Nightengale: Blue Jays Prefer To Use Okamoto as Superutility Player

[Leo Morgenstern]

The Blue Jays will introduce Kazuma Okamoto at a press conference today at 1:00 pm ET. Joining Toronto's new free agent signing will be his agent, Scott Boras, and Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins.

One topic that's likely to come up at the presser is Okamoto's position. He was primarily a third baseman in NPB but also has experience at first base and in the outfield. Opinions about his skills at the hot corner range, with some evaluators believing he'll be just fine at the position in MLB and others suggesting he really belongs at the cold corner instead. As for his outfield defense, one source told The Athletic's Will Sammon that Okamoto "could be helpful in the outfield, given the right situation with limited ground to cover."

On Monday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote about Okamoto and the Blue Jays. He mentioned that the Jays "still want to add another power hitter" and that they "remain fully engaged in talks" with top free agents Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette, and Alex Bregman. That lines up with additional reporting that suggests the Blue Jays aren't necessarily done making moves.

Nightengale also threw in an interesting new nugget. "Their preference," he writes. "Is to make Okamoto a superutility player."

It makes sense that the Blue Jays wouldn't want to lock Okamoto into one position. After all, they have two other capable third basemen, Addison Barger and Ernie Clement; a full-time first baseman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; and several options for the corner outfield, including Barger, Anthony Santander, Nathan Lukes, and George Springer. Being ready to play numerous positions will help Okamoto get as many at-bats as possible, and more lineup flexibility is never a bad thing from a team perspective, either. 

The question, however, is whether or not Okamoto is a strong enough defender to be able to handle such a role. Evidently, the Blue Jays think so. Either that, or they liked his bat (and his price) too much to pass up on him, and they're going to find a way to make things work defensively. 

Featured image courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images.

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[Spanky__99]

Bob's throwing s*** at a wall again, Captain clickbait FTW!!!

[Terry Mesmer]

5 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

Bob's throwing s*** at a wall again, Captain clickbait FTW!!!

Agree. No one he can know their "preference."

[G-Snarls]

The good thing is we still have Clement and Barger so they can try all kinds of things out in spring training

[G-Snarls]

You don't sign super utility players for 4 years

[Stangstag]

On 1/6/2026 at 12:47 PM, G-Snarls said:

You don't sign super utility players for 4 years

Ben Zobrist

[mphenhef]

On 1/6/2026 at 1:47 PM, G-Snarls said:

You don't sign super utility players for 4 years

The Jays might.  It's kind of turned into their identity and they pulled it off very well last year.

[Laika]

"super utility" semantics abound

they are paying him to be an every day player, that's all the matters. 

There are "super utility" players like Zobrist who are super because they can play multiple valuable positions and play every day. And then there are "super utility" players like Mauricio Dubon who are super because they can play every f***ing position. 

Okamoto will be neither of those, Nightengale is a dork, what he probably means is Toronto might move Okamoto around between 3B/1B/LF/DH. That's not a super utility player, lol. That's JD Davis. That's a corner bat with an undetermined defensive home. 

[max silver]

10 hours ago, Stangstag said:

Ben Zobrist

He was essentially 1 of 1 and a bit of a unicorn.

[G-Snarls]

54 minutes ago, Laika said:

"corner bat with an undetermined defensive home."

That's exactly right 

[Spanky__99]

6 hours ago, Laika said:

"super utility" semantics abound

they are paying him to be an every day player, that's all the matters. 

There are "super utility" players like Zobrist who are super because they can play multiple valuable positions and play every day. And then there are "super utility" players like Mauricio Dubon who are super because they can play every f***ing position. 

Okamoto will be neither of those, Nightengale is a dork, what he probably means is Toronto might move Okamoto around between 3B/1B/LF/DH. That's not a super utility player, lol. That's JD Davis. That's a corner bat with an undetermined defensive home. 

He's such a Boob, lol.

[Terminator]

Nightengales' definition of a "super utility player" is someone who plays 3B 90 percent of the time, gives the star 1B a day off once or twice a year, and then literally stands in LF for a couple of games. Oh and don't forget, he adds to versatility by playing DH once in a while. 

 

[JaysForever]

The two Japan League MVPs are interesting candidates for next year's free agency.

Sato is a 3B so I assume the Jays are out of that competition with Okamato signed. He looks better than Okamato (especially defensively) and can probably play outfield reasonably well.

The Cuban starting pitcher is impossible unless he wants to only play home games in Canada. 😄