{"id":363089,"date":"2025-12-22T05:02:05","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T05:02:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/363089\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T05:02:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T05:02:05","slug":"latest-on-pirates-interest-in-kazuma-okamoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/363089\/","title":{"rendered":"Latest On Pirates’ Interest In Kazuma Okamoto"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was almost a month ago that the Pirates were first linked to Kazuma Okamoto<\/a>, as The Athletic\u2019s Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich<\/a> reported that Okamoto was one several free agent hitters the Buccos were \u201cconsidering.\u201d\u00a0 The club\u2019s interest has apparently continued, with a team source telling Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette<\/a> that Okamoto and the Pirates have engaged in \u201cmultiple virtual meetings.\u201d\u00a0 It isn\u2019t known if Okamoto is planning any in-person visits to Pittsburgh or any other cities before his 45-day posting window closes on January 4.<\/p>\n

In general, there haven\u2019t been a ton of details about Okamoto\u2019s efforts to arrive in Major League Baseball, apart from reports that the Red Sox and Blue Jays are involved in his market along with the Pirates.\u00a0 Boston may be a less likely suitor now that Willson Contreras<\/a> has been acquired<\/a> to play first base, and while Okamoto is primarily a third baseman, the Sox are known be pursuing Alex Bregman<\/a>.\u00a0 It is entirely possible Bregman will still be weighing his options by January 4, so the Red Sox might not want to make another signing in the interim that rules Bregman out.\u00a0 The Jays are in something of a similar situation as they consider re-signing Bo Bichette<\/a>, or potentially pivoting to another big bat like Kyle Tucker<\/a> or even Bregman.<\/p>\n

Any number of other suitors could be involved with Okamoto, of course.\u00a0 With over two weeks to go before the end of his posting window, there is plenty of time for other teams to emerge, plus any shifts in the Bregman\/Bichette\/Tucker markets could spur some more interest from the Red Sox or Blue Jays.\u00a0 As such, it\u2019s a reach to suggest that the Pirates are any sort of favorite for Okamoto, especially given their lack of history at attracting Japanese talent\u2026or prominent free agents in general.<\/p>\n

MLB Trade Rumors ranked Okamoto 19th on our list of the offseason\u2019s top 50 free agents<\/a>, and projected the infielder for a four-year, $64MM contract.\u00a0 That estimated price tag could represent the biggest obstacle to a deal between Okamoto and the Pirates, who have long been hesitant to spend on the open market.\u00a0 Francisco Liriano<\/a>\u2019s three-year, $39MM deal from the 2014-15 remains the largest free agent contract in Pittsburgh\u2019s history, though the team\u2019s actions this winter indicate that owner Robert Nutting may (finally) be more willing to open the checkbook.<\/p>\n

The Pirates were reportedly<\/a> willing to give Kyle Schwarber<\/a> a four-year deal in the range of $120MM-$125MM, and also had interest in Josh Naylor<\/a> before Naylor rather quickly exited the market by re-signing with the Mariners.\u00a0 The Bucs have also been linked to Ketel Marte<\/a> on the trade market, and the Diamondbacks second baseman carries a hefty price tag from the extension he signed with Arizona just last spring.<\/p>\n

To date, Pittsburgh has already added Brandon Lowe<\/a> as a very prominent lineup addition via the three-team trade with the Rays and Astros that also brought Jake Mangum<\/a> into the outfield mix. \u00a0Jhostynxon Garcia<\/a> also arrived in the \u2019Burgh via a five-player deal with the Red Sox.\u00a0 Those two trades saw the Pirates trade from their rotation depth by moving out Johan Oviedo<\/a> and Mike Burrows<\/a>, though GM Ben Cherington said<\/a> his team is still looking to land another \u201cproven bat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okamoto doesn\u2019t exactly fit this description, as the 29-year-old obviously has never seen any action in North American baseball.\u00a0 There have also been some question as to how Okamoto will be able to handle the higher velocity of MLB pitchers, and his defensive value as a third baseman is seen as solid if nothing special.\u00a0 This all said, Okamoto has been one of Japan\u2019s best hitters for years, with a career .277\/.361\/.521 slash line and 248 home runs over his 4494 plate appearances with the Yomiuri Giants.<\/p>\n

Signing Okamoto to a multi-year deal would provide some long-term lineup, as Lowe is slated for free agency next winter.\u00a0 Installing Okamoto at third base would leave Jared Triolo<\/a>, Nick Gonzales<\/a>, and Nick Yorke<\/a> battling for middle infield playing time (when Lowe is used at DH instead of second base), yet using this group in a part-time or bench capacity only deepens the roster.\u00a0 There is also the simple fact that none of the trio hit in 2025, so it is hard to imagine Okamoto wouldn\u2019t represent some kind of upgrade for a Pittsburgh team that badly needs more offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was almost a month ago that the Pirates were first linked to Kazuma Okamoto, as The Athletic\u2019s…\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-363089","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\/363089","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=363089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363089\/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=363089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=363089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=363089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}