{"id":31180,"date":"2025-03-07T03:27:42","date_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180"},"modified":"2025-03-07T03:27:42","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T03:27:42","slug":"breaking-yankees-are-an-intruiging-suitor-for-japanese-star-free-agent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\"Baseball:
Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A player who has been in Yankees\u2019 free agency rumors for years,\u00a0Munetaka Murakami<\/strong>\u00a0is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2025 season, and they could be smack-dab in the middle of these sweepstakes. The 1B\/3B himself has stated interest in playing for the\u00a0Yankees<\/strong>, and\u00a0Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation<\/strong>\u00a0reports while the slugger has a West Coast preference, the one team he would be willing to forgo that for is the New York Yankees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was talking to some Japanese\/NPB insiders, they told me he would definitely prefer on the West Coast\u2026but it\u2019s going to be West Coast teams versus one team on the East Coast; and it\u2019s the Yankees\u2026he would definitely be willing to sign with the Yankees.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Doug McKain would go on to add that he believes the Yankees would be the favorites for Murakami, who is one of the most prominent home run threats in recent NPB history. His bat-to-ball skills have lagged behind the rest of his skillset, but the Yankees could be intrigued by the massive power potential that Munetaka Murakami possesses, especially as a left-handed hitter.<\/p>\n

Why the Yankees Could Be In a Perfect Position to Land Munetaka Murakami<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Baseball:
Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The Yankees may not have to worry about the Dodgers in a potential Munetaka Murakami sweepstakes, as their roster has Max Muncy at third base, Freddie Freeman at first base, and Shohei Ohtani at DH. While the Dodgers could decline the $10 million club option for Muncy at the end of the season, it would be stunning to see them do so for Murakami if their veteran slugger continues to produce.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, while Murakami has continued to play some third base in the NPB, he doesn\u2019t profile to stick at the position at the Major League level. He has stated a clear interest in coming over to the United States, and the Yankees will have a much clearer path to roster the star Japanese slugger with their lack of a long-term 1B. Paul Goldschmidt is only signed to a one-year deal and is in the final stages of his career, which makes a potential reunion after 2025 a bit tricky to imagine unless he\u2019s utterly dominant.<\/p>\n

What could present a fork in the road for the Yankees\u2019 pursuit of Munetaka Murakami is his alarmingly high strikeout rates, as he\u2019s gone from around a 30-40 grade hit tool to a 20-grade in the past two seasons.<\/p>\n

\n
\"MLB:
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s easy to dream about the power that Murakami would provide in the middle of the Yankees\u2019 offense and how it could play at Yankee Stadium, and it\u2019s just as easy to dread what his contact rates could look like. He has led the NPB in strikeouts over the past two seasons, being punched out 180 times in 610 trips to the plate last season, and while it came with 33 home runs and 105 walks, MLB pitchers could eat him alive if he doesn\u2019t reverse those trends.<\/p>\n

During his historic 2022 season where he smashed 56 home runs with a 1.168 OPS, he struck out just 128 times in 612 trips to the plate, meaning his strikeout rate has climbed by nearly 9% in the last two seasons. Perhaps a big reason for this increase in strikeout rate is the NPB\u2019s declining offense as a league, with pitchers having a clear advantage right now in terms of run environment and the baseballs themselves.<\/p>\n

Unlike in MLB, the NPB has pre-tacked baseballs, and that could be giving Murakami some trouble at the moment. There\u2019s still no precedent for a hitter with as many contact holes as Munetaka Murakami coming over to the U.S. and having tons of success, but you could also argue no hitter has come over from Japan with the power profile that he has, as even Shohei Ohtani took time to get things going in the HR department.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images A player who has been in Yankees\u2019 free agency rumors for years,\u00a0Munetaka Murakami\u00a0is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2025… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"  Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images A player who has been in Yankees\u2019 free agency rumors for years,\u00a0Munetaka Murakami\u00a0is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2025...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"858\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg\",\"width\":858,\"height\":483},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"  Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images A player who has been in Yankees\u2019 free agency rumors for years,\u00a0Munetaka Murakami\u00a0is a free agent at the conclusion of the 2025...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":858,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180","name":"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-07T03:27:42+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Baseball-World-Baseball-Classic-Championship-Japan-vs-USA-20287161.jpg","width":858,"height":483},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31180#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Yankees are an \u2018intruiging\u2019 suitor for Japanese star free agent"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31180"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31183,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31180\/revisions\/31183"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}