The Mets have the longest history of any team in MLB when it comes to adding players from Japan. Whether that is most recently with Kodai Senga or dating back when they made a splash, at the time, in signing Kaz Matsui. In between, they have been stops for names like Hideo Nomo and Daisuke Matsuzaka, among others.
They have been unable, however, to land someone who is considered the "generational" type of player, as they leave Nippon Professional Baseball for MLB. I am talking about the Ichiro Suzuki, Hideki Matsui, Shohei Ohtani,and Yoshinobu Yamamoto types.
The next potential Japanese star is going to be posted this winter by his NPB team, the Yakult Swallows. That player is 25-year-old third baseman/first baseman Munetaka Murakami.
While not projecting that Murakami is by any means a lock to end up with the types of careers some of the above players had, Murakami will be considered the biggest offensive player to come over from Japan since Ohtani in 2018.
He had an all-time season in 2022. At just 22 years old, Murakami slashed .318/.458/.710 and set the NPB single-season home run record when he hit 56 home runs, passing the legendary Sadaharu Oh.
Projections on a potential contract for Murakami are wide-ranging for various reasons. It would be surprising if the contract wasn’t in the range of six-to-seven years and $100 million or more.
Here are the pros and cons of signing Murakami…
PROS
One thing the Mets were lacking in 2025 was an additional thumper in the lineup. Once opposing teams got past Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto and Pete Alonso, there wasn’t that same level of threat. Mark Vientos did not repeat his 2024 season, and Brandon Nimmo had a perfectly good 2025 campaign, but he isn’t the best fit as a cleanup hitter on a team looking to win a championship.
A slugger like Murakami could have fit perfectly in that spot. Alonso's Mets future is up in the air, but whether he is here or not, the Mets could use another power hitter in the lineup.
In 2025, Murakami missed a lot of time due to an oblique injury. When he returned, he hit .286/.392/.659 with 24 home runs in 69 games. One of those 24 home runs was a walk-off shot that happened to have Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns in attendance.
Murakami has a power grade of at least 70 with elite bat speed that should easily project 30-plus home runs, if not closer to 40. His bat speed and exit velocity numbers all project to be in the class with some of the best in those metrics in MLB. He accompanies his power with the ability to get on base, with a career .394 on-base percentage in Japan.
From a defensive profile, he projects more as a first base/designated hitter type despite playing a lot of third base in Japan. If the Mets were looking for a power-hitting first baseman type to potentially replace Alonso, Murakami might be the closest one-for-one replacement that they could do.
When it comes to signing long-term contracts, Stearns has so far preferred to reserve that for younger players. The Mets, of course, signed Juan Soto last offseason at 25, and in his first year here, they made a substantial push for the then-25-year-old Yamamoto. The 25-year-old Murakami would fit his mold.
CONS
Murakami does possess some elite traits offensively, but there are some concerning red flags in his profile, specifically in the swing-and-miss category.
His in-zone contact rate, which is a baseline barometer of bat-to-ball skills of 73 percent, ranked near the bottom among qualified players in NPB over the last three years. For comparison’s sake, the MLB average for in-zone contact rate in 2025 was nearly 83 percent.
Murakami’s general strikeout rate over the past three seasons in NPB was all in the 28-29 percent range. The concern is that, in general, expectations are for strikeout rates to rise in the transition from NPB to MLB.
He has also struggled against high-end velocity (considered greater than 93 mph for this metric) over the last couple of years. The average MLB fastball in 2025 was 94.4 mph.
Murakami projects best defensively at first base, but even at that spot, he is not projected to be any better than average, if that.
VERDICT
Murakami fits the mold of a high-risk, high-reward player with a wide range of potential outcomes. The question that teams like the Mets will have to ask is if the power and on-base skills simply outweigh the swing-and-miss issues.
The reality is that most high-end home run hitters do strike out a lot. Seven of the top 11 leaders in home runs in MLB in 2025 had strikeout rates north of 25 percent. If Murakami is going to crack that range for home runs, then his strikeout rate would be high, but likely not unreasonably so.
At 25 years old, he is still young enough to get into an MLB hitting program and improve his mechanics and plan at the plate to help mitigate some of the flaws.
I personally do not look at Murakami as a potential Alonso replacement. If the Mets were to seriously pursue Murakami, it should be in addition to trying to retain Alonso. That would create a top four of a lineup that could be as impactful as any in baseball.
The best path might be Murakami spending a lot of time at designated hitter and playing first base and third base when necessary.
If the cost on a contract can stay in the range that is typical for Japanese hitters coming over to MLB in recent years, usually in the range of $18-20 million per season, the Mets should be in on a pursuit of a hitter that you can just see hitting balls to the back of the Coca Cola corner.