Nightengale: Blue Jays Prefer To Use Okamoto as Superutility Player

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.