Japanese third baseman Munetaka Murakami is joining the White Sox on a two-year contract worth $34 million, CBS Sports has confirmed.
The team has not yet announced the signing.
The $34 million contract is well beneath expectations for Murakami, pointing to a weak market for his services. It is significantly less than the $90 million deal the Boston Red Sox handed Masataka Yoshida three years ago that remains the richest contract given to a Japanese position player.
Murakami, 26 in February, has been the top power hitter in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball the last several years, and that includes slugging 22 home runs in 56 games around elbow surgery and an oblique strain in 2025. He has averaged 42.6 home runs per 162 games with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who made him available to MLB teams via the posting system this winter.
CBS Sports ranked Murakami as the seventh-best free agent available this offseason.
Because he is 25, Murakami was able to sign a contract of any size this offseason, similar to Yoshinobu Yamamoto two years ago. Player younger than 25 are subject to baseball’s international bonus pools, severely limiting their earning potential. Roki Sasaki came to MLB through that process last offseason and signed a minor-league contract with a $6.5 million signing bonus.
The White Sox owe the Swallows a posting fee for signing Murakami. Here is the posting fee structure:
Contract worth less than $25 million: 20% of contract valueContract worth $25 million to $50 million: $5 million plus 17.5% of amount over $25 millionContract worth more than $50 million: $9.275 million plus 15% of amount over $50 million
That puts Murakami’s posting fee at just over $6.5 million.