Star Japanese slugger previously linked to Red Sox expected to be posted to MLB

The 2025-26 offseason will prove crucial in the Boston Red Sox's attempt to get over the hump with this current crop of players. A No. 2 starting pitcher, some high-leverage bullpen arms, and a slugging corner infielder top of the current list of priorities for Craig Breslow and the front office.

It'd also be nice if the team could add a (relatively) cheap, young player to join the current core of top prospects and 20-something stars with long-term extensions. If that could all be done while the franchise expands its foothold in the Japanese market, all the better.

Munetaka Murakami is going to be posted for MLB free agency this winter according to numerous baseball sources, and the 25-year-old Japanese phenom is going to have a ravenous market of suitors vying for his services.

The Red Sox have been floated as one team who could make a serious push for the two-time Central League MVP. How realistic is it that they'll convert on bringing Murakami to Boston?

Munetaka Murakami perfectly fits Red Sox's offseason needs, but competition will be fierce

With Alex Bregman's future currently uncertain and Triston Casas recovering from a season-ending injury, third base and first base are about the only two positions with genuine openings on the Red Sox's roster heading into 2026. It just so happens that Murakami is a corner infielder who has split time between the hot and cold corner, and he'd be able to fill either role (or play at DH) if he ends up in Boston.

Of course, the most attractive part of his profile is his power. Besides Shohei Ohtani, there's arguably never been an international free agent with the kind of raw pop that Murakami possesses.

He's hit 246 home runs in 892 career games in NPB, good for a 162-game pace of 44.67. He has a 56-homer season on his résumé as well. If you know anything about the 2025 Red Sox, you know that they need that kind of power in the lineup, even if it comes attached to a worrying strikeout rate (28.6% in 2025).

Murakami has actually been linked to the Red Sox for quite some time, though again, the competition will be fierce. The Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, and Padres have all been routinely listed as teams willing to go above and beyond for his services, all of whom can outbid the Red Sox if they choose (at 25 years old, Murakami is eligible for a free agent contract, so there is no limit on his the MLB deal he signs).

Then again, the Red Sox have already handed out the largest deal ever to a Japanese position player (Masataka Yoshida, five years, $90 million). Their history with Japanese players is also rich -- they've had 10 throughout franchise history, the fourth-highest mark in Major League Baseball.

Getting Murakami will prove difficult, but he could solve a lot of this roster's issues in one go. It'd be foolish for the front office not to at least try.