🔗 Share this article

In a major move for their rebuilding roster, the American League club have signed Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, completing a lucrative contract with the accomplished player.

Financial Terms and Player Perks

The contract includes a seven-figure signing bonus, payable within 30 days, alongside compensation of sixteen million for the upcoming season and $17 million for the final year.

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

• $1 million for winning the league MVP award.
• Half a million dollars for placing as runner-up or in third place in MVP voting.
• A quarter-million for ranking in the top ten.
• $250,000 for winning the ROY honor.

The agreement also stipulates that he cannot be sent to the minors without his approval and grants him a unrestricted player at the termination of the contract. Extra provisions include a dedicated interpreter and airfare between Japan and the U.S..

Compensation and Historical Context

As part of the signing, Chicago is obligated to provide a posting fee of $6,575,000 to the Yakult Swallows, Murakami's former team in Japan's Central League. The Swallows get a 15% cut of fifteen percent triggered incentive payments.

Murakami joins the ranks as the fourth Japanese to represent the White Sox, following reliever Shingo Takatsu (2004-05), second baseman Tadahito Iguchi (2005-07), and fielder Kosuke Fukudome (2012). Of note, Takatsu once managed Murakami back in Japan.

Player Profile

Murakami, a left-side batter who turns 26 in February, enters a emerging group of offensive players in Chicago that includes prospects like Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, and Chase Meidroth. The club are coming off a last-place season, finishing at the bottom in the American League Central but representing a 19-game improvement from the year before campaign.

The winner of back-to-back Most Valuable Player honors in '21 and '22, Murakami is renowned for a monumental 2022 season where he launched 56 homers, eclipsing the all-time record for a player in Japan formerly held by legend Sadaharu Oh. That feat also made him the youngest player ever to secure Japan's elusive Triple Crown.

His most recent NPB campaign was curtailed to a partial schedule due to an oblique injury. Even with recording 64 times, he batted .273 with 22 HRs and 47 runs batted in.

Over his eight-year tenure with the Yakult club, Murakami has compiled a .270 batting average with 246 homers, 647 RBIs, and nearly 1,000 strikeouts in 892 contests. He started playing primarily at first base, he has spent most of his time to third.

International Pedigree

Murakami's heroics were on center stage during the 2023 World Baseball Classic. In the semifinal against Mexico, he delivered a victory-sealing two-base hit that drove in two fellow Japanese stars for a come-from-behind one-run win. The very next day in the title match against the Team USA, he hit a game-tying homer in the early innings, paving the way for Japan's subsequent 3-2 victory.

The power hitter is set to be officially presented at a press conference on Monday.