Kazuma Okamoto’s First Words as a Blue Jay Reveal Winning Mindset
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The Toronto Blue Jays have been incredibly aggressive this offseason as they look to improve their 2025 reserve world champion roster and fill the few gaps that ultimately kept them from taking home their first title in over 30 years.
Primarily, that has meant bolstering their pitching staff which includes the additions of strikeout machine Dylan Cease and one of the best closers in the game, Tyler Rogers. However, management wanted another bat and they found one in utility man Kazuma Okamoto.
Okamoto was highly sought after during free agency as he batted over .320 overseas in 2025 to complement a near .600 slugging percentage. But Toronto won the bidding war for more than just the $60M contract that they gave him.
Kazuma Okamoto opens, in English:
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) January 6, 2026
“Hello everyone, my name is Kazuma Okamoto. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I am very happy to join the Blue Jays. I will work hard every day and do my best for the team. Thank you for your support. Nice to meet you. Go Blue Jays,”
In Okamoto's official introduction to the team yesterday, he shared many insights as to what brought him to the ballclub, and it wasn't just about the fans, but that was a piece of it.
When he was watching the team in October, there was something obvious about the city of Toronto, and it was their love for the organization.
It also didn't come down to simply Okamoto's decision, but his daughter's. Per MLB insider Keegan Matheson the newest Blue Jay showed all 30 logos from each ballclub to her and it was theirs that she liked the best.
The rest is history.
Okamoto's press conference held so much emotion regarding his excitement to suit up for this team and his willingness to step into whatever role they needed him to. However, he also discussed his hopes to suit up for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic, but nothing has been finalized at this time.
The Blue Jays' 2026 roster isn't quite complete as they are still hoping to secure their homegrown hero, Bo Bichette, but with the addition of Okamoto, they are looking almost unbeatable.
Blue Jays New Infield With Okamoto
The piece to the puzzle that is still missing is obviously in terms of Bichette. If he comes back, then what happens? Ultimately, it should not be Ernie Clement that gets less time on the field, but Andrés Giménez after batting .210 on the year and .215 in the playoffs.
Defensively, Bichette could stay at shortstop with Okamoto taking over third base and Clement sliding over to second (clearly Guerrero Jr. will stay at first). After the postseason that Clement had and a .277 batting average in the regular season he has earned to stay in a starting role.
Only time will tell where Bichette is going to be suiting up next year, and if he departs, Okamoto is ready to help make up for the production that will be lost on offense.
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Maddy Dickens resides in Loveland, Colorado. She grew up with two older brothers, where their lives revolved around sports. She earned a master's degree in business management from Tarleton State University while simultaneously playing basketball and competing in rodeo at the collegiate level. She successfully parlayed a reserve national championship into a professional rodeo career and now stays involved in upper-level athletics by writing for On SI on several different MLB teams' pages, along with some NCAA sites.