Red Sox fans blasting front office for not signing White Sox rookie home run machine

The Boston Red Sox are dead last in MLB in home runs (14 as a team entering April 24), and fans are roasting Boston's front office for not acquiring Munetaka Murakami this past offseason. The Japanese rookie has already hit 10 homers for the White Sox in his first 25 MLB games, and Red Sox fans wish he were doing it in a Boston uniform.

Murakami isn't a perfect player. He reportedly scared off many MLB scouts and executives due to his propensity to strike out, not to mention an alleged problem with higher velocity.

Though that latter issue was disputed by some high-profile Red Sox observers pushing the front office to acquire Murakami on account of his slug alone, Boston never made Murakami a priority. (Full disclosure: Murakami has already tallied 35 strikeouts this season. As mentioned before, he's flawed ).

Munetaka Murakami was never more than a second backup plan for the Red Sox in free agency

Despite Murakami's strikeouts, Boston could really use his slug right about now. But during the offseason, he wasn't a priority for a Red Sox team that looked fully set at third base (with Craig Breslow presumably rating Willson Contreras ahead of Murakami as a first-base target, as well).

Breslow, like the rest of us, assumed that Alex Bregman would re-sign with Boston and be the club's third baseman in 2026 and beyond. If Breslow had known that he and the front office were going to completely fumble Bregman and stain Boston's offseason, maybe he would have looked deeper into Murakami. We'll never know.

As it stood over the winter, Murakami was never reported as being more than a second, third, or even fourth option for the Red Sox at third base, and again, the plan all along was to sign Bregman and not worry about any of those other options (which reportedly included Kazuma Okamoto and Eugenio Suárez).

The worst part about the Red Sox missing out on Murakami's powerful bat is that Breslow could have signed the Japanese slugger to a short-term deal. We know this because that's exactly what the White Sox did, inking Murakami to a two-year, $34 million pact in late December, taking full advantage of the fact that Murakami's stock had dropped in the eyes of executives around the league.

Craig Breslow didn't add nearly enough power to the Red Sox lineup this past offseason

The problem with Breslow's roster construction is simple and obvious. He's trying to build the Red Sox around an elite staff and run prevention, but this is a team that plays 81 games at hitter-friendly Fenway Park! There's a reason great Red Sox teams have always featured a punishing, powerful offense (priority No. 1) and a competent staff.

Red Sox fans are enraged with the front office because the answers to this team's problems are right in front of everyone. For a fanbase that is so passionate about winning, it can't stand this type of backwards team-building and management.

It's also worth noting that the Red Sox offense — in being totally impotent — makes for a very boring watch. Boston is not only a losing baseball team; the Red Sox aren't entertaining. Murakami and his moonshots would have done much to avoid that problem.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow