Munetaka Murakami is on his way.
The Japanese superstar is officially being posted, and his 45-day negotiating window with MLB teams in free agency begins on Saturday, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.
Murakami is a slugging third baseman who will be sought after by most MLB teams.
One might hold a leg up, though.
MLB.com took a survey of 46 writers, and the Seattle Mariners were named as Murakami's predicted destination by 21 of the voters. The Los Angeles Dodgers were next, receiving 28% of the vote.
"The Mariners are facing the prospect of losing first baseman Josh Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suárez in free agency, so they could have a significant amount of interest in Murakami’s big bat," MLB.com writes. "He can man either corner infield position -- he played about 75% of his games in Japan at third base. But Murakami’s calling card is his top-notch power."
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ESPN's Kiley McDaniel released contract projections on Thursday, which shows what the Mariners might need to shell out for Murakami. His prognosis: five years and $80 million, along with at $13 million posting fee.
"A reasonable expectation is Murakami can be an immediate home run threat with a solid walk rate but a low average and not much in the way of baserunning or defensive value -- maybe Kyle Manzardo/Matt Wallner on the lower end, Spencer Torkelson as a medium comp and Brent Rooker as the hopeful outcome," McDaniel writes. "The above projected contract might look weird for that set of comps, and there are a number of teams that wouldn't go over $50 million for Murakami, but there are also not many mid-20s position players on the free agent market with a clear carrying tool and no QO; these sorts of players demand a high price on the trade market if they're even available. A comp that comes up is Joey Gallo, who most fans think was always a bad player, but he did post 4.4 WAR in his age-27 season, and next year will be Murakami's age-26 season."
Murakami holds the NPB single-season home run record for a Japanese player. He slugged 56 in 2022.
He had an injury-limited campaign in 2025 but was healthy by the end of it, setting himself up to come to MLB.
Murakami would be a huge addition for Seattle after a season in which the Mariners held a late lead in ALCS Game 7 only to lose it in the final innings.
If the Mariners can hold off the Dodgers, they can make this happen.
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