OverDrive - Matheson on Okamoto landing with the Blue Jays, the importance of change and Bichette and Tucker sweepstakes

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

MLB.com Blue Jays Reporter Keegan Matheson joined OverDrive to discuss Kazuma Okamoto's signing with the Blue Jays, his introduction to the team, the place in the lineup, the impact to the lineup, the importance of change, Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker's next steps and more.

Here he is, our boy from MLB.com. Big part of TSN, Kegan Matheson. How are you doing, Kegan? Good, fellas. I should have brought drinks or something if I'm going to screw up the whole vibe you've got going on here. Snacks. Happy to be here, fellas. How are we doing?

Great to see it, man. So I saw your tweet. Like, obviously, there was the big presser today. And I'm loving the nicknames, Big Oak and Big Baby. Can you confirm those are the two options for Okamoto or what? That's right. And I think his nickname in Japan when I read was the young general, which is, it's got some edge to it too, but, but big baby and big oak. I guess Glenn Davis can lose that title from the NBA days, but Big Oak, man, quite the press conference, probably more media there than there was for Vladis extension, because you had Japanese media there, which is massive.

like I cannot overstate guys how much interest there is in Okamoto from Japan. There's no, like there's no comparison for this. Like Steve Nash and Shaggill, just like that's not a comparison. Top Canadian soccer player going over to play Premier League, that's not a comparison.

Like multiply that by a million. Man, it's fascinating. Really? So obviously he's been a pro over there for a long time. And he's represented the national team and he's put up great numbers. He's not a young guy. He's 29 years old. he's not show hey i mean show he's at a different level completely i have to believe susaki is now

at a different level i would think but is he in the running for like two three four i don't know how much you know of the japanese baseball hierarchy but you know you mentioned the amount of media like is this expected to be a consistent theme and do you think this factored into what the jays were hoping for is really tapping into a pretty big market over there yeah guys that matters it really does And with Okamoto, like, there's an aura about this guy. And playing for the Yomuri Giants in Japan, the easy comparison is that that's like playing for the Yankees. Like a lot of history, a lot of respect around that team.

And he was one of the faces of that team for a while. He had six consecutive 30 plus homer seasons. Like, he's a big deal in Japan. Okamoto is a big deal. So the attention coming over is part of this deal. Okay? And when you sign Otani, yeah, that's another thing entirely. But when you go out and grab the eyeballs that you get with Okamoto,

all of the people watching are going to want a jersey. They're going to come to a game. They're going to buy a beer. They're going to feed into this machine. The Blue Jays are building right now. That's all part of it. And it kind of comes together perfectly, baseball and business here. But the Jays have wanted a slice of this Japanese market.

And they've wanted to do it this way. They had you say Kikuchi, they acquired him in MLB, you know, free agency. Right now, they are getting that slice they've been after and missed on before. But especially in Toronto, guys, this can be huge. So which player on the Blue Jays will be impacted? And how does he impact the Blue Jays with his style of play? When I look at lineup fit, guys, Ernie Clement probably gets bumped over to second base. But there could be some impact on Ernie.

and Addison Barger, I think, gets impacted a bit because he'll lose some third base, probably have to play a lot more right field. I don't think that's a bad thing, guys, in either case, because Ernie Clements can mash lefties. We know he's a great defender, great base runner. Addison Barger crushes righties. So you can start to use some of these guys

in some different platoons, put it together, a little smarter, and that's a good thing. What I like about Okamoto is that he comes over, and he's kind of a plug-and-play hitter, guys. A lot of times when a Japanese pitcher or player comes over, we're talking about, man, like, will his power translate? Is he going to get crushed? Okamoto is, I hate the word safe, but as safe, relatively speaking,

as you can get with these hitters coming over. And he fits the Jays really well. He does everything the Blue Jays do. He's annoying to face as a pitcher. He's going to work out. He's going to take walks. And then, right when you get comfortable, he's going to hit a home run. He can do both. I think he really fits this lineup very well.

