Tokyo Yakult Swallows infielder Munetaka Murakami will enter the posting system on Friday, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Beginning on Saturday at 8 a.m. ET, MLB teams will have until 5 p.m. ET on Dec. 22 to reach a deal with the 25-year-old Murakami, who is sixth on Yahoo Sports’ ranking of the top 50 free agents this winter. If he goes unsigned, he will return to the Swallows for the 2026 season.
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Over eight seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball league, Murakami, who plays first and third base, has hit 246 home runs and driven in 722 runs while batting .270. In 2022, he was the Central League’s Triple Crown winner and hit 56 homers, breaking Sadaharu Oh’s NPB single-season record by a Japanese-born player.
The left-handed hitter was limited to 56 games this past season due to an oblique injury, yet still hit 22 homers and slashed .273/.379/.663. One concern for Murakami is his strikeout rate (26%) after having been fanned 977 times over eight seasons.
Murakami also represented Japan during the 2023 World Baseball Classic, hitting a walk-off double against Mexico in the semifinals before homering off Merrill Kelly en route to a third title in the tournament.
Any MLB team that ends up signing Murakami must pay a fee to the player’s Asian team, which would amount to 20% for the first $25 million, 17.5% for the next $25 million and an additional 15% on every dollar above $50 million, per ESPN.
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Murakami is expected to draw an MLB deal north of $100 million, earning the Swallows a posting fee of at least $16.9 million.
