{"id":333662,"date":"2025-12-06T16:08:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:08:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/333662\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T16:08:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T16:08:08","slug":"blue-jays-interested-in-kazuma-okamoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/333662\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays Interested In Kazuma Okamoto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kazuma Okamoto<\/a>\u2019s posting window closes in four weeks\u2019 time, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post<\/a> writes that the six-time NPB All-Star is getting \u201cbig interest\u201d from Major League teams.\u00a0 The Pirates and Red Sox have already been linked to Okamoto\u2019s market, and Heyman reports that the Blue Jays are also showing interest.<\/p>\n

Okamoto was mostly a third baseman during his time with the Yomiuri Giants,\u00a0but he also logged a good deal of time as a first baseman and corner outfielder.\u00a0 While he wouldn\u2019t get much time at first base in Toronto due to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.<\/a>\u2019s presence, Okamoto\u2019s defensive utility undoubtedly has some appeal to a Blue Jays team that likes to mix and match around its lineup.\u00a0 Third base would probably be Okamoto\u2019s primary position in Toronto, yet his ability to also work in the corner outfield could make him something of a right-handed hitting version of Addison Barger<\/a>, who is expected to continue operating as a third baseman\/right fielder depending on what other winter moves the Jays end up completing.<\/p>\n

Bo Bichette<\/a> naturally looms as the biggest question mark hanging over the Blue Jays\u2019 infield, as Toronto remains engaged with the former All-Star about a reunion.\u00a0 If Bichette re-signs, it might make the infield a little too crowded for Okamoto as well, since that would have the ripple effect of pushing Barger into more or less everyday outfield duty, and leave little playing time for the likes of Ernie Clement<\/a> or Nathan Lukes<\/a>.\u00a0 Likewise, if the Jays were to sign another prime offseason target<\/a> like Kyle Tucker<\/a>, that pushes Barger into more of a third base role, making Okamoto then redundant.<\/p>\n

Trades could alter the roster situation, of course, but whatever team signs Okamoto would surely have designs on him as more than just a part-time player.\u00a0 MLB Trade Rumors ranked Okamoto 19th on our list of the offseason\u2019s top 50 free agents<\/a>, and projected a four-year, $64MM deal for the 29-year-old.\u00a0 This contract doesn\u2019t factor in the posting fee a big league team would also owe to the Giants, which hinges on the size of Okamoto\u2019s deal \u2014 a $64MM contract would translate to an $11.5MM posting free, for instance.<\/p>\n

Okamoto has 248 home runs and an outstanding .277\/.361\/.521 slash line over his career in Japan, though there are always questions about how exactly hitters will adjust in the move from NPB to MLB.\u00a0 In Okamoto\u2019s case in particular, Fangraphs\u2019 Eric Longenhagen<\/a> raised some concerns over how the infielder will adjust to the higher velocities of big league pitching, as Okamoto has been inconsistent against pitches over 94mph.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays are broadly an \u201cin on everyone\u201d team that at least checks in on pretty much every available free agent or trade target every winter.\u00a0 It could be that their interest in Okamoto is an extension of his due diligence, since Okamoto wouldn\u2019t be as clean a fit on Toronto\u2019s roster as other winter targets.<\/p>\n

That said, the Jays have already added Dylan Cease<\/a> and Cody Ponce<\/a> to the rotation, and their continued explorations into other big-ticket names indicates that Toronto is prepared to be even more aggressive after coming so close to a World Series title in 2025.\u00a0 The Blue Jays also have a longstanding interest<\/a> in trying to establish themselves amongst Japanese players and fans, which has involved failed pursuits of Yoshinobu Yamamoto<\/a> and Roki Sasaki<\/a> in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kazuma Okamoto\u2019s posting window closes in four weeks\u2019 time, and Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333663,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[133757,363,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-333662","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-kazuma-okamoto","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}