Japanese slugger and third baseman Munetaka Murakami recently signed a three-year deal with his team, the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball. According to a report from The Mainichi out of Japan, as relayed by Nick Groke of The Athletic, the contract stipulates that Murakami will be posted after those three seasons.
Murakami is currently just 22 years old, turning 23 in February. Despite that young age, he’s already hit 160 home runs over his four-plus seasons in NPB. He made a brief debut in the 2018 season when he was only 18 years of age, but has been a mainstay for the Swallows over the past four campaigns. In 553 games to this point, he has hit .281/.405/.583. His home run totals in those four seasons are 36, 28, 39 and then an incredible 56 in 2022. That last number broke Sadaharu Oh’s record for most home runs hit by a Japanese-born player in the league, which he set back in 1964. (Curaçao-born Wladimir Balentien has the overall record, hitting 60 homers in 2013.)
Japanese players in NPB have to accrue nine years of professional experience before they reach international free agency, allowing them to pursue opportunities in North America. Players who wish to make the jump before that point must request to be posted by their club. Generally, NPB clubs hang onto their players until late in the nine-year window of control before posting, meaning that many Japanese players don’t join the majors until they are midway through their careers. Seiya Suzuki was posted last year going into his age-28 season. Masataka Yoshida was posted this offseason going into his age-29 campaign. Kodai Senga was never posted as his NPB club, the SoftBank Hawks, have a policy against it. He’s joining the Mets for 2023 after he will turn 30 in January.
By negotiating this posting into his contract, Murakami will be able to come over after his age-25 season, which is the youngest he could be while still being able to earn a Major League contract on the open market. International players under 25 years of age and/or with fewer than six years of professional experience are considered “amateurs” rather than professionals under MLB’s international free agency rules and are thus subject to the “bonus pool” system, where each team has an MLB-mandated cap on how much it can spend on signing bonuses.
International “amateurs” can only agree to minor league deals and signing bonuses, whereas “professionals” like Suzuki, Yoshida and Senga (i.e. players 25 and older with six-plus years of pro experience) are free to sign Major League contracts for any length and dollar amount; for example, Shohei Ohtani came over to the Angels prior to his age-23 season, settling for a $2.3MM signing bonus and was unable to reach free agency until after 2023. Had he waited two more years, he could have immediately signed a nine-figure contract.
Murakami will have no such restrictions and will be able to secure a deal of any length or dollar amount, similar to Suzuki or Yoshida. However, he will be considerably younger than those players and perhaps have an even more impressive track record of success. His 160 home runs are already close to the 182 Suzuki hit in his NPB time and more than Yoshida’s 133. His 24% strikeout rate is a bit on the high side, though that’s inflated by a 31% rate in 2019 when he was just 19 years old. It’s declined in the three subsequent seasons, getting under 21% in 2022. It’s a similar story with his walk rate, which has gone from 12.5% in 2019, increasing to 19.3% in 2022. His final batting line in 2022 was .318/.458/.711.
FanGraphs gives Murakami a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale, giving high praise for his work at the plate but firmly declaring that he won’t be able to stick at third base. They give a 30-grade to his feet and range and say that he will have to be moved to either left field, first base or designated hitter. Nonetheless, they still say that he would be considered one of the top five prospects in the sport if he were already in a team’s system and is a future star.
If he does sign with a major league team, the club would owe a fee to the Swallows under the MLB – NPB posting agreement. That’s tied to the size of the contract itself, with the MLB team owing the NPB club 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. That fee is on top of any dollars guaranteed to the player himself, and subsequent earning (e.g. performance incentives, contract options) are also subject to the posting system once they become guaranteed to the player.
This is the dude teams need to lay in wait for… I hope the Yankees do. It would be perfect timing with Rizzo exiting after ‘24.
I’m hoping Wells (who I’ve heard isn’t likely to remain a catcher) will be manning first by then.
I would be okay with him in LF too, Joe! I guess that all depends on if the Yankees make a trade still or not though.
Are we depending a little too much for our talent, even though it’s at our own doorstep?
If Devers signs a short contract to be a FA at the same time as this dude his value could double.
He will be a star and his first name is pronounced “Money-taka”
I can’t tell if you’re serious but it is moo-neh-tah-kah.
No no no Manny, MONEY TAKER!
