Murakami, yes or no?

[Brock Beauchamp]

What are your thoughts on him?

Who Will Land This Offseason's Biggest International Free Agent? - Padres - Padres Mission

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Munetaka Murakami is ready to make his highly anticipated move to Major League Baseball in 2026. Who makes the most sense to land the star slugger?

 

[Jason Ross]

A big "no thanks". He swung and missed at nearly 50% of all breaking balls last season. His K% has been horrible for a while. And we can assume that against better and better breaking balls, it isn't going to be any easier.

There's probably a player in there somewhere, but it likely requires a pretty strong overhaul and a plan to get him to hit the breaking ball, but with the contract necessary to secure him, I wouldn't want the Cubs to be the team to find out. 

[javy knows my name]

Sure, I love 1Q84

[Bertz]

It's pretty much bottom of the scale contact ability.  That's not an automatic no from me, but I would need to be morr desperate for help either at 3B or just broadly to add power to the lineup. 

What I will say is that while I'm an "absolutely the horsefeathers not" vote on Geno Suarez for similar reasons, Murakami at least had age on his side.  At 25 he's still likely ascendant.  It also is worth noting hat his ZiPS projection is very strong.

[JHBulls]

Dodgers will sign him just for shits and giggles and then stash him in AAA for the rest of his career

[Outshined_One]

Weren't there discussions about how he seemed ticketed for 1B due to defensive issues?  If he can at least hack it at 3B, then I'd have some interest, depending on what the SP trade market looks like and how other teams view Matt Shaw.  The Cubs wouldn't lose a draft pick in signing Murakami, and if they can fine-tune his approach, then it might be worth exploring.

If he's 1B/OF only, then hard pass.

[mk49]

Somewhere, I read he's going to get $250~300 million/10years.  No thanks.  Our of those Japanese players, I'd like to see Imai, a SP.  He's probably too expensive for the Cubs, though.

[Jason Ross]

1 hour ago, mk49 said:

Somewhere, I read he's going to get $250~300 million/10years.  No thanks.  Our of those Japanese players, I'd like to see Imai, a SP.  He's probably too expensive for the Cubs, though.

He will get far less than that. Those are likely poor reports based on previous play. 

He is looking at something closer to the $18-$20m range annually. 

[mk49]

3 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

He will get far less than that. Those are likely poor reports based on previous play. 

He is looking at something closer to the $18-$20m range annually. 

My guess is $20m is probably too much for this guy, if it's a 6+ year contract.  I heard his defense isn't good, and he could be a DH, eventually.

[Jason Ross]

2 hours ago, mk49 said:

My guess is $20m is probably too much for this guy, if it's a 6+ year contract.  I heard his defense isn't good, and he could be a DH, eventually.

His defense may be better than some people give credit for and I've heard that he's more likely to play 3b than the other big NPB bat coming over Okamoto. It's hard to defensively scout NPB guys, so I'll just say that I don't think either will be plus defenders.

That said, a 50% whiff rate on breaking balls from the NPB is insanely worrisome. And that would be my major concern. 

[mk49]

2 minutes ago, Jason Ross said:

His defense may be better than some people give credit for and I've heard that he's more likely to play 3b than the other big NPB bat coming over Okamoto. It's hard to defensively scout NPB guys, so I'll just say that I don't think either will be plus defenders.

That said, a 50% whiff rate on breaking balls from the NPB is insanely worrisome. And that would be my major concern. 

I don't think either Murakami and Okamoto can play better 3B than Shaw.  I heard the average exit velocity of MLB is quite a bit higher than the NPB guys.  That would make 3B and 1B guys like Murakami and Okamoto harder to defend.  When I researched those guys a few weeks ago, Okamoto had two gold glove as a 1B and one as a 3B man.  Murakami never got a gold glove.  I don't know how good the NPB gold glove is, because I heard Seiya had it a few times.

Either way, Murakami doesn't fit the Cubs, IMO.  He could replace Turner, but for the price, nobody wants him for that purpose.  

[Stratos]

No interest in him.  Seems like Robel Garcia, or left-handed Patrick Wisdom with more walks.

Wouldn't mind Okamoto if he can hit LHP well.  Can be insurance for Shaw, can DH, can platoon with Busch. Probably wants a guaranteed everyday job somewhere though.

[Hot Sauce]

Zero interest. 

[Jason Ross]

7 hours ago, mk49 said:

I don't think either Murakami and Okamoto can play better 3B than Shaw.  I heard the average exit velocity of MLB is quite a bit higher than the NPB guys.  That would make 3B and 1B guys like Murakami and Okamoto harder to defend.  When I researched those guys a few weeks ago, Okamoto had two gold glove as a 1B and one as a 3B man.  Murakami never got a gold glove.  I don't know how good the NPB gold glove is, because I heard Seiya had it a few times.

Either way, Murakami doesn't fit the Cubs, IMO.  He could replace Turner, but for the price, nobody wants him for that purpose.  

I agree neither are better than Shaw, though to be fair that wasn't the original statement either. It's more that I've seen Murakami is at least viewed as as current MLB 3b by a handful of reports I've seen. 

Defensively it's hard to compare NPB defense and MLB defense. And to be fair to Suzuki while he isn't an MLB plus plus defender he's better than the eye test suggests; he just makes a bad play here or there that really stands out. He's been about an average type of a corner defender racking up slightly negative OAA or DRS (the bar for average corner play is low). So I'm not sure the GG thing has much to do with it. Voters routinely pick the wrong players there, even at the MLB level. 

I do agree Murakami isn't much of a fit. And as stated I'm a big no thanks on him. 

[JunkyardWalrus]

On 11/3/2025 at 2:17 PM, javy knows my name said:

Sure, I love 1Q84

I see you love having a 'simple dinner.'

[Tryptamine]

Not interested at all. With his current swing 30% k rate is optimistic.