Padres’ planned meeting with a Japan star could signal they’re done waiting on offense

San Diego Padres fans have spent most of this winter living in the same uncomfortable space: please add a real bat, and please don’t talk yourself into “good enough.” That’s why the report that San Diego is scheduled for an in-person meeting with Kazuma Okamoto (through the posting process) matters more than the usual rumor mill hum. It’s not a signing. It’s not a done deal. But it is a signal that the Padres are at least shopping in the “this could actually move the needle” aisle. 

The timing is doing a lot of the storytelling here. Okamoto is in the final stretch of his 45-day posting window, and this is the phase where agents narrow the room, and the conversation shifts from “interest” to “show me your plan.” The reporting has linked a small group of clubs (Blue Jays, Pirates, Red Sox, Padres and Angels) with an agreement needing to happen by early Jan. 4. If San Diego’s meeting is on the calendar now, it’s because the front office believes this is worth real effort, not just a courtesy check-in. 

Padres set a Kazuma Okamoto meeting as the posting clock starts to scream

From a pure offensive profile standpoint, you can see why. Okamoto is one of the more consistent sluggers in Japan, with a career .277/.361/.522 line and a track record of reaching 30 homers in all but two of his 11 NPB seasons. One of those exceptions was 2025, when an elbow injury limited him to 69 games — and even then, the rate production basically screamed “healthy me is a problem.” He hit .327/.416/.598 in 293 plate appearances with a matching 11.3 percent walk and strikeout rates, plus a career-best line-drive rate and a strong ISO.

Now for the Padres-specific reality check: third base is spoken for, so the appeal isn’t “plug-and-play at the hot corner.” The appeal is thump — the kind that can live at 1B/DH (or move around) and make the lineup less dependent on everything going right at once. And if the Padres are even entertaining that type of addition this late in the posting window — in person, with Scott Boras steering — it reads like a front office that’s tired of waiting for offense to magically appear through vibes and variance. 

There’s risk, of course. Translation isn’t automatic, injuries matter, and Boras clients rarely come cheap. But the Padres don’t need another offseason where the “upgrade” is mostly a mindset. A planned sit-down like this suggests they know it, too — and for a fanbase that’s been begging for a real offensive push, this is another interesting development.