Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 480 - 90: The Advancing SoftBank Corps (Part 2)

This kind of structure also aligns with the consistent style of the SoftBank Team:

The SoftBank Team places considerable emphasis on tapping into the potential of its young players. It was the first among the 12 teams to adopt a three-tier structure, and there are even rumors that they’re setting up a fourth-tier now. Once these young and economical potentials prove their value, the team’s earnings will experience exponential growth.

And when a top-tier superstar appears in the free-agent market that they have their sights on, the SoftBank Team will not hesitate to offer a super expensive contract that no other team can possibly match, quickly, accurately, and decisively securing the player.

"Now that the renewal work within the team is almost complete, it’s time for us to make some moves in the free-agent market!" Looking at his hard-working employees in front of him, the general manager shouted this slogan. To boost the morale of his subordinates, he continued, "Once this period of work is done, I will personally treat everyone to drinks and dinner at the kaiseki restaurant near the company!"

"Next, let the other teams witness the strength and financial power of SoftBank—the first step towards the league victory and Japan’s Number One will be taken by us!"

"Got it, General Manager!!!" The atmosphere in the office of the composition department suddenly soared.

The first target of the SoftBank Team was aimed at the Korean foreign player Lee Dae-ho from the Orix Buffaloes, a player personally named by manager Akiyama Koji during the meeting.

Lee Dae-ho, who is 31 years old this year, is a legendary batter in Korean baseball, having won the batter’s triple crown twice during his KBO career. While playing for Orix over the past two years, he delivered an outstanding performance every season with 250 hits, 25 home runs, 90 RBIs, and OPS>0.8.

In terms of domestic players’ hitting power, the SoftBank Team is already at a top-tier level in the Pacific League; and now, if they can sign Lee Dae-ho, a player who consistently contributes 25 home runs, as a reinforcement, next season, no pitcher would come without trembling before this lineup. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

In fact, when the regular matches concluded, Lee Dae-ho still leaned towards renewing with Orix. After all, their cooperation over the past two years was quite pleasant. However, after long salary negotiations, recently, Orix’s general manager Setoyama Toshimitsu announced the breakdown of the talks.

According to related media reports, Lee Dae-ho’s agent was asking for an enormous contract worth over 800 million yen for two years, a price Orix simply couldn’t afford.

The contract Orix couldn’t offer, SoftBank could–almost the second after Lee Dae-ho’s negotiation with Orix broke down, the person in charge at SoftBank’s composition department proactively contacted his agent to seek negotiations.

The financially robust SoftBank offered a contract the other side couldn’t refuse: a 2-year deal totaling 900 million yen, with a player option for the third year, and the two parties quickly reached a signing intention.

With the signing completed, SoftBank’s "100 home runs" lineup for the new season was officially formed: 25 home runs from Lee Dae-ho, 20 home runs from Lin Guanglai and Matsuda Naohiro, 19 home runs from Nakagawa Seiichi and Hasegawa Yuya, plus several other starters good at defense—with paper strength alone, no team in Japan dares claim to be able to shut down this lineup.

After resolving the batting lineup’s firepower issues, the staff at the composition department finally turned their attention back to their team’s far from outstanding pitching lineup.

Compared to a batting lineup leading the league in batting average, RBIs, and home runs, the SoftBank pitching lineup is the second worst among the six teams in the Pacific League, only slightly better than the Ham Team, which suffered from a massive personnel loss.

The team ERA ranks fourth in the Pacific League, their number of walks stands second from the bottom in the league, and the frequency of wild pitches and pitcher offenses is at the very bottom. The whole team, due to the pitching squad’s poor performance, easily lost 5-10 games of winning advantage.

Especially after mid-season when Oonari Kenji was put on the injured list, and the team lost their number three starter, the already weak pitching team faced more difficulties, which in turn affected the performance of the starting pitchers—Shetsu Shou’s ERA worsened by more than 1 point, and his number of wins dropped from 12 games last year to 7 games.

In the context of Oonari Kenji’s indefinite return, the first and foremost task for the composition department is to find a qualified third starter for the team.

This person’s talent doesn’t need to be top-notch, even mediocre data would do, but he must have enough ability to survive in the league, especially maintaining composure in difficult situations and consistently eating up 5-6 innings per game; and if he can pitch at a level comparable to a first or second ace in certain games, that would be a bonus.

A strong third starter is indeed a reflection of a team’s depth and strength.

After a thorough search, the SoftBank Team finally decided on Chunichi Dragons pitcher Nakata Kenichi, who gained FA eligibility this year.

After graduating from college and playing in professional baseball for 9 years, Nakata Kenichi has long been the number three starter for Chunichi, and with a career ERA of 3.44, it’s not outstanding but certainly not bad.

SoftBank values his exceptionally excellent ability to consume innings: While staying healthy, Nakata Kenichi can start more than 18 games per season and consume over 130 innings at the same time.

This ability is precisely what the current SoftBank Team is most lacking—keep in mind that in the past season, apart from Shetsu Shou and Lin Guanglai, not a single starting pitcher in the whole team’s top-tier could reach the required innings, showing how poorly SoftBank’s starters performed.

To bring this excellent local starter from Fukuoka into their fold, the SoftBank Team offered a four-year contract with an annual salary of 70 million yen, which is not a small price to pay.

Then came the adjustment of the bullpen: while the SoftBank bullpen reserves are actually quite abundant, both Iwasaki Sho and Chika Huangda, who were selected for the All-Star game and shone in several matches this season, have paid dues because of their youth and lack of experience;

while Igarashi Ryouta, though stable and strong, is already 36 years old, and SoftBank can’t rely on him to pitch all season long. Moreover, with age, he is transitioning from a renowned fastballer in all of Japan to a control-based closer.

At this moment, Seibu’s closer, Dennis Sarfate, entered the sight of the SoftBank scouting department: this American pitcher’s average speed is 151km/h, with a maximum speed of 161km/h, making him a rare fastball-style closer in Nippon Professional Baseball. What’s more, in the 3 seasons he has played in Nippon Professional Baseball, Sarfate has assured over 50 appearances annually and achieved a peak of 35 saves in a single season.

For such a sought-after free agent in the market, the SoftBank Team was naturally not stingy with their money—offering a three-year contract with an annual salary of 100 million yen, they snatched this top-tier closer from the Giant Team’s grasp.

Besides, they also signed setup pitcher Okajima Hideki, who returned from the Major League Oakland Athletics to Japan, on a one-year contract worth 55 million yen, not too expensive, as a way to supplement the bullpen with experience.

This offseason, SoftBank’s final significant signing was securing Takeshima Shinya from the Ham Team on a four-year contract with an annual salary of 76 million yen.

With Hosokawa Kei aging, Takeshima Shinya, in the prime of his player career, will bring a breeze of fresh air to SoftBank’s catcher position—considering his experience and excellent defensive skills, along with his previous All-Star game chemistry with Lin Guanglai, the SoftBank management is naturally willing to spend handsomely to sign him.

This winter, SoftBank was undoubtedly the star in the transfer market; after strategic planning and execution, this team is already completely renewed compared to last season.

SoftBank fans can hardly wait to welcome the arrival of the new season!