I expected Okamoto to get more money. $15 million a year seems pretty team-friendly.
We’ll put up a poll a little later, but figured he’d be getting $20 million per, but Ben Clemens thought he’d get 4 years
at $18 million, so we got the under.
Clemens said:
Okamoto isn’t the same kind of shooting star talent as Munetaka Murakami, but he’s been the better hitter of the two corner infielders over the last three years. He hits for power and average, rarely strikes out, and consistently posts double-digit walk rates to boot. If you enjoyed the Blue Jays this October, he’s their kind of hitter; he puts the ball in the air plenty and with authority, but his true standout skill is doing that without piling up strikeouts. As Eric noted in his scouting report, Okamoto has also improved against high velocity fastballs in the past few years, which is a key point of failure for NPB hitters.
Still, let’s not get too crazy here. We’re not necessarily talking about Alejandro Kirk as a third baseman; I expect that Okamoto will strike out far more in the majors than he did in Japan, and he’s up there looking to do damage, not slap one the other way. His game is doubles over dingers, but it’s a ton of both. It might also be more first base than third, which I baked into my estimation. I have him down as a solid hitter (though not an overwhelmingly good one) who’s without an obvious defensive home. I think that will land him a four-year deal with some fancy bells and whistles for both him and the club that signs him. I have legitimately no clue which bells and whistles – but luckily, that’s outside of the scope of this exercise.
Keith Law didn’t mention him.
In the Athletic, in their story about the signing, they had this:
“I think it’s going to be power over hit,” an NL scout said. “I think there’s more hitability than Murakami. Slightly better defense. But again, it’s going to have to be first over third in the big leagues. And that profile, he’s just really, really going to have to bang.”
