Overview
- Murakami’s 45-day posting window closes Dec. 22 at 5 p.m. ET, setting a hard deadline to reach an MLB deal.
- Ken Rosenthal says he does not expect Murakami to return to Japan and believes he will be on a major-league roster in 2026.
- The market remains opaque, with reported interest from the Red Sox, Mariners, Tigers, Phillies, Mets, Blue Jays and Pirates.
- A public projection from Just Baseball’s Ryan Finkelstein predicts a seven-year, $140 million deal with the Phillies, which is speculative and unconfirmed.
- The corner infielder, who hit a Japan-record 56 homers in 2022 and has 265 NPB home runs, brings swing-and-miss concerns after striking out at least 28% in each of the past three seasons, and his decision could influence other infield free-agent pursuits.