{"id":386312,"date":"2026-01-03T20:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386312\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T20:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T20:52:04","slug":"blue-jays-projected-lineup-for-2026-after-60-million-kazuma-okamoto-signing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/386312\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays projected lineup for 2026 after $60 million Kazuma Okamoto signing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> made their first big offseason move to improve the lineup for the 2026 season, signing Kazuma Okamoto<\/a> to a four-year, $60 million deal.<\/p>\n

Okamoto’s addition to the lineup might not be the last, as Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger, or another top free agent might come to Toronto this winter to join a World Series hopeful.<\/p>\n

But, for now, the Blue Jays’ lineup after adding Okamoto is still very strong. The team’s projected lineup for 2026 is an exciting one, even with Bichette still unsigned, and a spot open for further upgrades.<\/p>\n

Blue Jays’ projected lineup for 2026 after Kazuma Okamoto’s $60M deal is strong<\/p>\n

A projected lineup for 2026 could look something like this:<\/p>\n

1. George Springer, DH
2. Daulton Varsho, CF
3. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., 1B
4. Addison Barger, RF
5. Alejandro Kirk, C
6. Anthony Santander, LF
7. Kazuma Okamoto, 3B
8. Ernie Clement, 2B
9. Andrew Gimenez, SS<\/p>\n

That lineup is subject to change. If someone like Tucker is signed to the roster, then he could slide into the second spot in the lineup, while Varsho slides down a bit, and the rest of the order is altered.<\/p>\n

But, even if nothing else changes, this lineup still has what it takes to be among the best in the Major Leagues in 2026.<\/p>\n

This lineup was mostly the same in 2025, with the main difference from now being the lack of Bichette and the addition of Okamoto.<\/p>\n

More:\u00a0Blue Jays signing pitcher who beat Hodgkin lymphoma is the best story you’ll read today<\/a><\/p>\n

While there is some unknown’s with Okamoto, his .992 OPS in 77 games during a shortened 2025 season was very impressive, and should be a slugger worth being excited about.<\/p>\n

Having such a hitter in the bottom third of the lineup is a sign that the lineup ahead of him is incredible. Someone could drop down behind Okamoto if the left-handed slugger starts the year off strong.<\/p>\n

Regardless of how it works out, the current Blue Jays lineup is a great one. But what makes this such an exciting time is that this projected lineup for 2026 might be getting even better in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

Add a Tucker, Bellinger, or even Bichette to this lineup, and the Blue Jays could go from having one of the best to arguably the best lineups in all of Major League Baseball next season.<\/p>\n

More Blue Jays News:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Toronto Blue Jays made their first big offseason move to improve the lineup for the 2026 season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-386312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}