman Castle was filled with solemnity at the Chickens’ sincere but stingy offer.

Puti, the host, was struggling to lift the mood that had plummeted.

“It’s too early to be disappointed?!.”

“The world is wide and there are many baseball teams!.”

“Next up, a mid-tier league no matter how you look at it, here are the contract offers from the NPB!”

The Nippon Professional Baseball league consists of 12 teams, 6 each in the Central League and the Pacific League.

Su-hyeon, as a Korean national, would be treated as a foreign player, but unlike the KBO, the NPB had no limit on

the number of foreign players.

“You can’t talk about the NPB without mentioning this team!.”

“The most prestigious team in the NPB, the Attack on Titan army!.”

“How much did the Yomiuri Giants offer Su-hyeon?!”

Flick-

A number with a different digit than the KBO was displayed on the slide.

A one-year contract with a salary of $1 million.

However, it included a clause prohibiting long hair and accessories.

Clap clap clap clap clap clap-

Su-hyeon stood up and bowed to acknowledge the applause for her first time surpassing the 1 billion won mark.

“As expected from Yomiuri.”

“A million dollars is pretty generous, huh?”

“It’s surprising.”

“I didn’t know the Japanese were this interested in me.”

Thanks to her victory over Nomura Hiroyuki, Su-hyeon’s recognition in Japan was higher than she had expected.

But even considering her increased recognition.

Yomiuri’s offer of $1 million was definitely an amount that only A-list foreign players with major league experience could receive.

“But isn’t it too much to ban long hair for women too?.”

“They’d probably faint if they saw my photoshoot.”

“Right?.”

“I can’t imagine Su-hyeon in a Yomiuri uniform either.”

In terms of winning DNA, Yomiuri Giants was one of the top five teams in the world.

But Su-hyeon didn’t want to play for a team as rigid as Yomiuri.

And being popular also meant having many antis.

Having experienced the end of her life due to malicious comments, Su-hyeon had no desire to go to Yomiuri for various reasons.

“Well, the strongest team in the Central League has offered a million dollars.”

“So how much did the strongest team in the Pacific League offer?!.”

“The undisputed strongest team of the 21st century, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks!!”

Flick-

A one-year contract with a salary of $1.5 million.

And for the first time, a message for Su-hyeon was included in the contract offer.

‘I’m a fan. Son Yu-mi.’

Son Yu-mi, the chairman of the SoftBank Group and the owner of the Hawks, had come out as a fan.

“That ruthless woman sent a message like that?.”

“She must be completely smitten with Su-hyeon.”

Aisha’s cold jealousy was once again stopped by Ricky.

“Isn’t it you who’s being strange, sister?.”

“How can you, as a woman, look at Su-hyeon like she’s nothing when she has achieved such a feat with a woman’s body?”

“I don’t care about that.”

“Whether it’s a female cat or a male cat, as long as it catches mice well.”

And after seeing Son Yu-mi’s message, Su-hyeon’s heart began to move for the first time.

“Uh… this is a bit touching.”

“Ah, not the salary, but the message.”

“The message is touching.”

“I agree.”

“And as far as baseball teams go, there aren’t many places like SoftBank.”

“It’s fair to say that this is the best offer so far.”

A generous support from the parent company.

Overflowing winning DNA.

And the owner’s interest in Su-hyeon.

As Dae-joon said, SoftBank’s contract offer was perfect in every way.

The approximate salary offered by other NPB teams was between $500,000 and $800,000, which was higher than that of developmental foreign players.

While the slides were being moved without much attention from the group, a dark horse appeared.

“Next is the undisputed weakest team in the Central League, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.”

“Whoa, what’s with this amount?!.”

“It’s the highest bid so far!”

‘Puti, it’s not a bid, it’s a contract offer!.’

‘I get to choose where I go!.’

Flick-

The BayStars offered a two-year contract worth $2 million per year, totaling $4 million.

The group cheered again at Su-hyeon’s increased value.

However, the BayStars’ offer included another option in addition to the salary.

She had to serve as the official model for a mobile baseball game to be released by the parent company.

“I heard that the owner here is a woman too.”

“Successful women definitely recognize Su-hyeon’s value.”

“If that’s the case, then the woman sitting over there should have her mouth wide open, right?”

Su-hyeon pointed at Aisha Rahman with her chin.