Like this is not just a good player, but a good match. And I think that's rare to find internationally. Well, in terms of the ripple effect on the rest of the roster or what else they could do throughout the rest of the off season, I want to play this clip from Ross Atkins earlier today when he was posed that question. Like what else could happen with a lot of big names out there, Tucker, Bichette, and others. Here's how Ross answered that. We'll always be open to making our organization and team better if there's a way to do that. At this point, we were answering the question back in early December and even in November that we felt good about our team as we were set at that point, and that remains the question,

that remains the case, and we've made it better. So we do feel good about our team. The one thing that I would add is additions at this point. we'll start to cut away at playing time from players that we feel are very good major league pieces so we have to factor that in. That last part I think is a

really important point and what you just kind of talked about with Clement and Barger and what could happen there, but I think it poses a very important question that probably is not being brought up enough. Like how much change is too much change? I know everyone's going crazy

now and it's EA sports and we're all in dynasty mode and go get this guy and bring that guy in and just load up. At some point, we got to remember, like, they were in game seven of the World Series. This is not a team that won 75 games last year. This was the best team in the American League, the top seed in the American League. They look great throughout the playoffs. Being too loyal, it can be just as detrimental as being too active, you know, vice versa. So where do you stand on this, Kagan, in terms of how you interpret that comment and And most importantly, how it could apply to the pursuit of Tucker and or Bichet.

Yeah, you need to look at the net outcome now. You know, if the Blue Jays had a center fielder who just plain sucked, you'd go sign whoever and you come out in the positives. Right now, I think when you look at Bichette and Tucker individually, with Bichet, how much of an upgrade is he giving you at second base? I consider him a second baseman now over Ernie Clement every day. You need to be really honest with yourself. I know that Ernie Clement had a great postseason and everyone loves him.

And damn it, you should love the guy. But you need to be honest with yourself about who he is over the course of a season. How much is Bichet an upgrade over that? Versus in the outfield. Who would Kyle Tucker be taking reps away from? The short answer is that it doesn't matter because he's really good. But probably Nathan Lucas, to extend Anthony Santander, you've got to do the math on how big an upgrade that would be.

So you're not upgrading from zero anymore. The money's really got to be worth it. But I think when you're talking about players like Bichette, like Tucker, they're worth it. We'll see where their markets come to. I think everyone's waiting for the market to come down for one of these guys to do what Alex Bregman did a year ago, where you take a shorter deal, have some opt-outs, make it easier for everyone. But at this point, I still think the Blue Jays make a ton of sense for both Bichette and Tucker.

I think that Tucker makes a bit more sense, given the position, frankly, at this point. But when the money is right, each of them fits this roster, makes the Blue Jays better. And, God, it's already been an amazing offseason. One of the best off seasons in Blue Jays history. Yeah.

But I do think the Blue Jays have room for more, and I think the motivation's there. Yeah, which is pretty incredible. And, you know, like the turning over of arms, that is inevitable, it's going to happen. Like you presume Scherzer's done, Bassett's done. Okay, you go get cease, you go get

ponds, you know, you bring in Rogers, you knew there was going to be some turnover in the bullpen. I think there's still potential for more there. But in terms of the everyday at bats, like there's only so many you can get. You know, like arms, you can never have too many. Bats, you can't. You know, and also there's, there is

a budget here you would presume at some point Rogers is going to say, all right, that's enough. So if they go out and get one of these guys, Tucker and Orbushet, regardless of the length of the deal. We're talking 2026 payroll. It's going to be a lot of money. Do you think they would be prepared? I would have to believe they are preparing for it that if and when that happens pretty quickly afterwards, you're going to see a trade, whether that's Santander that goes,

whether it is, maybe Ernie Clement, you know, selling him high. Again, he's a folklore player here right now in Toronto. Everyone loves him. But could you be selling him at a height that maybe isn't actually realistic for what you project he'll be in the rest of his career? Is Barrios a hundred percent a part of this roster moving forward. How much of that do you think could be determined still, Keegan? Forget just signing a guy or two trades that might come afterwards.

Definitely an option. I wonder if that happens now or if the Blue Jays would just lean in for a year, say, screw the taxes, screw the extra charges. We're going for it heavy, heavy this year. And a year from now where let's see you guys, George Springer, Dalton

Varsho, Kevin Gosman, Shane Bieber, and others come off books. Then you can try to reset your books a little bit more. Because when I look at this offseason going into spring training, like you said earlier, everyone wants to play video game. Okay, cool. Trade burrios. Trade Santander. The same reason that people are saying that is the same reason that the pirates or the Reds or the Padres or whoever you call will say, no, thank you, unless you eat most of this money, which is what you're trying to get rid of in the first place. and I don't think the Jays are super eager to throw in a prospect to make teams take that money.

