The Boston Red Sox have seen another option to fill their vacancy at the hot corner evaporate as Japanese star Kazuma Okamoto lands with the free-spending Toronto Blue Jays. Okamoto was a player whom the Red Sox came in and displayed interest in at the 11th hour, and could have been a risky yet intriguing alternative to Alex Bregman.
His landing in Toronto cuts like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, a top rival who has already made several improvements got even better. On the other hand, he likely takes the Blue Jays out of the running for Bregman, giving Boston one less competitor to worry about.
Even if the Red Sox's interest in Okamoto was real, his coming to Boston was never truly a possibility. The reason for this is simple, and it has everything to do with his agent, Scott Boras.
Scott Boras and Alex Bregman are the real reasons why Kazuma Okamoto was never a real possibility for the Red Sox
Bregman is the Red Sox's priority this winter, so while their interest in Okamoto might have seemed like a ploy to put the pressure on Bregman, that was never going to happen.
The reason for this is simple: Okamoto and Bregman share Boras as an agent. As exciting a prospect as Okamoto is, he's still unproven at the major league level and, therefore, was never going to draw in the type of contract that Bregman is hoping for.
Boras knows where his bread is buttered, and a six-plus-year deal for Bregman will far outweigh the four-year, $60 million that Okamoto got from the Blue Jays. He also knows full well how interested the Red Sox are in reuniting with a player who was such a key cog of their 2025 team.
He was never going to allow the Red Sox to use Okamoto as leverage over Bregman. If they tried, he'd threaten to hand-deliver the star they truly covet right over to the Blue Jays. That doesn't mean that Boston didn't have some legitimate interest in the six-time NPB All-Star, but he was always a clear second fiddle to Bregman.
Look no further than the report that the Red Sox made an aggressive offer to the former Houston Astro the day after Okamoto chose Toronto. That's not a coincidence. Boston has mostly ignored the free-agent market all winter, but with Boras leveraging them (and not the other way around), it finally decided to get in gear.
One offer doesn't mean the Bregman saga is nearing a close. Boras likes to drag these things out. But it is progress, as both sides had previously dug their heels in, seemingly intent on waiting out the other. Okamoto served to grease the wheels. Nothing more, nothing less.