The Pittsburgh Pirates’ front office has been on a heater this offseason. General manager Ben Cherington has been a man of action, and you love to see it. Pittsburgh has made multiple impact moves, including an awesome deal on December 19 that landed them Brandon Lowe, Mason Montgomery, and Jake Mangum. Three days later, Cherington got back on the horse, signing slugger Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million contract.

What is there to say, other than that Cherington and Pittsburgh’s brass is getting the job done? The most exciting development in all of this is that Cherington and Co. might not be done. The Athletic’s MLB insider Ken Rosenthal made a juicy prediction for the Pirates on Tuesday in the wake of the O’Hearn news.

Ken Rosenthal suggests that Pirates have a good chance to land Kazuma Okamoto

“I think it might come from the Pirates, or some other team that isn’t necessarily on anyone’s radar, much like the White Sox weren’t.”@Ken_Rosenthal expects Kazuma Okamoto to do better than Munetaka Murakami’s 2-year, $34M deal. pic.twitter.com/adVbCH22Fm

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 23, 2025

Appearing on Foul Territory, Rosenthal indicated that the Pirates could be the team to land Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto to bolster their offense even further.

“We’ve heard about the Pirates’ interest (in Okamoto) from the start of the offseason,” Rosenthal said. He then asserted that the Pirates might be of greater interest to a free agent like Okamoto than they were in November. “Pittsburgh is a little bit more enticing (after their moves) … they’ve got some things happening.”

No one can doubt the talent in Pittsburgh’s rotation, but now, the Pirates have begun to assemble an offense to complement that staff. Adding bats like O’Hearn, Lowe, and Mangum to a lineup already featuring Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz is something for Pirates fans to be genuinely hopeful about. Cherington also acquired star prospect and powerful bat Jhostynxon Garcia in the Johan Oviedo-Boston Red Sox deal.

The Pirates are very solid on paper right now. A lot of fans around MLB poked fun at Pittsburgh for submitting a ceremonial offer to Kyle Schwarber earlier in the offseason, but no one’s laughing at the Pirates now, as they’ve backed up their symbolic moves with tangible ones.

Reeling in Okamoto would be a masterful final touch on the offseason for Cherington, but he’s already done enough to give manager Don Kelly plenty of new pieces to work with in 2026. Okamoto’s deadline to sign with an MLB club is Jan. 4, so we’ll have an answer on him soon. Rosenthal predicted that Okamoto will garner a better deal than Munetaka Murakami’s two-year, $34 million contract with the Chicago White Sox.