Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami and chicago white sox Sources told ESPN on Sunday that an agreement has been reached on a two-year, $34 million contract, giving the home run record-setter in Nippon Professional Baseball his first free agent splash in years with a rebuilding team.
Murakami, 25, was arguably the most exciting player to reach free agency this winter. A 6-foot-2, 230-pound left-handed slugger with elite exit velocity, he was the youngest player on the market and went into Major League Baseball with 246 home runs in his eight seasons for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
He has become a star in Japan after hitting 36 home runs in 2019 at the age of 19. He then hit 56 home runs in 2022, breaking the record for a Japanese-born player set by Sadaharu Oh in 1964. Murakami, a two-time Central League MVP, missed last season with an oblique injury, but hit 22 home runs with a .273/.379/.663 slash line in 56 games.
While Murakami was projected to hit the financial jackpot ahead of his free agency, concerns about his defense – he can play third base or first base – and his tendency to swing at pitches in the infield and miss led to a slower-than-expected market before the 5 p.m. ET signing deadline on Monday.
Although teams strived for low-dollar long-term deals, Murakami opted for a high-dollar short-term offer, giving himself a chance to prove his ability to adjust to better MLB pitching.
Should he do so, Murakami will hit the market again at 27 and be ready to cash in on a megadeal, in the same way that other free agents turned short-term contracts into long-term paydays in recent seasons with softer-than-expected markets.
The jump in Murakami’s strikeout rate over the past three years (over 28% in each season) and his 72.6% in-zone contact rate (which would have been the second-lowest in MLB this year) highlight the potential downside to his offensive game. But san francisco giants slugger rafael devers Has remained productive with a high whiff rate, and Chicago saw an opportunity to bring in the kind of talent it typically doesn’t have access to with low salaries and a prospect-hoarding mentality.
Murakami’s 90th-percentile exit velocity would have been fifth in MLB, his maximum exit velocity would have been 12th, and his hard-hit rate would have been first. Two years removed from the most losses in MLB history for a White Sox team, Murakami was added to a lineup that included promising young hitters at shortstop. colson montgomerycatchers kyle teal And edgar queroinfielder miguel vargasand second baseman Chase Meadroth Winning the draft lottery at the Winter Meetings brings even more hope.
The clear favorite to go No. 1 in the July draft is UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowski, giving the White Sox a potential abundance of young infielders in the coming years.
Whether Murakami is at first or third, he will be in the middle of a White Sox lineup that will be in desperate need of power. With 165 home runs last season, the White Sox finished 14th out of 15 American League teams, which was slightly ahead of the previous season. kansas city royalsIn his eight seasons with the Swallows after his debut at age 18, Murakami hit ,270/,394/,557 with a walk rate over 16% and a strikeout rate near 26%,
Highlight reels of his home runs have long been circulating on the Internet in anticipation of Murakami’s arrival in MLB. He played a key role in Japan’s victory in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, scoring a game-winning two-run double in the ninth inning of the semifinal victory against Mexico.
Chicago saw that version of Murakami and would add him to perhaps the most uniquely constructed roster in baseball, signing five players – Murakami, louis robert jr ($20 million), Andrew Benintendi ($17.1 million), Anthony’s ($5 million) and derek hill ($900,000) – No one is eligible for arbitration and the rest are around the major league minimum.
Murakami’s deal will cost the White Sox total $40.575 million, with the Swallows receiving a $6.575 million posting fee to transfer him to Chicago.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
