Blue Jays come out of nowhere to sign Japanese star in free agency splash

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to revamp their roster in their pursuit of a World Series championship. According to reports, Japanese star Kazuma Okamoto is heading north. The news comes just a few days after it was reported that the Blue Jays were on the short list of Okamoto suitors.

ESPN's Jeff Passan was the first to break the news. Okamoto becomes the first major batter added to the roster this offseason. The 29-year-old third baseman was widely regarded as the second best hitter to be posted from Japan this offseason, behind Munetaka Murakami - while others suggest he's actually the better all around player.

Blue Jays come out of nowhere to sign Japanese star in free agency splash

Throughout the offseason the Blue Jays had been linked to some of the domestic superstar players in Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman. There were also reports indicating that they had had some interest in a few of the names who were coming over from Japan, but their priority remained on mostly Tucker and Bichette.

That's all changed now as Okamoto joins a Blue Jays squad that has spent most of the offseason beefing up it's pitching staff, signing Dylan Cease to a $200 million+ deal, while also getting Cody Ponce, Shane Bieber to opt in, and Tyler Rogers to the bullpen. It's not as if the Blue Jays had been quiet, but they entered the offseason with a clear need to add a bat, and now they've done exactly that.

In this 11 seasons playing in Japan, Okamoto has compiled a .277/.355/.501 slash line with 277 home runs an OPS of .856 and 1372 hits in 1377 games. As mentioned, many circled Okamoto as the second best hitter behind Murakami, solely based on Murakami's power numbers. But Okamoto is no slouch when it comes to having pop in his bat. He had hit 27+ home runs every year between 2018 and 2024, topping out at 41 in 2023.

Okamoto is also a better defender according to reports. While he projects as being an average MLB third baseman, he can also play first and has logged some time in the outfield as well. The versatility and contact ability are likely two of the attributes that the Blue Jays coveted the most when scouting Okamoto.

While we're not sure yet what the contract numbers are and what this means for Toronto's pursuit of adding any other hitters this offseason, the Blue Jays continue to raise the floor of their current roster. They want that World Series championship and they are seemingly doing everything they can to grab it in 2026.