1 hour ago, 77 Hitmen said:

So, he's a born and raised South Sider!

There's also a bit of a Sox/Cubs dynamic with the Yakult Swallows and the Yomiuri Giants, including the Swallows stadium being the more southern one in Tokyo

On 2/8/2026 at 8:33 PM, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

When are you expecting him to be called up ? And to play where ? Dependent on a Sosa trade ?

This aged well.

1 hour ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

This aged well.

didn't it? They had to trade Sosa to bring up Ant-man, or it all happened in the same flurry of moves.

3 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

didn't it? They had to trade Sosa to bring up Ant-man, or it all happened in the same flurry of moves.

I was reading the Mune stuff again and I comped him to Thome or Schwarber back on Jan 1. Dont know if it was the 1st time I said it .

April 13 Sosa traded, April 15th Antonacci brought up.

Edited Sunday at 10:38 PM3 days by CaliSoxFanViaSWside

18 minutes ago, CaliSoxFanViaSWside said:

I was reading the Mune stuff again and I comped him to Thome or Schwarber back on Jan 1. Dont know if it was the 1st time I said it .

April 13 Sosa traded, April 15th Antonacci brought up.

• Batting Average: .276

• Home Runs: 612 (8th all-time)

• Hits: 2,328

• RBIs: 1,699

• Runs Scored: 1,583

Murakami hitting over .240 would be pretty shocking to most.

Raw power to all fields and batter's eye/strike zone command...Thome at the end of his career late 2000's just a much bigger guy physically.

9 minutes ago, caulfield12 said:

• Batting Average: .276

• Home Runs: 612 (8th all-time)

• Hits: 2,328

• RBIs: 1,699

• Runs Scored: 1,583

Murakami hitting over .240 would be pretty shocking to most.

Raw power to all fields and batter's eye/strike zone command...Thome at the end of his career late 2000's just a much bigger guy physically.

You don't have to be an exact copy of the guy to be comped. Both big strong LHP power hitters who walk and K a lot and play 1st base was enough for me back on Jan. 1. Remember Mune also won a batting title in Japan. He could hit above . 250. He's still working it all out. He was at .242 just yesterday. Schwarber was in case he did become the 3 true outcome guy. Nailed the walks, K's and HRs wasnt sure if the hit tool would carry over. Not too shabby back on Jan 1st considering we have been hearing Schwarbers name brought up a lot since Mune really took off in the last week.

I think we aren’t too far from the Sox having to be honest with themselves. Who knows if next season gets played. Everyone is looking for power. They need to determine if they are going to be in the ballpark when he can get offers from other teams. If not, they should consider trading him. If they could get a Crochet like package, as much of bummer it would be to see him leave, that’s 3 or 4 really good prospects acquired just because other teams weren’t sure he could play. That’s a big win.

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

• Batting Average: .276

• Home Runs: 612 (8th all-time)

• Hits: 2,328

• RBIs: 1,699

• Runs Scored: 1,583

Murakami hitting over .240 would be pretty shocking to most.

Raw power to all fields and batter's eye/strike zone command...Thome at the end of his career late 2000's just a much bigger guy physically.

Thome also was named Thome, so we can only compare Munetaka Murakami to other Japanese hitters named Munetaka Murakami.

16 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I think we aren’t too far from the Sox having to be honest with themselves. Who knows if next season gets played. Everyone is looking for power. They need to determine if they are going to be in the ballpark when he can get offers from other teams. If not, they should consider trading him. If they could get a Crochet like package, as much of bummer it would be to see him leave, that’s 3 or 4 really good prospects acquired just because other teams weren’t sure he could play. That’s a big win.

2-3 prospects…Top 25-30, Top 65-80 then a Wiki González like flier

15 minutes ago, Dick Allen said:

I think we aren’t too far from the Sox having to be honest with themselves. Who knows if next season gets played. Everyone is looking for power. They need to determine if they are going to be in the ballpark when he can get offers from other teams. If not, they should consider trading him. If they could get a Crochet like package, as much of bummer it would be to see him leave, that’s 3 or 4 really good prospects acquired just because other teams weren’t sure he could play. That’s a big win.

Not sure if the Sox make an effort to extend him butIm thinking JR wants the coffers to fill up a bit before they think about trading him.

Lets say attendance goes up a decent amount from last year as does some advertising revenue and merchandising that can be directly tied to Murakami's presence and they made an extra $5+M , I think next years trade deadline is liklier.

Would it suck ? Oh yea but unless you have a lot of willingness from MM to sign an extension I dont trust JR to offer enough and I have zero reason to believe Ishbia wants to act like the owner before he becomes the owner . JR could live as long as Virginia McCaskey.

I havent exactly heard anything about putting a new person besides Brooks Boyer in charge of courting revenues from high profile Japanese Companies. Until I do hear that the Sox do know what they are doing in that regard I'll just guess the possible sponsors need a longer contract to Mune and more people in the ballpark and more watching on TV to make a bigger commitment monetarily . I need to be up to speed.

