After going 0 for 2 in their pursuit of free agent third basemen from Asia, the Pittsburgh Pirates are trying one last time.
The Pirates have expressed a strong interest in Kazuma Okamoto, who has spent his entire 11-year professional career playing in Nippon Professional Baseball in his native Japan. According to baseball sources, the Pirates have spoken with Okamoto via teleconference.
On Sunday, the Chicago White Sox signed Japan’s Munetaka Murakami to a two-year, $34-millon contract. He set the NPB single-season home run record for a native player with 55 in 2022, and is considered a more coveted player than the 29-year-old Okamoto. The deadline for MLB teams to sign Okamoto is Jan. 2.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington was asked earlier this month about the possibility of signing free agents from Japan.
"We think we can,” he said. “We definitely believe in the infrastructure we have to be able to know the players well enough. We have the people on the ground and the people and the resources to, we believe, have everything we need to make a decision on a player, whether that's a matter of if PIttsburgh is the right place for them.
“It's no secret, if you're a prominent Japanese free agent, Pittsburgh is not the first city you're thinking about, so it's our job to overcome that somehow over time. I think at some point, inevitably, we'll line up on one where we can overcome that. I think once you do, you break through that, I think, in a way that the Pirates have before in (South) Korea and maybe not quite in Japan yet."
The Pirates were also linked to Sung-mun Song of the Korean Baseball Organization. However, also on Sunday, he agreed to a four-year, $13-million contract with the San Diego Padres.
Okamoto, a right-handed batter, hit .327/.416/.598 with 15 home runs in 77 games this year for the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants. He is a career .274/.355/.501 hitter with 277 homers in 1,377 games.
Jared Triolo is penciled in as the Pirates’ starting third baseman for the 2026 season. If the Pirates sign Okamoto or another third baseman, Triolo would likely move to shortstop unless Konnor Griffin, rated as the best prospect in baseball, wins the starting job in spring training.