Toronto Blue Jays announce important press conference for Tuesday afternoon

Toronto is set to introduce Okamoto on Tuesday, finally putting a face, a voice, and a jersey to the biggest position-player move of its winter.

Reports peg the agreement at four years and $60 million, and the paperwork had to beat Sunday's posting deadline to keep him from returning to the Yomiuri Giants.

Okamoto, 29, arrives as a middle-of-the-order bat with a .277 career average, 248 home runs, and 717 RBIs over 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball.

Even in an injury-shortened 2025, he still mashed, slashing .327/.416/.598 with 15 homers and 49 RBIs in only 69 games.

Because he came over via the posting system, Toronto will also owe Yomiuri a release fee tied to the contract value, reported at $10.875 million.

The infield fit is the fun part, and the awkward part, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. locked in at first and a mix of Ernie Clement and Addison Barger already taking turns at third for a club that fell two outs short in 2025.

Tuesday's availability should help clear up the basics, where the club sees him defensively, how quickly he can get comfortable in camp, and what kind of approach he's bringing against MLB velocity.

Okamoto led the Central League in home runs in 2020, 2021, and 2023 for Yomiuri.
From 2018 through 2023, he cleared 30 homers every year.

If Okamoto can hold down third base even passably, John Schneider gets to keep the lineup without playing musical chairs every night.

Once the photos are snapped and the first questions are answered, the next milestone is simple, watching Kazuma Okamoto take his first spring swings in Dunedin and hearing how loud that contact really is.

Source: Sportsnet
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