Pirates' rumored free agent target reminiscent of team's former slugger

The Pittsburgh Pirates, who have yet to post a winning season in six chances under Ben Cherington, have made league-wide headlines after finally vocalizing an intention to invest some money in the major league team. There now seems to be immense pressure on the front office to build a winner around Paul Skenes, who is in his final season before arbitration eligibility.

The indications from both local and national media are that the Pirates intend to utilize both free agency and the trade market to add some bats to an offense that was MLB's worst in 2025. At the very least, the team needs to add a third baseman, an outfielder, and another hitter who can play one of first base, outfield, or slot in as the designated hitter.

The Pirates have been linked to an intriguing free agent option who checks off just about all of those boxes. Both ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal mentioned the Pirates as a possibility for Japanese slugger Kazuma Okamoto.

Okamoto isn't the top Japanese hitter making the jump to MLB this winter—that would be Munetaka Murakami, who is four years Okamoto's junior with otherworldly power (he homered 56 times in 2022 and slugged .659 in 2025 despite battling injuries). But with his expected price tag and immense swing-and-miss concerns, he's not a logical fit for Pittsburgh. Okamoto is a much safer option.

Okamoto, who turns 30 in June, is a right-handed hitter (which would represent a compromise for the Pirates, who, reportedly, are focused on adding left-handed bats), but otherwise is a great fit for the Bucs. He's been a consistent offensive force, sporting a 210 wRC+ in 2025, a 178 in his last three seasons, and a 150 over the past eight. All three of his triple slash marks in 2025 (.322/.411/.581) were career highs.

Many of his underlying peripherals suggest he's a very polished hitter, even for NPB standards. He posted an equal number of strikeouts and walks in 2025 (11.3%, an excellent mark in both categories), he swung at only 24.2% of pitches outside the strike zone (MLB average: 28.2%), and he made contact on 90.1% of swings on pitches in the strike zone (MLB average: 82.7%). All of those figures will likely regress some as he adjusts to MLB pitching, but those are all strong starting points for a hitter attempting to make that jump.

Primarily a third baseman, Okamoto has also played plenty of first base (54 games at third base and 28 games at first base in 2025) and has also sporadically played outfield throughout his career. He won NPB's version of the Gold Glove Award in 2021 and 2022, both as a full-time third baseman. He could seamlessly take over as the everyday third baseman or slide across the diamond to give Spencer Horwitz a day off against a tough lefty.

Okamoto would not represent the Pirates' first significant investment in an Asian hitter, as the team inked Korean shortstop Jung Ho Kang to a four-year deal in Jan. 2015. Kang got off to a great start to his MLB career, accumulating 6.6 bWAR with a 129 wRC+ in his first two seasons in Pittsburgh before legal issues back in Korea prevented him from returning to the United States until late in the 2018 season. He was never the same once he returned, so the Pirates didn't quite get their money's worth out of Kang's contract.

Kazuma Okamoto bears a strong on-field resemblance to former Pirates slugger Jung Ho Kang.

But Kang is proof that hitters (even right-handed hitters) can make the jump to Pittsburgh from overseas while maintaining significant offensive production. While Okamoto and Kang aren't exactly the same player (they are from different countries and thus played in different leagues, and Okamoto was two years older upon being posted), some of their pre-MLB numbers are remarkably similar:

Signing a player posted by a foreign team is a bit of an intricate process compared to that of a standard free agent. Players posted by an NPB club must sign within 45 days (Okamoto's window expires on Jan. 4), and the player's original team receives a posting fee from the player's new team (20% of the first $25 million, 17.5% of the next $25 million, and 15% of anything beyond $50 million). So any team hoping to sign one of these players must act with urgency while also being prepared to pay the posting fee on top of the player's salary.

This is where the similarities between Okamoto and Kang end. The posting fee system has changed since Kang was posted in 2015, and he was only guaranteed $11 million in his initial contract. Based on the contract projections published by MLB Trade Rumors, The Athletic, FanGraphs, and ESPN, an Okamoto deal would represent the most lucrative free-agent contract in Pirates history:

In an ideal world, Bryan Reynolds returns to form, Oneil Cruz hits like he did in the first half, Spencer Horwitz hits like he did in the second half, Konnor Griffin lives up to the No. 1 overall prospect hype, and the Pirates make other legitimate additions to the lineup. This would allow an unproven player like Okamoto to be a strong complementary piece (like Kang was for the 98-win Pirates in 2015) rather than having to live with the pressure of being "the guy." But even if Bob Nutting does open up the wallet a bit this winter, a player making that kind of money has to pan out.

Kazuma Okamoto could provide a significant boost to the Pirates' lineup for the remainder of the Paul Skenes window.

Okamoto boasts a superior offensive profile (in terms of bat-to-ball, power, and plate discipline), can play multiple positions of need (allowing the Pirates to keep their other options open), and has been linked to Pittsburgh by multiple insiders.

If the team is serious about building a competent offense, they are going to have to take some risks. Paying up for Okamoto would be a gamble, but he could wind up as a huge bargain and a key piece of the Pirates' next playoff team.