Juan Soto's agent attempted to sign Shohei Ohtani numerous times: Reports

Scott Boras has established himself as the top baseball agent after negotiating contracts on behalf of a number of high-profile superstars, including Juan Soto. However, one big name missing from his elite list of clients is Shohei Ohtani.

In 2017, when Shohei Ohtani made the switch from Japan he picked Nez Balelo as his agent for his track record with former Japanese clients including Norichika Aoki. Balelo, also part of the Creative Arts Agency, the group Boras is attached to, helped Ohtani negotiate his initial six years deal with Los Angeles Angels and then the mammoth $700 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2023-24 offseason.

Just a year later, Boras would successfully eclipse that with the $765 million deal for Juan Soto with the New York Mets. But in an interview with Bloomberg, Boras revealed that having big names on his list didn't stop him from trying to acquire Ohtani's agent contract.

"Ohtani isn’t one of Boras’ clients, though not for lack of trying. Before Ohtani came to the US in 2018, Boras flew to Japan five times and met his parents in an effort to land him, only to lose out to CAA’s Nez Balelo," it was reported in the article.

Shohei Ohtani is known to keep his private life to himself, and that probably factored in while picking Balelo over Boras. As a big name in the industry, Boras would surely have a lot of media attention surrounding him when Ohtani came to the States.

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Scott Boras reveals negotiating tactics while securing Juan Soto higher pay than Shohei Ohtani

Teams who were persistent on signing Juan Soto took the $700 million benchmark set by the Ohtani deal as a tactic. They knew the number was for a unique two-in-one player through whom the Dodgers were getting a hitter and a pitcher.

But to get Juan Soto's prize, Boras had to explain the yardsticks with how they were looking at his free agency and how it was different from Ohtani's.

“We have a different algorithm and a different method of evaluating players because it includes so much about who they are, their learning aptitude and their psychology,” Boras told Bloomberg.

In addition to this, Boras would reportedly have Juan Soto give his account and a play-by-play of his at bat against the Cleveland Guardians in last year's playoffs to any suitors. This was to allow them to learn more about Soto and why he was deserving of the mega money deal.

Both Ohtani and Soto have set the standard for how high numbers can go in the world of baseball when it comes to contracts. It will be worth seeing how their contracts turn out and how celebrated Balelo and Boras become as superagents.