In fact, Aisha was gradually becoming uncomfortable.

She felt a sense of crisis that it might be difficult to take Dae-joon away from Su-hyeon if things continued this way.

“So far, we’ve looked at the contract offers from 10 Korean teams and 12 Japanese teams, a total of 22 teams.”

“But the highlight is just beginning!.”

“The bidding from the 30 MLB teams starts now!!”

The biggest benefit of winning the World’s Best Baseball Tournament.

The ability to sign a contract with any of the 30 MLB teams as a free agent.

Since there is no limit on the signing bonus that exists in the rookie draft.

Depending on the winner’s ability, there is a possibility of landing a huge contract.

Or, regardless of money, the ability to choose the team you want to go to.

But if you don’t get the attention of the teams even after winning, you might not see much benefit.

The logos of the five teams in the National League East appeared on the screen and then disappeared.

Then, the red tomahawk logo reappeared and filled the screen.

“If Su-hyeon goes to this team, wouldn’t she be the second coming of Greg Maddux?!.”

“The perennial loser of the NL East, the Atlanta Braves!”

‘Puti, are you indirectly saying that my fastball is slow?.’

‘Right?.’

Flick-

The Braves offered Su-hyeon a signing bonus of $3 million.

The scale of Major League Baseball, which instantly surpasses the salaries offered by the KBO and even the NPB.

In fact, Su-hyeon and Dae-joon were nervous until they opened the contract offers.

Although she won, the rules of the tournament were not entirely based on baseball.

Moreover, unlike other amateur players, Su-hyeon was an ordinary person with no records.

From a scout’s perspective, it was difficult to give her a high evaluation since there was no data to refer to.

But as Ricky said, the MLB teams were not so naive as to overlook the marketability of the first female professional baseball player in human history.

Even if Su-hyeon didn’t show any signs of being a major leaguer.

It would be a profitable business to call her up at the right time, attract spectators, and sell uniforms.

“Su-hyeon.”

“Yes, coach.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Congratulations.”

The congratulations from Dae-joon were completely different from the ones he gave when he saw the KBO’s contract offers.

Dae-joon was sincerely praising Su-hyeon’s achievement.

At the same time, he was realizing that Su-hyeon would really leave his side now.

“Thank you, coach.”

The Atlanta Braves were a team that had no shortcomings.

Decent winning DNA, a decent big market, a solid depth, and a roster with consistent strength.

If no other team offered a higher signing bonus, it was an offer worth seriously considering.

After that, no contract offer exceeding $3 million came from the National League East.

Next up was the National League Central.

“The curse of the billy goat is over!.”

“A team where many Korean minor leaguers play, so it would be easy to make friends if you go there, the Chicago Cubs!.”

“Hey cub, how much did you find out?!”

Flick-

A signing bonus of $4 million.

As expected, the Cubs, who are suspiciously enthusiastic about Koreans, offered a decent amount.

But despite the highest offer, Su-hyeon had no interest in the Cubs.

“Su-hyeon, why not the Cubs?.”

“Don’t you like them?”

“No.”

“I don’t want to go to a team with a lot of die-hard fans.”

It’s true that the Cubs are one of the most popular teams.

But Su-hyeon’s real reason was, of course, the Cubs’ lack of winning DNA.

Su-hyeon believed that breaking the curse of the billy goat wouldn’t create a winning DNA that didn’t exist before.

Except for the Cubs, the National League Central was mostly made up of small market teams, and no other offers

were worth mentioning.

The next turn was the National League West, where ‘that team’ belonged.

The team with the highest overall attendance in Major League Baseball.

The team where the first black player and the first Korean player debuted.

The national team of Korea.

“Puti’s throat hurts from talking so much!.”

“Let’s skip the explanation for the LA Dodgers!”

Flick-

The signing bonus offered by the Dodgers was.

$100,000.

“What happened?!.”

“The Dodgers… the Dodgers have forsaken Ms. Su-hyeon… sob…”

It wasn’t just Puti who was disappointed.

Su-hyeon herself looked disappointed as well.

Elementary school student Jeong Su-hyeon, who overcame the IMF crisis by watching the Korean Express pitch and

dreamed of becoming a baseball player.

And the team where the new GOAT of baseball, Ohtani Shohei, was still playing.

The LA Dodgers didn’t want Su-hyeon.