Dodgers have one move in their back pocket to bury Blue Jays after Okamoto signing

The Dodgers were never really included in the conversation around Japanese free agent Kazuma Okamoto, but it still stung a bit that he chose the Blue Jays, who the Dodgers just barely eked out a World Series win against in 2026 and already look like their most obvious opponents again in 2026.

Toronto has had the most active offseason of any team in the AL East — and likely in all of baseball — based on money doled out, and they added Okamoto to a four-year, $60 million deal on Saturday after signing Dylan Cease ($210 million), Tyler Rogers ($37 million), and Cody Ponce ($30 million).

The Red Sox still have yet to sign a major league free agent and the Yankees have only re-added. The Orioles are certainly trying to catch up and the Rays might be able to find a way to be successful by doing the bare minimum again. But Blue Jays are clearly dead serious about not only getting back to the Fall Classic in 2026, but winning the whole thing this time.

Despite all that, the Dodgers still have the opportunity to punch right back and break Toronto fans' hearts (again). Bo Bichette is still on the market.

Dodgers have the perfect opportunity to counter Blue Jays' Kazuma Okamoto signing by getting Bo Bichette

Jon Heyman was the first to report that the Dodgers, along with the Cubs and Yankees, had checked in on Bichette, who is widely expected to make around $26 million a year on his next deal. He's the youngest of any of the top free agent position players on the market (Kyle Tucker is 27, Cody Bellinger 30, Alex Bregman 31), which could make him more amenable to a shorter-term, higher-AAV deal, or it could make the Dodgers more willing to make a long-term offer they're hesitant to give Tucker or Bellinger.

He's currently drawing interest at all of shortstop, third base, and second base positions that Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and Tommy Edman already occupy. If the Dodgers are totally unwilling to move Betts (which seems like the case), second would be the most obvious destination for Bichette, who has a weak arm and has never logged an inning at third. If Edman's ankle is back to normal after his offseason surgery, he could move to the outfield full time.

Either way, adding Bichette gives them elite depth, insures them against injuries, takes a star player away from their top AL competition, and welcomes an All-Star slugger into the mix with guys like Freeman, Muncy and Teoscar Hernandez hitting free agency after 2026 or 2027. At the very least, Bichette's bat will play for quite some time, even if there's initial difficulty finding him a consistent defensive home. The Dodgers have made something like that work plenty of times before.