Also extends his record for most rookie HRs in March/April

now 4th in mlb 1B fWAR @ 1.2

tied with Sal Stewart Cincy

approximately 6.0 pace more or less

12 homers, 22 walks, 41 strike outs, in 126 PAs.

59.52% Three Outcomes percentage.

Also fun: 25 hits for....

12 homers

0 triples

0 doubles and

13 singles.

I couldn't watch the game, I was on call this morning at 3am so I had to wake up super early as fk 😭

looks like I wouldve been rage posting after the 4th inning anyways and shut the game off (and missed #12😅)

Fun fact that in the statcast era, Murakami's HR was the 4th highest "moonshot":

173 feet: J.D. Martinez (May 15, 2015)

171 feet: Adley Rutschman (June 16, 2025)

167 feet: Bryce Harper (May 2018)

164 feet: Munetaka Murakami (April 27, 2026)

45 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

12 homers, 22 walks, 41 strike outs, in 126 PAs.

59.52% Three Outcomes percentage.

Also fun: 25 hits for....

12 homers

0 triples

0 doubles and

13 singles.

Psh can't even hit more homers than singles.

On 4/26/2026 at 4:50 PM, Dick Allen said:

I think we aren’t too far from the Sox having to be honest with themselves. Who knows if next season gets played. Everyone is looking for power. They need to determine if they are going to be in the ballpark when he can get offers from other teams. If not, they should consider trading him. If they could get a Crochet like package, as much of bummer it would be to see him leave, that’s 3 or 4 really good prospects acquired just because other teams weren’t sure he could play. That’s a big win.

This is Sox fans being Sox fans.

Always betting tomorrow will be better. We don't have masterminds in scouting since we often rely on other teams' prospects. This is what losing teams always do. I wonder what it's like for other teams wanting Sox prospects and willing to give up a good player.

I'm exhausted as a fan with this approach. I've often wondered how long Frank Thomas would have remained a Sox in the current organization. The Brewers are the model in baseball. Not everyone can be like that. Everyone is like that with no World Series.

I know everyone can reply with something rational but emotionally I'm tired this organization mimicking the Marlins or Pirates.

I just keep asking myself...what is the timeline for the White Sox to get the most in return for Murakami? Is it this trade deadline (knowing the labor situation)? If we hold him and we play a short season next year...that would have to diminish any return? And who knows...maybe the first half of his first season will be his best stretch in his career? We have no idea! BUT...the the jokes at the expense of the White Sox organization would be off the charts if they trade him in two months! Yet that might be our best bet at getting something in return! We only signed him for 2 seasons for this purpose! To get something in return...

36 minutes ago, kitekrazy1 said:

This is Sox fans being Sox fans.

Always betting tomorrow will be better. We don't have masterminds in scouting since we often rely on other teams' prospects. This is what losing teams always do. I wonder what it's like for other teams wanting Sox prospects and willing to give up a good player.

I'm exhausted as a fan with this approach. I've often wondered how long Frank Thomas would have remained a Sox in the current organization. The Brewers are the model in baseball. Not everyone can be like that. Everyone is like that with no World Series.

I know everyone can reply with something rational but emotionally I'm tired this organization mimicking the Marlins or Pirates.

I'm tired of this as well but nothing is going to change until JR is gone, you know it, I know it and most importantly JR knows it.

He is not going to change his philosophy of "fiscal responsibility" (his words...)

So as Kenny once said, "It is what it is..."

Quite a few Japanese tweets about how the Sox need to say they are committed to him before they plan a summer trip. Makes sense from their perspective but there's no way the Sox will box themselves in like that and I agree. While it would be sad to churn another great player into prospects if you can get a haul I'd do it. Nobody even knows if we are playing next year as mentioned.

Personally, in my heart of hearts, I'd prefer to just keep him and see how next year shakes out, but that is emotional thinking.

At 26, given his hitting profile and position, he should have another 5-6 years of production at his current level. Not saying this HR pace will continue, we need to see more data, but given what we know at this point, I'm not comfortable taking the position of trading being the only logical solution.

I get it, I've made the argument plenty of times that guys like Sale and Crochet probably should have been kept long term, but we knew ownership wouldn't sign them to a big deal, so because of that the only option to get any value for the player is to trade them. I guess I'm just tired of rooting for an organization like that. We should hold them to a higher standard. You potentially have a 26 year old star, a guy that picked your franchise, a guy that most scouts seemingly were wrong about, and the Sox deserve credit for making an investment in him. But turning around and trading him for another couple of lottery tickets isn't where this franchise should be right now, especially as we are in Year 4 of the worst stretch of White Sox baseball in history.

When they signed him, the best case scenerio should have been "We were right, everyone else was wrong, we just found a middle of the order power hitter in his prime that can anchor our lineup for the next 5-6 years." Not "We were right, everyone else was wrong, we just found a middle of the order power hitter in his prime that we can trade to the highest bidder in a year"

if he continues this absurd pace to the end of the season, or just finished with like .850+ OPS and 35+bombs, they should extend him after 2026 is over. he adds value to the franchise in more ways than WAR

I like Mune’s gangster lean back when he really gets one