![\"kazuma-okamoto-blue-jays-usatsi.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kazuma-okamoto-blue-jays-usatsi.jpg\")
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Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> have agreed to a contract with Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, reports ESPN<\/a>. The deal is for four years and $60 million, according to the New York Post<\/a>. Okamoto, 29, has spent the first 11 years of his professional career with Tokyo’s Yomiuri Giants in Nippon Professional Baseball, the top league in Japan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Okamoto’s posting window was set to close at 5 p.m. ET Sunday afternoon.\u00a0<\/p>\n In NPB, Okamoto was a six-time All-Star and led his league in home runs three times. Last season was injury-shortened. In his 69 games, he hit .327\/.416\/.598 with 15 home runs and 49 RBI. He has six 30+ home run seasons with a career high of 41 in 2023. He’s a career .274\/.355\/.501 hitter in NPB.\u00a0<\/p>\n Coming off the heels of their first AL pennant since 1993, the Blue Jays have been aggressive this offseason. They added starting pitchers Dylan Cease<\/a> and Cody Ponce<\/a> in addition to reliever Tyler Rogers<\/a>. Okamoto is their first major signing on the position player side.\u00a0<\/p>\n If the Jays indeed intend to keep Okamoto at third base, this move could close the door on free agent\u00a0Bo Bichette<\/a>, though it’s far from a certainty. Vladimir Guerrero Jr<\/a>. is obviously at first base, Okamoto slots at third and that leaves Andr\u00e9s Gim\u00e9nez for shortstop with Ernie Clement<\/a> at second. Addison Barger<\/a> can also play third base. Then again, it’s possible the Jays still bring Bichette back to play shortstop and put Gim\u00e9nez in a backup middle infielder role.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Blue Jays have also been mentioned as suitors for free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker<\/a>. If George Springer<\/a> sticks at designated hitter, the outfield options are Nathan Lukas, Daulton Varsho<\/a>, Anthony Santander<\/a>, Barger and Davis Schneider<\/a>. Schneider can also handle second base.\u00a0<\/p>\n What stands out more than anything is that the Blue Jays have plenty of depth and versatility. This puts them in a position where if they decide to spring for Bichette and\/or Tucker, it’s a nice help for the ballclub, but by no means is either player out of necessity.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, slot Okamoto as the Blue Jays’ everyday third baseman and figure that he bats somewhere 5-7 in the order.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagn Images The Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to a contract with Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto, reports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504454,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2302],"tags":[6081,383,5,377,88,54086,6599,854,13860,76,6130,350,311,2372,3685,29,4,2353,2352,70,948,93],"class_list":["post-504453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-npb","tag-addison-barger","tag-anthony-santander","tag-baseball","tag-blue-jays","tag-bo-bichette","tag-cody-ponce","tag-contract","tag-daulton-varsho","tag-davis-schneider","tag-dylan-cease","tag-ernie-clement","tag-free-agent","tag-george-springer","tag-japan","tag-kazuma-okamoto","tag-kyle-tucker","tag-mlb","tag-nippon-professional-baseball","tag-npb","tag-toronto-blue-jays","tag-tyler-rogers","tag-vladimir-guerrero-jr"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504453"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504453\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}