After Zhang Zhe submitted his professional baseball volunteer application, the SoftBank Hawks immediately announced a candidate to the media, saying that they would name Zhang Zhe in the first round of the draft.

As soon as the news came out, there was heated discussion from all sides.

The SoftBank Hawks' home stadium is located in Fukuoka Prefecture on Kyushu Island. They are known in the Japanese baseball world for their financial abundance and excellent training. They currently have the highest winning percentage in the league and are expected to win the league championship.

As early as more than two years ago, SoftBank Eagles scouts began to pay attention to Zhang Zhe during a county conference game and continued to submit scouting reports.

Therefore, the SoftBank Hawks are very optimistic about Zhang Zhe's potential and intend to sign him as the successor to the team's main catcher Takuya Kai.

The nominees are confidential to each club and are usually not announced in advance.

Once the first-named candidate is announced in advance, it will inevitably attract the attention of other teams.

The pre-draft battle begins.

The SoftBank Hawks announced their first-choice pick Zhang Zhe in advance, faintly sending a signal to other teams that they hope to avoid competition.

If two or more teams participate in the competition, the negotiation rights may be determined by drawing lots.

Luck plays a huge part in the results of the lottery.

Instead of focusing on the No. 1 favorite to try to get lucky, it is better to take advantage of the opportunity and choose the second or third favorite.

In order not to be used as the denominator for others, some teams often choose to find another way to fish for the secondary favorites alone, which is also a sensible strategy.

The first round of every Nippon Professional Baseball draft is exciting and interesting, with dramas such as vision, luck, strategy, etc. happening one after another.

Of course, most Japanese professional baseball teams are rational. Except for the big draft picks that the entire world is looking forward to, it is not common to get together and compete. When three or four teams name popular candidates at the same time, the competition is already fierce.

After the SoftBank Hawks win the license, other teams will have to consider carefully whether to join the luck-betting war.

Zhang Zhe, who is at the center of the topic, is living a leisurely life as a junior in high school.

Two subsequent pieces of news once again added fuel to the discussion.

"Hanshin Tiger One Finger Announced - Koshien winning catcher Zhang Zhe!"

"The Yomiuri Giants are announced - Contestant Zhang Zhe, the main player of Mie Hakusan High School!"

Currently, the top two teams in the Central League have announced in advance that Zhang Zhe will be the first choice.

Three football teams have clearly joined the competition for the right to negotiate Zhang Zhe's contract.

Fans took the lead in opening up a battlefield among themselves, and debates raged on the Internet.

[SoftBank Eagles Fans]: We were obviously the first to arrive, the first to discover, and the first to announce in advance. Moreover, the players also belong to our Eagles. We have been running in both directions for you to step in? Well, don’t take the blame. Damn it, lowering the lottery probability is not good for everyone.

[Hanshin Tigers Fans]: Huh? You are the ones here to be the denominator. Our Director Yano is very lucky! Besides, player Zhang Zhe seems to like our Koshien Stadium very much. He breaks a lot of records every time he comes here. I think He is my tiger's destined son.

[Yomiuri Giants fans]: Kansai people are so funny, they even talk about the stadium. Our stadium, Tokyo Dome, is a hundred times better than the sun-drenched Koshien.

[Melon-eating fans]: Let’s make a noise!!! Let’s make a noise!!!

The period before the draft meeting is destined not to lead to peaceful coexistence between the team and the fans.

Seeing that the situation is intensifying, some teams have chosen to settle for the next best thing, and the draft goal has changed to supplementing immediate players according to the needs of the team's lineup.

Such as Hiroshima Carp and Hokkaido Ham Fighters.

The two football teams unanimously declined to comment on whether they chose to name Zhang Zhe.

The two teams had their own difficulties and kept their thoughts to themselves.

"There are risks in cultivating Koshien star players, so you need to be cautious whether to sign them."

The Koshien star players they spent a lot of effort to sign a few years ago have yet to be developed.

Hiroshima Carp and Hokkaido Ham Fighters hinted to the media that their first-named candidates will consider bringing in immediate combat capabilities.

Other teams put up smoke screens and allowed all media to speculate.

However, according to relevant sources, Zhang Zhe's profile appears in almost all the recommended lists by the scouting departments of those teams, and they are all ranked very high.

Part of the file contents leaked from the Internet.

【Name】: Zhang Zhe

【Height】:185 cm

【Weight】:83kg

[Pitching]: Right-throwing and right-hitting

【School】: Hakusan High School (Mie)

[Main Achievements]: 2019 Ha League winning catcher, 5 consecutive home run records, 102 home runs in high school.

【Evaluation】:S level

In the Japanese baseball industry's evaluation system for draft players, the grades are divided into ABC three levels and "+" and "-" subdivisions, while the S level indicates that the player is a special player and deserves to win the right to negotiate for signings.

Clearly many teams are weighing the pros and cons.

Should we settle for the next best thing, or join the drawing competition?

Before the 2020 Japan Professional Baseball Draft, the management and scouting departments of each team were busy, holding meetings one after another.

Not only the important first nominees need to be determined, alternative plans, the list of high-ranking nominees, the list of cultivated nominees, etc., all the intricate work needs to be completed before October 26.

…

During this period, Zhang Zhe was doing independent training step by step.

In a corner of the Hakusan High School baseball field, Zhang Zhe was playing with Kazuya Nishino.

Kazuya Nishino tossed the ball and asked: "Zhe, it seems like you don't care much about the draft news?"

"What's the point of caring?"

Zhang Zhe hit the baseball that was thrown in front of him.

"If I could choose, I would like to enter professional baseball quietly."

"That's right," said Kazuya Nishino. "Anyway, the league has stipulated the upper and lower limits of the contract amount. No matter how many more names are named, the annual salary will not be increased in the first year. Instead, the media and fans will be watching the performance every day. The pressure is too much."

Although Nishino Kazuya does not plan to enter professional baseball, he is very concerned about Zhang Zhe's whereabouts. When he heard about it, he knew that he had checked a lot of Japanese professional baseball draft rules recently.

When the reverse nomination system existed in the past, there was vicious competition among various teams, and the contract amounts given to newcomers were larger than each other, which seriously disrupted the draft meeting system.

Later, the Nippon Professional Baseball League stipulated upper and lower limits for rookie contract amounts, and the current more reasonable draft system was formed.

"By the way, besides you, there are three other people from our Mie County participating in the draft this year. I wonder if they can be selected."

Kazuya Nishino read the list announced by Takano Company and found that his old rivals Tsuda Gakuen High School and Matsusaka Commercial High School also had candidates, so he paid special attention to it.

This year, more than 200 high school students participated in the Nippon Professional Baseball Draft.

According to previous years' results, only about one-third of people can be selected.

The cruelty of professional baseball has been on display from the beginning.

Some people are attracted by a huge number of suitors, while some people find it difficult to even get in.

Chapter 598: Great Soldiers and Great Things

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