Baseball: A Two-Way Player-Chapter 636 - 5: In-Depth Talks (Part 2)
The performance of the Braves has not been impressive in recent years, and they finished last in the National League East Division with a record of 68 wins and 93 losses last season. Yet, they are still considered by various media and bookies as one of the top choices for Lin Guanglai's next team.
The main reason for this is the abundance of talent amassed in the Atlanta Braves' farm system:
A young team naturally brings a youthful atmosphere, which is undoubtedly good news for Lin Guanglai, who will only turn 22 at the beginning of next year. This means he is unlikely to encounter any locker room problems; 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
The Braves' batch of rookies are virtually all ranked among the top hundred prospects, and from their performance, there is a significant chance they will be promoted to the Major League in the coming seasons and establish themselves—Fried, Swanson, Albies, Little Acuna... If these players live up to expectations and mature, the Atlanta Braves will gradually become strong contenders for the championship in the coming years.
Joining such a team, Lin Guanglai can gradually adapt to the intensity of the Major League in the initial years. Once the young talents in the farm system grow into real combat strength, he will immediately have the opportunity to compete for the championship.
Coppolella and Snitker are precisely trying to attract Lin Guanglai from this aspect—undeniably, such prospects greatly appeal to Lin Guanglai. Especially the idea of starting a brand new future alongside a bunch of players around his age is enough to make his heart surge with excitement.
The proposal from the Boston Red Sox is equally enticing: After the 2016 season, the legendary Red Sox star "Big Papi" David Ortiz announced his retirement, ending his 20-year career;
The departure of this three-time World Series champion and seven-time Silver Slugger Award winner has left a vacancy in the designated hitter position for the Red Sox—they need a star player capable of filling Ortiz's shoes.
Like the current leading Giants, the immediate combat power of the Red Sox is also quite formidable:
In terms of star caliber, they have one of the best outfielders in the entire league, Mookie Betts, as well as Xander Bogaerts, a powerhouse, with a stable lineup that includes veterans, mid-career players, and youngsters all contributing.
This stable lineup has allowed them to consistently dominate the American League East Division for years, frequently surpassing their rival, the New York Yankees, and making multiple appearances in the American League Championship Series and even the World Series.
Most importantly, as the capital of the New England region, Boston is a top-tier sports city globally, offering exposure opportunities second only to Los Angeles and New York, which greatly benefits Lin Guanglai's future commercial value enhancement.
To demonstrate their sincerity, the Red Sox negotiation team is led by their head coach, John Farrell, who has publicly expressed his admiration for Lin Guanglai multiple times and showcased his plans for Lin during their meeting:
In Farrell's vision, if Lin Guanglai can adapt to the intensity of American baseball, he will become the team's number one starter and form a powerful lineup alongside Betts, with the importance of this arrangement being evident.
Senior members of the Fenway Group have presented the prospects of joining the Red Sox from an off-field development perspective: under the promotion of Fenway's mighty machine, Lin Guanglai's influence can extend beyond baseball, gradually expanding into other domains such as football (Liverpool), basketball (LeBron James, Boston Celtics).
The Red Sox don't know if Lin Guanglai has been swayed, but at least his agent, Nomura Katsuhiko, is truly tempted—no agent can refuse such an opportunity.
For these reasons, the Boston Red Sox logically set their sights on bringing Lin Guanglai, the Japanese superstar, to Boston.
After sending off the confident Red Sox team, that afternoon, when the Texas Rangers' team arrived at the negotiation location, the Japanese reporters stationed early around immediately crowded in eagerly, turned on their cameras to start filming, and flashlights flickered incessantly; even passing pedestrians paused to take a look.
"Dar, welcome home!"
"Look over here, look over here!"
"It's no wonder Darvish looks much more handsome in person than on TV..."
In order to sign Lin Guanglai, besides their head coach Jeff Banister, the Texas Rangers also brought their lineup core, future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre, and team Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish as translator and persuader, hoping to use the two as examples to convince Lin Guanglai to bring his talent to Texas.
"The Rangers have shown me immense respect and space to perform, allowing me to focus on pitching," Yu Darvish explained to Lin Guanglai through his own example, "Guanglai, no one understands the challenges of moving from Japan to MLB better than I do—there are many things we must overcome, from diet and training to interacting with the media. I can share all my experiences and lessons to help you avoid detours."
"More importantly, by joining the Rangers, we can study hitters together and exchange pitching tips—I am willing to share all my experience with breaking balls to help you become a higher-level player."
As the Rangers' lineup core and locker room leader, Beltre also brought his commitment: "Lin, I promise you throughout my career, in the Rangers' locker room, all you need to do is be yourself and focus on the game—us veterans will bear all external pressure for you."
"Our lineup is packed with passion, Rougned Odor, Mitch Moreland, Ian Desmond, and I are all 30-homer hitters: when you step up to bat, there are heavy hitters backing you, keeping the opponent's pitcher under constant pressure; when you're on the mound, we can also provide you with maximal firepower support—this team allows you to unleash full power without any pressure from both hitting and pitching!"
After the two players depicted Lin Guanglai's prospects in Texas from a player's perspective, head coach Jeff Banister quickly followed with his beautiful blueprint:
"Lin, the Rangers have reached the World Series in 2010 and 2011 consecutively, but lost both times and couldn't claim the championship; that near-miss regret remains a perpetual pain for this team and is our driving force moving forward—we are not a team in desperate need of rebuilding; we are the Avengers Alliance! Your arrival will fill our gaps in the pitching rotation and lineup, making us a hot team in the entire American League, becoming formidable championship contenders!"
"Having discussed the on-field aspects, let's talk about other things—Lin, Texas has no state personal income tax, meaning under the same contract, your actual income will far exceed what's possible from teams in California or New York, which amounts to substantial wealth."
"Texas is known as a sports-crazed state, where fans are virtually born for sports, with each of your strikeouts and hits inciting seismic cheers at Choctaw Stadium; the dry climate and stadium structure particularly suit left-handed hitters like you."
"The Rangers are just one step away from a championship, and you are the legendary piece to lead us beyond the final step! Let us complete that unfinished business together, write our championship chapter in Texas, and make the people of Texas cheer for us!"
