🔗 Share this article

In a notable move for their retooling roster, the South Side team have signed Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, completing a lucrative contract bringing in the power-hitting player.

Deal Structure and Incentives

The agreement includes a $1 million signing bonus, payable within 30 days, in addition to annual pay of $16M for the next season and $17M for the final year.

Notably, Murakami's compensation may grow based on performance achievements in 2026:

• An additional $1M for earning the MVP award.
• $500,000 for finishing second or third in MVP voting.
• A quarter-million for ranking between fourth and tenth.
• Another $250,000 for being named the Rookie of the Year honor.

The contract includes that he cannot be sent to the minor leagues without his consent and grants him a free agent at the termination of the contract. Extra provisions include a team-provided interpreter and airfare between the U.S. and Japan.

Compensation and Franchise History

As part of the transaction, Chicago must pay a posting fee of roughly $6.58 million to the Yakult Swallows, Murakami's former team in Japan's Central League. The Swallows are also entitled to a supplemental fee of any triggered incentive payments.

Murakami will become the fourth Japanese to represent the Chicago franchise, following reliever Shingo Takatsu (2004-05), second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (2005-07), and outfielder Kosuke Fukudome (2012). Of note, Takatsu was a manager for Murakami back in Japan.

Career Highlights

Murakami, a left-handed hitter who will turn 26 in February, enters a emerging lineup in Chicago that includes prospects like Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, and Chase Meidroth. The team are finished with a last-place season, finishing last in the AL Central but representing a significant improvement from the year before campaign.

A two-time league MVP honors in 2021 and 2022, Murakami is famous for a monumental 2022 season where he hit 56 homers, eclipsing the single-season record for a Japanese-born player formerly held by legend Sadaharu Oh. That performance also made him the most youthful hitter ever to win Japan's coveted batting Triple Crown.

His most recent NPB campaign was shortened to 56 games due to an oblique injury. Despite striking out 64 Ks, he batted .273 with 22 HRs and 47 driven in.

Over his career tenure with the Swallows, Murakami has accumulated a .270 lifetime batting average with 246 homers, 647 RBIs, and nearly 1,000 strikeouts in 892 games. He started playing primarily at first, he has more recently played to the hot corner.

Global Stage Success

Murakami's heroics were on full display during the last World Baseball Classic. In the penultimate game against Mexico, he delivered a victory-sealing double that brought home two fellow Japanese stars for a dramatic one-run win. The very next day in the final against the Team USA, he slugged a tying home run in the early innings, helping Japan's subsequent championship win.

The lefty slugger is set to be formally introduced at a introductory event on Monday.