Could the New York Mets be in the mix for another Japanese phenom?
Yakyu Cosmopolitan reported on Tuesday that Mets’ president of baseball operations David Stearns was seen in Japan watching Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami’s game for the Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball against the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Murakami could be a free agent at the end of the season and if posted, could be a highly coveted player on many teams’ radars.
New York Mets PBO David Stearns at Meiji Jingu tonight to see Munetaka Murakami https://t.co/pI4W7lNGAu
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) August 12, 2025
Murakami is seen as a versatile player, having played both first and third base for the Swallows. The slugger has played in NPB for eight seasons and has a career slash line of .273/.394/.543 with 246 home runs, 681 RBI, 165 doubles and an impressive .943 OPS.
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The 25-year-old has also had 30+ home run seasons in five of the last six seasons for the Swallows. Murakami’s best season at the plate came in 2022 when he slugged 56 home runs, breaking Sadaharu Oh’s single-season record by a Japanese-born player.
This season, however, has been a down year for Murakami as he’s only appeared in 27 games for the Swallows due to injuries. In those 27 games this season, he has homered just six times and driven in 13 runs, but he did hit a walk-off home run on Tuesday to defeat the BayStars.
Munetaka Murakami tattoos a walk-off 2-run homer!
pic.twitter.com/n8lWyzyhdU
— Yakyu Cosmopolitan (@yakyucosmo) August 12, 2025
The Mets showing some level of interest in Murakami is notable as the team will face some more decisions to make once the season comes to an end. Pete Alonso, who signed a two-year, $54 million deal with an opt-out after this season, is expected to exercise that opt-out this winter. If New York can’t bring back their homegrown first baseman, Murakami could be seen as a potential replacement if the Mets and Alonso can’t come to an agreement on a new deal.
With Murakami also a third baseman, the Amazins’ could also opt to play him at the hot corner if they sign the slugger, due to the team using third base by committee with Mark Vientos struggling after his breakout 2024 campaign. Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio have also gotten reps at the position this year.
New York will also have to try and beat out a slew of teams this offseason for any potential pursuit of Murakami. The Los Angeles Dodgers may be the team that could present a challenge for the Mets, thanks to their ability to ink deals with Japanese players over the last couple of years.
Most recently, the Dodgers were able to sign starter pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto out of Japan, as well as sign two-way star Shohei Ohtani to a then-record 10-year, $700 million deal on December 11, 2023.
AloJapan.com