TOKYO, JAPAN— On Nov. 7, Japanese baseball superstar Munetaka Murakami was officially posted by his Nippon Professional Baseball team, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, making him eligible to join a Major League Baseball club in the coming weeks.
Under international free-agent rules, all 30 MLB teams will have 45 days to negotiate with Murakami before he can sign, setting the stage for a potential shake-up across the league by December.
Murakami, a 25-year-old power-hitting infielder capable of playing both first and third base, built an impressive résumé in his native Japan, blasting 246 home runs over eight seasons—including a monster 2022 campaign in which his 56 homers set a new NPB single-season record.
American fans may also remember Murakami from Japan’s championship run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, highlighted by his walk-off two-run double in the ninth inning vs. Mexico that sent Japan to the final—where he later launched a 432-foot solo home run off U.S. pitcher Merrill Kelly in a victory over the United States.
Murakami is poised to become the latest in a wave of Japanese stars who have dominated Major League Baseball in recent years—most notably including the Dodgers’ trio of Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, and 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who recently helped lead Los Angeles to back-to-back championships.
A bid for Murakami makes sense for several teams—especially the Dodgers—given their growing need for a young corner infielder as Max Muncy and Freddie Freeman age, their already strong Japanese core, and their recent willingness to spend big in free agency.
Both New York clubs could be in play for the slugger as well. With Pete Alonso’s future with the Mets uncertain and owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets, combined with veteran Paul Goldschmidt certainly not serving as a long-term solution at first base for the Yankees, there’s a strong chance Murakami could find himself in the Big Apple.
Wherever he lands, it’s clear that Japan has re-emerged as one of the world’s premier baseball talent pipelines—and Murakami may well be the newest face of the Japanese baseball revolution.
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AloJapan.com