Munetaka Murakami is running out of time to find a landing spot.
The power-hitting Japanese free agent has until Monday, Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. ET to sign a contract with an MLB team, due to the rules of his posting.
There has been a lot of curiosity on social media in recent days as baseball fans try to figure out why there hasn't been more information and rumors out there about Murakami's destination.
ESPN's Jeff Passan broke the situation down a little bit in a new article on Thursday, providing us with these paragraphs of information:
Murakami, the slugging 25-year-old corner infielder, must sign with an MLB team by 5 p.m. ET Monday. While plenty of teams have balked at Murakami's strikeout rate, in-zone swing-and-miss and questionable defensive position, one high-ranking executive this week said: "He's still got 90 raw power." Meaning: Murakami's immense power breaks the scouting scale that ranks players on scores of 20 to 80.
Even with the concerns, Murakami could find himself signing a long-term deal for the sort of price that locks him up through his prime years. If a shorter-term, big-dollar deal that allowed Murakami to hit the market again while still in his 20s were presented, he could potentially position himself to re-enter free agency having answered the questions teams had and getting the sort of mega-deal that is unlikely to greet him now.
MORE: The Mets keep taking players from the Yankees
One team that was popular in the running for Murakami early on was the Mariners. The Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants have come up, too.
But this has been a quieter free agency than most. It's really not obvious who might get involved. One recent report suggested the Chicago White Sox may be where Murakami lands.
Just in this case, we know when it'll happen by. Murakami will have a team before Christmas.
More MLB news:
- Dodgers' payroll is even more loaded with Edwin Diaz
- It's a good day to remember Bob Feller's brilliance and his time in the U.S. Navy
- How Aroldis Chapman is able to pitch for Great Britain in the WBC
- Nationals sign pitcher after 3 seasons in Japan
- Alex Bregman has a key free agent preference