Toronto Blue Jays showing interest in Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami
Photo credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images
Given their presence in the Pacific Rim the Toronto Blue Jays have tracked Yakult Swallows slugger Munetaka Murakami for years.
Japanese third baseman Munetaka Murakami will be posted by the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball today, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The slugger will have 45 days to reach an agreement with an MLB team, beginning tomorrow.
BREAKING: Japanese star third baseman Munetaka Murakami will be posted today, officially starting the process of one of the most anticipated free agencies of the winter, sources tell ESPN. Murakami's 45-day negotiating window to come to a deal with an MLB team starts tomorrow.
Murakami has long been expected to make the jump from NPB to MLB following the 2025 season.
He'll now officially become one of the most intriguing names on the free agent market.
Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette were the only hitters to rank ahead of him in the top tier free agents available this year.
Blue Jays showing interest in Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami
Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith says that the Blue Jays have been tracking him for years now and expects some interest for his services from the team along with the New York Yankees.
Speculatively speaking it obviously depends on what Murakami's market looks like in the coming days.
Murakami has tons of power albeit with his share of swing & miss. Given their presence in the Pacific Rim, the Blue Jays have tracked Murakami for years. There's some interest, as you'd expect for a player of his level. Some also see NYY as a team to watch on him.
The 25-year-old Murakami has been one of the preeminent power hitters in NPB over the past seven seasons.
He launched 56 home runs in 2022, breaking the single-season record held by Sadaharu Oh. Murakami slugged 246 home runs across eight NPB seasons.
Murakami slashed .270/.394/.557 with the Swallows, though there is plenty of swing-and-miss to his game.
Like Ben Nicholson-Smith previously mentioned Murakami has a lot of swing and miss, he struck out at least 28% of the time in each of his last three seasons.
Strikeout numbers are typically lower in NPB, so that mark should be expected to rise when Murakami faces MLB pitching.
He's spent most of his time at third base over the past five seasons, but he also has ample experience at first base.
Murakami made a single start in right field this past year. Scouts have labeled him as an average fielder who will probably fit best at first base.
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