Japanese slugging corner infielder Kazuma Okamoto is available to MLB teams until January 4, at which time his posting period ends. Either he’s signed a contract by then, or he hasn’t, and that’s now less than two weeks away. I’d say things have to start heating up soon, but then again, we didn’t really hear much of anything on Munetaka Murakami until a few days before his posting concluded, and he ultimately signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the White Sox this weekend.
Jon Heyman talked about Kazuma Okamoto’s market on his latest Bleacher Report live stream, indicating that he believes six teams are in on Okamoto: the Angels, the Pirates, the Red Sox, the Blue Jays, the Diamondbacks, annnnnnd the Cubs. It didn’t sound entirely firm – there was some guesswork in there – but Heyman wasn’t speaking entirely off the cuff, either.
He noted the overlap there between the Okamoto interest and Alex Bregman interest, so he wondered whether there will be some urgency to get more clarity on what will happen with Bregman first. The problem, of course, is that Okamoto’s process comes with a hard deadline on January 4, and that may actually give an advantage to, for example, a team like the Pirates, who are not waiting on Bregman. Indeed, Heyman’s guess on where Okamoto would ultimately land was Pittsburgh, a possibility we discussed here yesterday.
Although he’s four years older than Munetaka Murakami, there’s a tentative expectation that Kazuma Okamoto might be able to beat that contract, given his theoretically better defense at third base (Murakami probably can’t play there in MLB), and the offensive floor created by his superior contact ability. Could be that Murakami is the better MLB hitter in a few years, but could be that Okamoto is the better MLB hitter in the meantime.
Interestingly, it kinda sounds like Seiya Suzuki’s deal with the Cubs was, in a roundabout way, a comp for Murakami and could be for Okamoto, too – specifically, the $17 million AAV. That’s what Murakami got (two years), and obviously is what Suzuki got (five years). Could Okamoto be targeting the same over three or four years? It’d be kinda weird to see him get more than Murakami, given their ages and relative star status in Japan, but when you think about the risks and the potential trajectories for productivity, it does make some sense. It’s also possible, of course, that Okamoto can’t actually get that same AAV. We know how hard it can be to project for players coming over from Japan.
As far as the Cubs go, you know the drill: signing a guy like Okamoto would be about the potential immediate offensive upgrade, and his ability to play third base. From there, you’d have Matt Shaw moving into something of a utility role for 2026 (and possibly taking over at second base in 2027 if Nico Hoerner departs in free agency, or going back to third if Okamoto doesn’t work out); or you would have the ability to include Shaw in a deal for a starting pitcher, if the fit was right. It’s not a move the Cubs have to make, as it’s entirely possible Shaw would take a step forward offensively in 2026, himself. But as we look around the rest of the roster, and consider the available position player market, there’s really not anywhere else that makes realistic sense for a near-term upgrade.
(For what it’s worth, Heyman said he believes the Cubs do ultimately make at least one big move before all is said and done, though his best guess would be Tatsuya Imai.)
And now a miscellaneous Kazuma Okamoto highlight, hitting a home run off of a totally randomly-selected pitcher:
【巨人?DeNA】5回裏?巨人 岡本和真選手本日2本目！第5号2ランホームラン！！─・─・─・─・─・─・─・─・─?ただいま日テレジータスで生中継!!?『GIANTS TV』でも配信中⚡️▶️ t.co/EgGhYu3mbO─・─・─・─・─・─・─・─・─ pic.twitter.com/ULk2fEmNcf
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