That's kind of what you have to do. You have to pay them to take it. I don't think they're eager to do that either. So with Berrios especially, I'm most interested in the Berrios case because he's been so good for so long. And now suddenly he's landed in this awkward, awkward spot. And these things tend to take care of themselves. someone will pull a hamstring or have a bad spring. It happens.

But he is the one I'm most curious about middle of spring training, late spring training. If needs are opening up somewhere else, if somebody blows an elbow in another city, do they come calling for burrios? Maybe there's more room there. So if the Blue Jays don't get either of those position players signed to a contract, do they have enough to be as good as they were last year?

I think they do. Now, I still think they should go out and get another guy, but I think the offseason they've had has been spectacular. And the timing of it guys matters so much and how it's paced out. Because the baseball off season, I mean, my God, I wish that every free agent had to do it like a Japanese free agent where they declare, okay, here's my one-month window. Sign me in this one month.

And let's put some ticking clocks on this somehow, some way. But the Blue Jays, what they've done, adding cease, ponds, Rogers, and Okamoto, like that is one hell of an offseason. But I think because cease happened so early, I mean, I even forget it sometimes, guys, that was this off season. He hasn't pitched for the Blue Jays yet. I'm reminding myself of this sometimes. So if all of this had have happened in a dense December rush,

I think it would be talked about a bit differently. The Blue Jays have spent more than anyone. they have done more and done better than anyone this offseason. That said, they're also losing a lot of talent, Bo included. So I think that they are good enough to be a World Series contender. Another big move makes them a World Series favorite right next to the Dodgers. Yeah, and there's also the fact that this last season came out of nowhere, effectively.

I mean, the year before they won, you know, what, 74 games, where, you know, you look at the Dodgers, like they have been consistently great for a decade. And they've just gotten better and better every single year. I do think that factors into, I'm sure, management's viewpoint, too. Like, what can we really believe? What can we really trust? But certainly from a fan's perspective, you know, like you mentioned, this is one of the great off-season they've had, for sure. We all remember, you know, what was it, 2012 or 2013, the Marlins deal, and they go and get R.A. Dickie. And that was the greatest off-season of all time. And I think they won 76 games that year. And I wouldn't predict that

for this team. They're really good, but what does Springer do? You know, what, what is Nathan Lucas? What is Clement? What is Trey is Savage? I don't think that's been brought up enough. Trey hasn't, he hasn't gone through the ringer of the league. He hasn't had a slump in the major leagues, which is going to happen, right? He's going to run into three or four straight starts where he can't get out of the fourth inning and he doesn't have his stuff and his arm starts to die out a little bit. Like these are all things that have to be calculated and calibrated in terms of the projection. And that's what makes the offseason feel so great and so long and what makes it so unpredictable.

But that's the job of Ross and Mark and what they can do this year that is so different from last year, Kegan, and you would know it better than anyone else. They can breathe. Like Atkins is cool, calm and collected up there. Last year, man, he was a mess. You know, you could feel the stress. There's no stress. And that's what a great season can do for you.

that's because a year ago I was on here trashing the team every day probably and rightfully so right beside you buddy right exactly things change as time moves on but this time last year this was an organization with no momentum and no pulse and it felt like it was just running out of steam so yeah things do feel a bit different

around the front office too but like you say you're talking about you Savage let me remind you of Alec Manoa yeah let me remind you of all of these players and pitchers who have come up but no one you savage two different cats but when you look at early success and when you look at a season like george springer which is important to mention when you look at all these role players who contributed exactly the right time every time and when you look at how healthy the blue jays were last year the job of an melb front office as glamorous as it sounds is to look around and think about what could go wrong what could screw all of this up and that's what the blue jays i think are doing a good job of They're insulating themselves, since why I think another move is still a good idea. I think they can still swing it. I think it would put them over the top.

But they're not just trying to replace bow. They're not just trying to replace these small things. They're trying to prepare for a season that might have some speed bumps. Last year was as good as it gets. That is the ultimate example of when everything goes right. God, that's not always going to happen. And when it doesn't, you've got to be prepared. That's why I think more needs to come.

Yep. Great stuff, Kagan, as always. Thank you for doing this. We'll do it again soon. You got her, fellas. Take care. There he is, Kegan Matheson of MLB.com. Big contributor here on TSN.

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