The “extraordinary toughness” of the strongest “hard-arm agent” in the Majors who won a “contract exceeding Shohei Ohtani’s”.

On a year-to-year basis, Otani is the better player. ……

Last season, Shohei Ohtani (30) hit .310 with 54 home runs, 130 runs batted in, an OPS of 1.036, and 59 stolen bases, going 50-50 in home runs and stolen bases. As a hitter, he had an unparalleled record. He also won the World Series with the Yankees and was a contributor to that success. His performance was worthy of, or even more than worthy of, the record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract he signed with the Dodgers, and it was almost too good to be true.

But last December, the news rattled Ohtani fans. The contract signed by Yankees FA outfielder Juan Soto (26) with the Mets was a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million (¥118 billion) deal. Fans who had been so proud of Ohtani must have felt a bit disconcerted.

Our reporter, who agrees with these sentiments, asked Nachi Tomonari, a sportswriter with extensive knowledge of the Major Leagues, about the situation. Soto has done well, but I don’t think his contract is better than Otani’s. ……

First of all, Soto’s contract is for 15 years, so if you divide it by the number of years he’s under contract, Otani’s contract is more expensive, and Soto is not necessarily a better player than Otani. Soto’s contract is somewhat excessive.

The WAR metric is used to measure a player’s ability, and Ohtani had a 10.1 WAR in the ’23 season before signing with the Dodgers, while Soto’s 7.9 WAR in ’24 is a great number, but not as good as Ohtani’s. I owe that contract to my terrific agent, Scott Boras (72). If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have gotten that contract.”

In 2024, Ohtani played DH and had no defensive opportunities, so his WAR was not as good as Soto’s, but he still outperformed him with 9.2.

What kind of person is Scott Boras, the agent who helped Soto get a contract that exceeded Otani’s?

Some teams are “boras ng.”

Mr. Tomonari continues.

He is well known as a strong agent. If you become his client, it is said that the contract fee will increase by 30 to 50%. Among Japanese players, Yusei Kikuchi (33) and Masanao Yoshida (31) both won contracts that far exceeded their expectations, thanks to Boras. Boras pushes hard and aggressively against the baseball team.

He would usually negotiate with the team’s GM, but at times he would say, “Let me talk to the owner directly! He would set the price high and then stubbornly refuse to lower it. Even if they cannot agree on the amount, they often try to keep the contract open for long-term negotiations (……). They don’t back down even at the last minute. If they can’t seem to reach a deal, they will not lower the price, even if it means letting the player play for another team for a year. If they get results in that one year, they will put the player on the FA market the following year and try to sign him to a long-term contract again.

It’s a tough deal for the team, but is it reassuring for the player who signs with the agent?

‘It’s a tough opponent for the ballclubs, and they sure don’t like it. This offseason, half of the top 10 FA players were represented by Boras, which is too many to say so, but in the past, there were two or three teams that said, “We will not sign a player who has Boras as his agent.

From the players’ point of view, there were some players who suddenly changed their agents from Boras to someone else before camp because they didn’t like the fact that Boras was bringing in long-term negotiations with them.

It was a real game-changer. He seems to be a tough negotiator. He must have won some very expensive contracts in the past.

In the 2000s, he signed a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Rangers for Alex Rodriguez (49). In the 2000s, the Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez (49) to a 10-year, $252 million contract. This was a deal that was unheard of at the time and would not be overtaken for some time. After that, it was “Boras will get the highest contract.

After Ohtani signed a record-breaking contract with another agent, Boras was so aware that he said, “I will sign a contract worth more than 700 million! He was so aware of this that he said, “I will sign a contract in excess of 700 million myself! There are other big-name agents, but Boras is the only one who has experience in the minors and specializes only in the majors. He has a lot of pride.”

But is it possible to achieve results through mere grueling negotiations? Isn’t that where strategy, planning, and other aspects come into play?

As for Soto, he went from the Nationals to the Padres, then to the Yankees, and now to the Mets. In that context, I think Boras must have had a plan for the move from the Padres to the Yankees. Yankee Stadium has a narrow right field, which is advantageous for a left-handed long-range gun; in order to get a big FA contract, you have to get results, so I think it was a stepping stone in anticipation of that.”

In the ’25 season, I hope that Ohtani will delight fans by showing his greatness in actual play that will overwhelm other major leaguers.