Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 474 - 87: Sky-High Contract (Part 3)

Manager Akiyama cautiously estimated that a top-tier foreign slugger would cost at least 300 million. The price for a third starting pitcher, plus a star setup/closer, would also be around the same amount.

Additionally, many players still on the team have performed exceptionally well this season, meaning their salaries will naturally need to be increased.

Although Owner Sun has always been generous in terms of funding, Manager Akiyama couldn’t be sure if the owner might suddenly decide to reduce investments in the team.

"The salary budget for the 2014 season is—4 billion!!!"

"Great!!!" Almost as soon as Goto Youkou finished speaking, Manager Akiyama shouted excitedly and jumped up from his seat. He only sat back down sheepishly after noticing the teasing looks from his colleagues around him.

No wonder Manager Akiyama was so elated—4 billion, even among the 12 teams in Nippon Professional Baseball, is just a little shy of what the Giant Team spends; and note, even the team with the smallest budget this season, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, has a total budget of only 2 billion for all their teams.

Regarding his manager’s exuberant reaction, Goto Youkou simply smiled politely before proceeding to organize the subsequent tasks.

"From today, all departments can begin coordinating. If the manager wants certain players, he can communicate with the lineup department for negotiation. If the player’s intention is strong, the contract department should promptly draft a contract."

"Manager Akiyama, do you have any targets for team reinforcement next season? If you do, feel free to voice them now, so we can quickly reach out to the players after the meeting."

Manager Akiyama, who had already had a vague blueprint for how to reinforce the team since the later half of the season, shared his thoughts:

"Firstly, it’s the pitchers. I need a stable third starting pitcher—doesn’t Chunichi’s Kenshin Naka seem to be a free agent? I think we can try negotiating with him."

"Additionally, the bullpen still needs at least one top-tier closer. I lean towards Seibu’s Sapphite; as long as we offer slightly higher, Seibu simply can’t compete with us."

"Hosokawa is getting older, and he should cut down on catching this season—if we can get Takeshima Shinya from the Fighters, that would be great; he won’t cost much and is very skilled at communicating with pitchers. Working with such a catcher can also accelerate Guanglai’s growth."

"As for the lineup, the domestic players are already perfect—let’s let Pena and Lahai’er go, freeing up roughly 300 million in salary space—I recommend Orix’s Lee Dae-ho as their replacement."

After recording all the players chosen by the manager, the minister of the lineup department continued to ask, "Are there any other players needed, Manager Akiyama?"

Manager Akiyama shook his head: "Not at the moment."

After a while, as if he suddenly remembered something, he hastily added:

"There’s also Guanglai’s matter. Next season, I plan to give him more crucial roles: first choice for starting pitcher and a major batting force—so, his contract renewal must be swift!"

"I don’t want him still negotiating with you by the time spring training starts; what I need is a Lin Guanglai who can wholeheartedly focus on baseball!"

This truly puzzled the minister of the lineup department: typically, rookie players’ salaries increase in tiers over a three-year cycle, but Lin Guanglai is clearly not an ordinary player.

"How much should we offer Lin? It’s really troubling..."

The minister of the lineup department felt he had quite a task ahead of him.