Overview

• MLB.com reports the 25-year-old Yakult Swallows slugger is expected to be posted this offseason, opening negotiations to all 30 teams.
• The Yankees, Mets, Phillies and Mariners are cited as leading suitors, with the Dodgers, Giants and Red Sox also linked depending on positional fit.
• Murakami is a left-handed corner infielder with 246 NPB homers and a 2022 Triple Crown that included a record 56 home runs by a Japanese-born player.
• He missed time in 2025 with oblique and elbow issues but still produced a .286/.392/.659 line with 24 homers in 69 games, drawing in-person Mets scouting by David Stearns in August.
• Evaluators flag a rising strikeout rate and a dip in walks, and while Japanese media floated a valuation above ¥29 billion (about $200 million), contract figures remain speculative.