Pirates Rumors: Multiple meetings prove Bucs are serious contenders for Japanese star

Pittsburgh Pirates fans have been trained to treat the word “considering” like it’s a coupon that expires the second you try to use it. So when the buzz around Kazuma Okamoto started up again — not just as a name on a wish list, but as a guy the team has reportedly met with multiple times — it finally feels like Pittsburgh is operating like a club that expects to win games in 2026, not just develop players for some undefined “later.” 

According to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Okamoto and the Pirates have held “multiple virtual meetings,” which is about as close as this franchise gets to hard evidence that they’re actually hunting a real bat. Okamoto’s posting window closes Jan. 4 at 5 p.m. ET, so this isn’t one of those Pirates flirtations that will continue to drift much longer just to die out quietly.

Multiple meetings with Kazuma Okamoto show Pirates mean business

There is a part that makes this all feel different: the Pirates have already acted. They went out and traded for Brandon Lowe, who is coming off of a 31 home run season. They also grabbed outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia in the Johan Oviedo deal, another clear sign they’re willing to spend from pitching strength to fix a position-player problem. 

And yet… if you watched the 2025 Pirates, you know why Lowe alone can’t be the end of it. This lineup didn’t just need “a bat.” It needed fear in their lineup — that moment when opposing pitchers stop attacking the zone because one mistake becomes a two-run swing. Okamoto also possesses that kind of reputation. Even in a season limited by an elbow injury, he popped 15 homers in 69 games and posted a loud .327/.416/.598 line. 

The fit may be the best part. Okamoto can handle first or third, and even if he’s mostly a 1B/DH type early on, that still reshapes the whole roster. Suddenly, you’re not asking every young infielder to be a middle-of-the-order savior. You’re letting them be role players, which is how good teams actually work.

Where this gets uncomfortable is that meetings are easy. Money isn’t. We all know at the his point that the Pirates’ biggest free-agent deal ever is still Francisco Liriano’s three-year pact from a decade ago, and signing Okamoto would require Pittsburgh to finally act like that history doesn’t define them. 

But if the Pirates want anyone to believe this winter is different — if they want PNC Park to feel like a place where big moments can happen again — this is the kind of swing they have to land.