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Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto has reportedly reached an agreement with the Toronto Blue Jays, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
"BREAKING: Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a free agent contract, sources tell ESPN," Passan wrote on his X account.
Okamoto, 29, is coming off a season in which he hit .327/.416/.598 with 15 home runs in just 69 games for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan. The infielder was a six-time Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star, a three-time Central League home run leader, a two-time Central League RBI leader and a two-time Mitsui Golden Glove Award winner.
Okamoto is the second Japanese third baseman and third player to sign with an MLB team following Munetaka Murakami, who signed with the Chicago White Sox last month, and starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai, who signed with the Houston Astros on Thursday (January 1). Okamoto hit one more home run than Murakami since he entered Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league in 2018 and has a "much higher floor as a player," however, Murakami is more than three years younger and has higher "peaks in home run total" and "high-end exit velocities," according to Passan.