After watching Tatsuya Imai and Munetaka Murakami fall well shy of projections in their respective deals with the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox, Kazuma Okamoto netted out right in line with what the industry expected him to get, signing a four-year, $60 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend.
The Chicago Cubs had been mentioned earlier in the offseason as a potential fit for Okamoto, but they were never singled out as a particularly likely destination for the 29-year-old infielder. The same logic that made Okamoto make sense for the Cubs can also be applied to two of the biggest remaining free agents: Bo Bichette and Alex Bregman.