Nez Balelo feels’ very, really bad’ for the Blue Jays and Canada as a result of false Shohei Ohtani reports.
The Blue Jays were widely expected to make a late run in the sweepstakes. Ohtani visited their Spring Training facilities in Dunedin, Florida, and was rumored to be on his way to sign with the Blue Jays on December 8.
Those allegations turned out to be untrue, leaving Ohtani’s agent, Nez Balelo, citing Bob Nightengale of USA Today, flabbergasted and empathizing with the Blue Jays and Canada for getting their hopes up due to the misinformation:
“I felt really, really bad for the country of Canada,” he added. “And I felt terrible for the Toronto Blue Jays organization.” They are wonderful individuals. What they had to go through, as well as the anguish, was not right. I felt so horrible for them all that they had to go through that because it was such an emotional roller coaster to think they had him and then discover they didn’t. That was some of the most rash reporting I’ve ever seen in this game.”
Ohtani said during his first news conference at Dodger Stadium that his free agency decision was not determined until the evening of December 8. Furthermore, signing with the Dodgers rather than the Blue Jays lends validity to the preliminary reports being incorrect.
The following morning, Ohtani notified Balelo of his decision, and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman received word from the agent just before the announcement was made on Instagram.
“I was at my son’s soccer game at the time.” I thought there was a chance it may happen on Saturday, so I was on a Zoom call with a free agency athlete and said, ‘Hey, this is a phone call. I had to leave.’ “The Zoom call was winding down, but I abruptly disconnected,” Friedman explained. “I was walking out to the field and answered, I don’t even remember what Nez said other than Shohei was going to be a Dodger and it would be announced soon on Instagram.” Throughout, he had mentioned how essential it was to Shohei to reveal it in this manner.
“It was part of what contributed to the emotional rollercoaster on Friday, because when people said, ‘The Dodgers are out,’ we knew that wasn’t true because we knew we wouldn’t know until it happened on Instagram.” “So to get that call was incredible, and then making the phone call to our guys who had put so much time and energy into it, was awesome.”
Shohei Ohtani’s covert free agency is explained by Nez Balelo.
Balelo and Ohtani were chastised for their covert approach to free agency, but neither was deterred. “Everything was well thought out and strategic, because we didn’t want to create interference and distractions to what we were trying to accomplish.” “That was extremely important,” Balelo remarked.
“I know there were some things written about the approach we were taking and being secretive, quiet, and all that, I tried to avoid it.” We did it for a reason, since we felt that was the greatest way to achieve the best results. So, once again, thank you to everyone, and we appreciate the majority of you who were respectful of it.
“It was just something that had to be done.” It’s also a gentle apology, because I know you all have jobs to do, and I know you were trying to report things, and the people you report to were wondering, ‘Where’s the information?’ It wasn’t coming from me, it wasn’t coming from Shohei, and it wasn’t coming from Ippei.
“I understand it put all of you in a difficult position, but I appreciate and respect the fact that you allowed us to do what we needed to do, and you allowed me to do my job.” Many of you have dealt with me over the years. This is how I conduct my business. “This is how it’s always been. This is nothing new. Again, it’s just how we do things. It’s my culture, the way we do things at my agency, and just who I am. As a result, thank you.”