Lefty. Young. Elite.
He’s a Yankee.
Right around the time to be the last piece of the Tigers WS winning roster.
LOL, we can dream, right? I would be shocked if anyone besides Riley Greene and Spencer Torkelson are still on the Tigers roster after 2025. Maybe Javier Baez, if he’s not cut by then.
The Tigers are still trying to recover from the Dave Dombrowski GM years…..which ended, what in 2015…..tic….tic…..tic
be fair. that means 2020 they should have been taking a step forward (kinda like bal last year) and they get hit with the pandemic loss of revenue and minor league season. so, in 2021 they make said move, playing above.500 after April, and then every young high profile pitcher in the organization gets hurt and every hitter in the organization performs way below career norms. it has to regress back to normal even if it takes 3 years to do so. they’re not as far away as it looks rn
The Great Bondino
Trade Rumors must be still working on morse code cause he signed this deal a week ago.
Sounds like an opportunity for you to start your own website and beat them to the punch.
Nah! I enjoy ot here to much.
I wonder if he’s related to Masanori Murakami, who pitched for the Giants in the sixties.
he may also be related to celebrated author, Haruki Murakami. Apparently “Murakami” is the 40th most common Japanese surname, equivalent to “Hill” or “Adams” in the US. Perhaps Rich and Glenallen are also related.
Seems like someone whom the Rangers would make a run at. Who does he remind scouts of? It always helps me if I know that.
I’m no expert at the proper uses of “whom”, but this feels like a time in which it was just thrown in to sound intelligent. The sentence makes sense without “whom” randomly thrown in the middle.
“Whom” is the objective form of the pronoun “who”. In the above comment “the Rangers” is the subject; “at whom” is the objective phrase of the verb “run”.
I don’t know if he’s the type of player “whom” the rangers would make a run at, but it sounds like a lot pundits consider him the real deal. Captain, are you an English teacher by chance? If not you should be! Very few of us native English speakers ever did learn when to use “who” be “whom”, including yours truly. The rule as you clearly explained it makes sense, but I’ve never been able to put it into practice!
I am neither an English teacher nor the son of an English teacher, just old enough to have learned diagramming sentences in elementary school.
I got me no edumacation
Texas could use a third baseman about to move to left field (according to scouting reports) with Bonds-like numbers. The only problem is it will be after 3 full seasons/after 2025. Instant gratification ruins this for me, though deGrom is all the gratification I will need for the next 5 years.
It would be cool to see if Murakami can get bonds-like numbers without the PEDs.
Padres prepping 15 year offer.
But he will choose to sign elsewhere for less money.
there is no reason for a player with half a decade of NPB experience to be considered an “amateur” simply because of some arbitrary age threshold.
I prefer amateurs but sadly this site doesn’t offer that content.
With all your insider knowledge and everything, perhaps you should start your own site…
Bruh
my boi what?
MunetArson Murakami appears headed to (insert team name here)-Jon Heyman in the2025 offseason.
Heyman’s don’t speak, the only break…..”news”
Munetakis
Cubs and Dodgers should be spending by then!
I heard his brother, Bulshetwaka, is even more talented.
How was Ohtani able to come over so early? Imagine he was just posted?
he came over as an “amateur” because he was only 23 and was subjected to the international amateur signing rules. btw they go over this in the article
Tell me you didn’t read the article without telling me you didn’t read the article.
Getting the news out early. Much appreciated.
I wonder if MLB will suggest to Yakult that he start playing outfield. It sure would leave out less guesswork once signing time comes
30 grade for feet and range? Sure he wasnt Nolan Arenado, but IMHO he’s more than 30 for his work at third base
Murakami swinging that Norwegian Wood
Money-talk-a to Munetaka!
Imagine if some team signs him to a 10 year deal and he ends up being a bust in MLB? It wouldn’t be the first time an international star couldn’t cut it in MLB.
If there’s any reason to be wary of projecting the success of Japanese players who come to the U.S. and MLB, perhaps it might be this:
https://blogs.fangraphs.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Annual-Average-Fastball-Velocities-Since-2014.png
What a great baseball name. I feel like this is a character in Ken Griffey baseball for Super Nintendo. He’s already got the video game stats and backstory too.
Jays will sign him forget the yankees 🙂