Per Passan: White Sox sign Munetaka Murakami 2 years 34M

[caulfield12]

Grade A+

At this price, it's a more than worthy project. If it succeeds, there will be a lot of teams looking back at this opportunity, wishing they had focused more on what Murakami can do, and not what they think he cannot.

And who knows? If Murakami, who is sure to be highly motivated after the way his posting window unfolded, becomes some semblance of that 56-homer monster we first heard about, maybe he will decide his new South Side digs suit him just fine. And when he's ready to win, the White Sox club around him might be ready to do the same. -- Doolittle

 

"In a White Sox organization rich in young infield talent, that destiny seems like a good bet. Besides the likes of Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth and Billy Carlson, Chicago is likely to add UCLA star Roch Cholowsky to the mix with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 draft. There doesn't seem to be any great need to give Murakami much of a runway at third base, though for 2026, it might be worth a shot, if only to build value."

https://global.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/46994593/2025-26-mlb-offseason-grades-free-agency-trade-analysis

 

Playing him at 3B to further increase trade value is worth at least investigating, with pretty much nothing to lose but Vargas/Mead playing time at risk.

Edited December 21 by caulfield12

[WestEddy]

15 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

That’s a bit ridiculous.  He is about $40 million after the posting fee.  That isn’t much money/risk to a team like the Red Sox.

It is when you're paying that to Masataka Yoshida to ride the pines.

[WhiteSox2023]

4 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

It is when you're paying that to Masataka Yoshida to ride the pines.

$90 million wasn’t a very good price for him but he is a pretty good hitter.  He would probably be starting for many teams.

[WestEddy]

1 minute ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

$90 million wasn’t a very good price for him but he is a pretty good hitter.  He would probably be starting for many teams.

No takers, as of yet.

[WhiteSox2023]

2 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

No takers, as of yet.

And there likely won’t be at 2-years and $36 million remaining.  He’s their version of Benintendi.

[WestEddy]

FanGraphs pipes up about Murakami:

Phenomenal Cosmic Power, Itty Bitty Contact Rate: White Sox Sign Murakami | FanGraphs Baseball

Quote

Here’s Eric on Murakami, from his Top 50 Free Agents blurb: “[T]here are scary underlying indicators surrounding Murakami’s contact ability that are something of a red flag when projecting his MLB future. His contact rate tanks against fastballs 93 mph and above (just 63% since 2022) and, more recently, Murakami’s contact rates versus secondary pitches have also plummeted to near 50%.”

 

[Chick Mercedes]

A really good pricetag, awesome!👏 

 

A really good pricetag, uh oh. 😕 

[bmags]

1 hour ago, thedoctor said:

he looks like a “moose.” can we call him moose?

We should call him El Caballo

[bmags]

1 hour ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

That’s a bit ridiculous.  He is about $40 million after the posting fee.  That isn’t much money/risk to a team like the Red Sox.

Eh I think it’s reasonable. There is a decent chance Murakami is unplayable, but you won’t sign a hedge and have him “compete”. For Sox it’s a no brainer, but Red Sox have to worry about losing April / May to bad production before they can find a replacement.

[WhiteSox2023]

2 minutes ago, bmags said:

Eh I think it’s reasonable. There is a decent chance Murakami is unplayable, but you won’t sign a hedge and have him “compete”. For Sox it’s a no brainer, but Red Sox have to worry about losing April / May to bad production before they can find a replacement.

Maybe.  $40 million is a lot of money to the White Sox, not so much money to the Red Sox.

[WestEddy]

1 hour ago, caulfield12 said:

https://www.mlb.com/whitesox/news/munetaka-murakami-white-sox-contract

11 am Monday morning press conference scheduled

 

https://www.sportingnews.com/ca/mlb/chicago-white-sox/news/munetaka-murakami-white-sox-japanese-hr-champion-chicago/ed6394ee928cf5edd7318225

Red Sox fans must be mystified why they finished in second for Murakami.

I was luke warm on the prospect of signing this guy as there's a bunch of risk. I get it, they've certainly mitigated that risk. It's a fun signing to make a splash in the Asian market with, and maybe he did pick the White Sox over the Red based on a sober assessment of his weaknesses, and the White Sox presented a coherent plan to rectify his swing that could make him a pure monster. 

