Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 472 - 87: Sky-High Contract

Having worked as a professional sports agent for nearly 40 years, even overseeing contracts worth over a billion dollars, Nomura Katsuhiko still found himself momentarily at a loss when Itabashi Kenji handed over the sponsorship contract from Mizuno.

To be honest, if he hadn’t previously negotiated numerous player sponsorship deals with Itabashi Kenji, Nomura Katsuhiko might have suspected the person before him was a fraud.

Ensuring there were no errors or "hidden intentions" in Mizuno’s contract offer, Nomura Katsuhiko handed the offer sheet to Lin Guanglai; and when Lin Guanglai, the person in question, first saw the numbers on the contract, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

Seeing the evident change in expressions on the faces of the two men before him, Itabashi Kenji knew he had succeeded halfway, so he hurriedly seized the opportunity to press forward:

"Mizuno hopes to fully sponsor Lin Guanglai, covering all baseball gear including defensive gloves, batting gloves, shoes, and protective gear."

"The basic sponsorship fee is 100 million yen per year, for a contract period of 3 years, with high incentive clauses included—if within these three years Lin can achieve personal honors like Best Nine, Gold Glove, League MVP, Eiji Sawamura Award, or if the SoftBank Team clinches the league championship and Japan’s Number One title, each achievement would earn tens or even hundreds of millions in bonuses."

"For the equipment used by Lin in games, we will provide comprehensive high-end personalized services: for the defensive gloves, Mr. Tsubata Nobuyoshi, Ichiro’s exclusive glove craftsman, will design exclusive dies as per your requirements and personally craft them by hand; for the baseball bats, Mr. Kubota Goichi, also selected as an ’Outstanding Skilled Person’ by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, will be responsible. You will have control over the choice of wood, weight distribution, grip thickness, and balance point."

"We will also cover all seasonal consumptions—before each season starts, we’ll prepare a certain number of supplies for you to give away or use."

"Additionally, regarding publicity and exposure—should you choose to sign with Mizuno, we will hold a signing conference open to media across Japan, with Ichiro-san attending as a guest; and as for the post-signing cover ads, we assure that they will be displayed in all official agency stores nationwide. If possible, we also hope Lin can find time to collaborate with our advertising department, they’ve already crafted a project for you and Ichiro-san to appear together."

"Also, we’ve anticipated Lin’s potential future choice to challenge Major League Baseball, so this contract includes an additional clause—the ’Major League Opt-Out Clause.’"

"Once you decide to challenge the Major League, your value will certainly surge based on your skills. Mizuno’s wish is to win together with our signed clients—so, if you choose to challenge the Major League and sign successfully within the contract period, you can opt out of the existing contract; and at that time, Mizuno only hopes for a priority renewal clause under the same quote."

Just like performers on a theater stage, Itabashi Kenji breathlessly listed all the conditions Mizuno was offering.

Undoubtedly, this is an extraordinarily generous super contract, even many seasoned stars with years in pro baseball and significant achievements might not enjoy this level of treatment—take Lin Guanglai’s teammate, Nakagawa Seiichi, who has been with the pro baseball team for nearly 15 years; his contract with Mizuno is merely 100 million yen.

If narrowing this scope further to rookies, Lin Guanglai’s sponsorship contract would be unprecedented in scale, as never before has a player under 22 signed such a large deal.

Moreover, according to the unspoken rules in Japan, pro players’ signing bonuses are generally not publicized; otherwise, if journalists knew the numbers and the other terms and benefits included in the contract, the related news and discussions might blaze from this off-season to the next year’s season opener.

As an agent, Nomura Katsuhiko was tempted: not only would the contract itself bring him immense commissions, but Mizuno’s proposed market strategy completely won him over.

Mizuno’s star player, Ichiro Suzuki, currently with the New York Yankees, is already 40 years old; anyone can see, this former superstar is now entering the twilight of his career, anticipated to officially retire in a few years.

And as his sponsor, Mizuno naturally has to start seeking the next-generation brand ambassador—which means that as a standout among the new generation of players, as long as Lin Guanglai continues his high level of play in the upcoming pro baseball seasons, he will inherit all of Ichiro’s promotional resources once Ichiro steps down. What could be more enticing than this?

However, the final decision power still rests with the player himself—Nomura Katsuhiko glanced at the seat beside him, only to see Lin Guanglai constantly rubbing his neck back and forth, with a somewhat rakish smile on his face.

After a moment, he began speaking with a smile: "Mr. Itabashi, to be honest, Mizuno’s contract offer is truly sincere..."

But he suddenly shifted his tone, posing this question to Itabashi Kenji: "However, with such a large amount, and a contract so player-favoring, isn’t Mizuno afraid that if I don’t perform well, they’d end up losing everything?"