Overview
- Multiple outlets, led by ESPN, report the agreement at two years and $34 million, with Murakami expected to play first base for Chicago.
- Chicago’s total cost is about $40.575 million, including a $6.575 million posting fee paid to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
- The signing arrives a day before his posting window closed on Monday at 5 p.m. ET, and reports indicate he has passed his physical.
- Murakami, 25, is a two-time Central League MVP who hit a Japan-born single-season record 56 home runs in 2022 and has 246 career NPB homers.
- A market once projected to deliver a nine-figure deal shifted to a higher-AAV, prove-it structure that fits the White Sox’s low payroll and need for middle-order power in a rebuild.