The White Sox Just Signed Japanese Slugger Munetaka Murakami Out Of Absolutely NOWHERE
What a wild ride it's been the last 15 hours or so for Chicago fans. First, Caleb Williams dragged his totally straight nutsack all over the entire state of Wisconsin's face:
That was coooooold blooooooded!!!!
Fuck the Packers forever and always. LOVE that the rivalry is back, but FUCK them.
The fun didn't stop there though. Out of nowhere, the White Sox decided to up and sign Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami out of fucking nowhere:
When I say out of nowhere, I mean NOWHERE, and I say that for a few reasons.
1. Jerry Reinsdorf (duh) - I'll keep it brief, but myself and any other person remotely in the know had heard The Chairman had planned to task Getz with gutting payroll to the lowest amount possible…Figure around $70MM, for all intents and purposes. That means minimal 1-2 year cheap flip signings and jettisoning Robert. Gross, but unsurprising nevertheless.
What that doesn't mean is bringing in a real, actual sought after free agent on a "not nothing" deal.
I hope it goes without say, but I'm glad I was completely wrong here.
2. There were some early offseason predictions that he'd sign for as many as 8 years at around $180MM… even though I detest that the White Sox don't play in these financial waters and play in them often, I could understand not being comfortable dropping that sorta coin on a player who has some obvious questions about his game.
Oh and the Sox had to fork over more $6MM+ to Murakami's NPL game for the posting fee too. So like…this is a risky financial choice. Wow! I just kinda simped for owners being frugal…kidding, fuck them all.
ANYWAYS, before we get to those questions, here's his highlight reel from the NPL:
Here's a quick rundown of his good/bad:
GOOD:
- massive, massive mammo whammo power. Lighttower power. Draws comps to Kyle Schwarber
- Great eye. Queues up Jonah Hill gif
- Young. Only 25 years old. Also sneaky fast/athletic for his frame a la Josh Naylor from what I gather
BAD:
- High K rate (30% in NPL)
- 1B/DH (aka DH only, he's butcher defensively apparently)
- Struggled with velocity in NPL. That's bad because they don't throw as hard in the NPL.
Basically what we're getting here is a big time boom or bust profile. On one end, you have a 25 year old tank of a human who's about to be introduced to MLB tech and swing analysis for the first time. Maybe he's a .240/.380/.525 type guy and drops 40 bombs a year right off the rip? Or maybe his flaws are exposed by MLB staffs and he's someone like an Adam Dunn-lite and throws up a .200/.300/.400 sorta line with 20-25 dingers through his first 1000 plate appearances.
We'll see. I'm just glad the Sox pounced on his cratered market, because Murakami could be a really fun signing if he clicks. That, and it's a nice introduction for the White Sox to the Japanese market of players and eyeballs too. I like it and I like it a lot for those two reasons even if he flops on the field. To them it's a minimal risk on this signing
Oh and btw…I have it on pretty solid authority Ishbia pushed for this signing once it was clear Murakami wasn't gonna get near the years, AAV or total $ amounts that were predicted by some he'd get when he chose to come stateside. Goddamn it felt good to hear that.
That was a perfect 15 hours for me as a sports fan. I will ride this high through the entire Christmas season. Merry Christmas you filthy bastards!!!