It’s been known for nearly a month now that NPB infielder Kazuma Okamoto is set to be posted by the Yomiuri Giants this winter, but a report from Nikkan Sports (Japanese language link) this morning provided a bit more specificity regarding Okamoto’s timeline. He’ll be officially posted tomorrow, on November 19th, and that will kick off a 45-day window for teams to negotiate with Okamoto, who is represented by Scott Boras of the Boras Corporation.
That’s the same posting date as right-hander Tatsuya Imai, a fellow Boras client. Boras told reporters (including those at Nikkan Sports) that the pair would follow the same approximate timeline. They’ll be posted tomorrow before traveling to the United States in early December. That sets them up to be in the country in time to begin negotiations with clubs ahead of this year’s Winter Meetings, which are set to run from December 7 through December 10 this year. The posting window for both Okamoto and Imai is set to end in early January, but it would not be a surprise to see the pair to sign before the holidays given the slowdown of activity around that time.
Turning back to Okamoto specifically, the 29-year-old is coming off a strong season in 2025 that was abbreviated by an elbow injury. While he only played in 69 games, he managed to slash .327/.416/.598 with 15 homers and 21 doubles in just 293 trips to the plate. He also showed strong contact ability and plate discipline with 11.3% strikeout and walk rates. That’s an unusually low strikeout rate by his standards, but even his 17.7% clip since the start of the 2018 season is nothing to scoff at. Impressive as Okamoto’s career .277/.361/.521 slash line in Central League play is, however, it’s worth remembering that NPB pitchers often lack the same high-end velocity that has become routine in MLB. Some scouting reports, including that of Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs, have noted that Okamoto’s numbers suffer against mid-90s and higher velocity. Of course, that’s also a flaw that can improve with great exposure to those types of pitches.
Okamoto has spent plenty of time at both infield corners over the years, and there’s been some debate about his fit defensively in the majors. He’s generally viewed as more capable of sticking long-term at the hot corner than fellow infielder Munetaka Murakami, though it’s fair to expect some teams to view him as capable of being a regular at third while others see him as more of a first base only defender. Alex Bregman and Pete Alonso stand at the top of the third and first base markets, respectively, with Eugenio Suarez, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Arraez standing out among the other notable corner infield options available.
MLBTR predicted a four-year, $64MM deal for Okamoto at the outset of the offseason, though it’s worth noting there’s at least some reason to believe Okamoto, Imai, and Murakami could all outperform expectations financially, at least to some extent. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that some MLB clubs are hoping to “avoid falling further behind” the Dodgers in the Japanese market, and that this sentiment could help the three top NPB talents coming over from Japan this winter secure better-than-expected deals.
The team that ultimately signs Okamoto will owe Yomiuri a posting fee on top of whatever they guarantee the infield. The posting fee works out to be 20% of the first $25MM Okamoto signs for, 17.5% of the contract’s next $25MM, and 15% of any money above the $50MM mark. If Okamoto were to sign for the $64MM guarantee MLBTR predicted he’ll land, the signing team would owe a posting fee of approximately $11.5MM, which would take the total financial outlay for Okamoto’s services to $75.5MM.
The Okama Gamesphere Dodgers are gonna be loaded in 2026.
Bro don’t you dare touch my Okama Gamesphere!
Don’t forget to bring a towel.
Isn’t it 17.5% for the 25m-50m bucket?
“The posting fee works out to be 20% of the first $25MM Okamoto signs for, 7.5% of the contract’s next $25MM, and 15% of any money above the $50MM mark.”
Start hitting him grounders and teaching him the pivot at second base!
He is a much better option for the Phillies than Murakami. They could use a foot in the Japanese door.
Exciting. I picked him to go to the Motor City Kitties. Yeah, I know, that’s wrong, but I had to find a different team other than Dodgers to mix things up.
Reds if they spent money.
Very interested to see where he lands.
Seattle is a good place. They replace Suarez and make some noise.
@halosheavenjj. He’s interested in the angels. It’s probably because it’s a path towards playing time. Although i believe both of the third baseman are projected to play 1st or DH. I guess schanuel’s backup til rendon gets hurt.
I’d absolutely love to have him on the Angels. It isn’t as if he’d be replacing gold glove defense at the hot corner anyway.
I’d love to see Cleveland get him. A doubtful proposition, they rarely spend on.FA and it’s not exactly a hotbed for Pacific Rim talent but based on great fits there are few better. He could play 1B 100 games, 3B for the 30-40 games a year Jose Ramirez moves to DH (it’s been a steady 30 lately but as he ages it’d probably grow a bit) and DH the remainder. It’s a team that emphasizes hit over power but it needs SOME power. And finally it’s a team loaded with LHH so a tough RHH one in the middle would really help. I like his chances better than Murakami, at least for the first few years.
I have a strong feeling that Okamoto San will be a Chicago Cub when all the dust settles…. The cubs have strong presence and the players that come to Chicago rave about how much they enjoyed the whole experience….. I also think Shots come back for 26….all the reports of players having issues hitting hi velo should not be taken lightly but these are professional hitters. if a pitcher throws 100mph gas with no movement the hitter will eventually get the timing down ….velo is great but movement is so much more important….like Greg Maddox said when he had 2 strikes instead of trying to throw harder on the fastball he would throw off speed with movement….That’s the way pitching should be taught vs max effort heaters till it’s Tommy John surgery time….will be exciting to watch what the winter meetings in couple weeks.
Is anyone having issues on the app? I wanted to edit my first post but I couldn’t get in to edit…. I was saying cubs have big presence in Japan and Yu Darvish told Seya and others how much he enjoyed being a cub the city the whole package …. And I think Shota not Shots will be back… I don’t think Shota was near 100% in 2nd half
Yeah but that’s HOF Maddux, most couldn’t count on the regularity of the slow stuff spinning the way he could make it go. In most big games I’d rather count on high velocity starters to get the job done best, some like Koufax or the version of Skubal I saw a month ago alternating 100 mph heat with 90 mph sliders and 80 mph curves, the near impossibility of squaring any of that up. As Maddux’s old teammate constantly reminds us on broadcasts, HOFer himself John Smoltz, it all works best off good well placed fastballs.
Pretty safe to say if Murakami can’t hit top level heat it should pose a big problem for him.
Phillies could solve a number of issues by signing both Munetaka Murakami & Kazuma Okamoto. Okamoto plays 3rd for a few years, Murakami goes to first and Harper back to OF. They could put Murakami at 3rd, play Okamoto in CF and keep Harper at first. All 3 could also rotate to DH position. Trade Bohm ans Stott, put Miller at SS and move Turner over to 2nd…easy peases
Would be a great signing for Seattle. He would have the inside track to 3rd base and would be nice to have a veteran to compete with Ben Williamson(who is defensively ready but his bat is behind).
None of these guys will live up to the hype, least of all Murakami. .242 19 HR 73 RBI and 212 k’s. Unless he can learn to hit a fastball over 92 mph. Yeah, I said it.