Japanese slugger’s power potential may be too good for the Blue Jays to pass up

Throughout the current offseason, a lot of the focus of the Toronto Blue Jays has been on the likes of top free agent Kyle Tucker and fan favourite Bo Bichette. What has quietly flown under-the-radar has been the market for Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami, who was posted almost a month ago.

However, that window will be closing this coming Monday at 5 pm EST as the clock continues to tick down for his window of opportunity, Murakami’s tremendous power is so good that the Blue Jays should seriously consider signing him.

Japanese slugger’s power potential may be too good for the Blue Jays to pass up

In fact, his power potential is literally off the charts as ESPN and MLB insider Jeff Passan claimed that one high-ranked executive said that “he’s still got 90 raw power”. For a scouting scale that typically ranks a player’s score between 20 to 80, it meant that the power of Murakami is out of this world as it would even break the scale limits.

Just taking a look at his numbers, that certainly is no joke, as the Japanese sensation managed to slug 36 home runs in his age 19 season alone. In total, Murakami has hit 265 home runs over just eight seasons of professional baseball while driving in 722 runs in 1003 total games played.

However, perhaps much of the worry by many prospective teams comes down to his high strikeout rate, including topping 180 strikeouts in 2019 and in 2024. The other concern has been his defense. As a third baseman, Murakami has a career .943 fielding percentage, which is way below typical standards. Nevertheless, he has fared a lot better as a first baseman, compiling a .994 fielding percentage in over 1856 chances.

But with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. firmly entrenched at first base with Toronto, if the Jays were to pursue Murakami, they will need to take the defensive hit at third base, or have him deployed primarily as a designated hitter. In any case, adding a player of Murakami’s caliber can enable the Blue Jays to go toe-to-toe with some of the best home run hitters currently in the game in Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani and Cal Raleigh.

As a result, as much as the Blue Jays would want to continue their pursuits of both Tucker and Bichette, they should also carefully consider taking action with Murakami before his time officially expires on Monday.