I now wonder if/how they plan to improve upon Luis Robert if they trade him. They don't have a lot of bWAR to make up (1.4). 

[CWSpalehoseCWS]

4 hours ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Does anyone have more details or an article on how he was horrible against fastballs at 93+ MPH?

There's this post as well:

The original report about him being terrible against velocity was incorrect.

[WestEddy]

1 minute ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

There's this post as well:

The original report about him being terrible against velocity was incorrect.

And FanGraphs addresses that in their article I linked to above. 

[Baron]

Just got back from Vegas and saw the rumors during the Bears game. Awesome news! Seems like there's alot more moves in play here at the start of 2026. 

[bmags]

20 minutes ago, WhiteSox2023 said:

Maybe.  $40 million is a lot of money to the White Sox, not so much money to the Red Sox.

But the post you cited wasn’t concern about the price; it was about giving him a starting job. 

[caulfield12]

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/is-munetaka-murakami-a-bargain-at-34m-for-2-years-his-surprise-signing-with-white-sox-fits-nicely-in-chicagos-rebuild-191334685.html

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, CWSpalehoseCWS said:

There's this post as well:

The original report about him being terrible against velocity was incorrect.

It was based on just 24 at bats or something like that...in 2025.

Probably the majority came against Imai and elite relievers.

Edited December 22 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

12 minutes ago, WestEddy said:

I was luke warm on the prospect of signing this guy as there's a bunch of risk. I get it, they've certainly mitigated that risk. It's a fun signing to make a splash in the Asian market with, and maybe he did pick the White Sox over the Red based on a sober assessment of his weaknesses, and the White Sox presented a coherent plan to rectify his swing that could make him a pure monster. 

I now wonder if/how they plan to improve upon Luis Robert if they trade him. They don't have a lot of bWAR to make up (1.4). 

Plus the trade return in 2027 or QO at the worst if he's very good.

Or Ishbia steps up and makes his first long-term investment that's not stadium related.

 

A little reminiscent of the 2014 Abreu situation where only the Rockies needed a 1B...minus the control over a big portion of his career (for now).

[nrockway]

34 minutes ago, bmags said:

We should call him El Caballo

I'm calling him "Haruki" like the writer of Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84 etc. 

[DoUEvenShift]

 

 

[caulfield12]

9 minutes ago, nrockway said:

I'm calling him "Haruki" like the writer of Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, 1Q84 etc. 

Far too erotic...although much better than Hachi/ko (from A Dog's Tale.)

Then there's another H for Hayao Miyazaki, the most famous Japanese animator who recently retired.

Studio Ghibli/Totoro/Murakami Bobbleheads lol?

 

SoxTalk Book Club.

 

Edited December 22 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

8 minutes ago, DoUEvenShift said:

 

 

Think Iguchi every time with that 5 but he was #15.

Ray Durham lol.

Pretty much the opposite of Murakami in every way except strikeouts.

[Buehrle>Wood]

Anyone know why theres a big drone show over the stadium right now

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, bmags said:

Eh I think it’s reasonable. There is a decent chance Murakami is unplayable, but you won’t sign a hedge and have him “compete”. For Sox it’s a no brainer, but Red Sox have to worry about losing April / May to bad production before they can find a replacement.

Yeah, this was a perfect storm in that the red flags were very red and teams wanting to compete couldn't afford the downside risk, meanwhile the downside risk for the Sox is just him being another bum fitting in with the guys. 

Meanwhile, if he overcomes the swing and miss and sits near the same levels in the states then you got a player who has some value.

[chitownsportsfan]

33 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

Yeah, this was a perfect storm in that the red flags were very red and teams wanting to compete couldn't afford the downside risk, meanwhile the downside risk for the Sox is just him being another bum fitting in with the guys. 

Meanwhile, if he overcomes the swing and miss and sits near the same levels in the states then you got a player who has some value.

The Sox usually manage to waste three roster spots on replacement level 33 years olds out of 17 million per. This is better, obviously. I get doubting ownership and management but in isolation this is a great use of limited resources.

Edited December 22 by chitownsportsfan