The Toronto Blue Jays reached an agreement with Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto on Saturday afternoon ahead of his posting deadline.

On one hand, Okamoto is a good player who will lengthen the Blue Jays lineup. Anything that makes the Blue Jays better is seemingly bad for the Boston Red Sox. However, in this case, there's some nuance which can be good for Boston.

Okamoto is mainly a third baseman

Okamoto is mainly a third baseman, which means that he'll play third and Andres Gimenez will play shortstop, Ernie Clement will play second and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will play first.

There's not really room for Alex Bregman OR Bo Bichette in that alignment, at least not without doing some serious roster maneuvering. The Red Sox have been interested in both players throughout the offseason, and if Toronto is truly out on both players, then that's excellent news for Boston.

Did the Red Sox just get some leverage? 

It feels like it. Seeing competition drop out of the race is good for the Red Sox. Furthermore, if the Red Sox really want Bregman back, then the threat of Bichette being available to them could help spur his side into action.

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Could Toronto still pull another rabbit out of its hat?

Given that they've already signed Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce, Tyler Rogers and Okamoto, you should put nothing past them. Just because Bichette or Bregman don't fit easily, doesn't mean they don't fit at all. According to MLBTradeRumors, the Blue Jays can still use a series of platoons and positional versatility to make another signing work. The Red Sox should be aware of that and shouldn't try to stretch their leverage as far as it can go.

How the Red Sox have stacked up this offseason

After advancing to the wild card round of the playoffs in 2025, the Red Sox have been aggressive on the trade front, but they have yet to sign a single big-league free agent.

They acquired starting pitchers Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo in trades with the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates, respectively. They've also brought in first baseman Willson Contreras in a separate deal with the Cardinals. He's expected to play first base regularly, which leaves questions about the future of Triston Casas as well.

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