White Sox’s latest signing has a chance to be long-term Guardians villain 

The modern-day Chicago White Sox have been plenty of things. Historic loser. Divisional afterthought. Dumpster fire. 

And, for at least one day, this offseason, they got a chance to be a free agent factor.

On Sunday, Chicago signed Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami to a two-year, $34 million deal in one of the biggest free agent stunners in recent memory. 

While Murakami was the Nippon Professional Baseball MVP in the 2021 and ‘22 seasons, he has some incredibly gaudy strikeout numbers overseas that are expected to rise against MLB pitching. 

In the end, it seems like those strikeout numbers ended up impacting his market considering MLB Trade Rumors projected that he would get an eight-year, $180 million contract. 

But regardless of how much those flaws have impacted his present-day earning potential, Murakami has the kind of power that could easily turn him into a villain in Cleveland. 

It'll be interesting to see how the Guardians handle Munetaka Murakami

And make no mistake — Murakami has power. In fact, he’s slugged 246 home runs across eight seasons for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows during his time in the NPB. 

His 2022 season is the stuff of legend, as he smashed 56 home runs, which broke the record for a Japanese-born player. He followed that up by racking up some big hits for Japan in the World Baseball Classic. 

But then there’s his aforementioned struggles with strikeouts. 

He’s recorded a strikeout rate greater than 28% in each of the past three seasons, and he had an in-zone contact rate of 72.6% last season, which would have been second-lowest in MLB. Those concerns are even more acute considering MLB pitching is much better than NPB pitching. 

Still, he’s just 25 (making him the youngest free agent in this year’s class), so he has a chance to hit free agency again as a 27-year-old so long as he puts together two strong seasons on the South Side of Chicago. 

Although Guardians pitchers will pick up plenty of strikeouts against Murakami in that time period, it’s not hard to imagine him ruining a couple summer days with a clutch home run sent deep into the Chicago night. 

Murakami was posted on Nov. 7 and his 45-day negotiating window was set to expire today, so his back was against the wall.

Again, it’s clear that he wasn’t going to get the kind of deal he was expecting, so it makes sense the best deal being offered would come from the White Sox, who aren’t playing for much in 2026. 

Even if the White Sox don’t have the talent to compete for a division title in 2026, they should be better thanks to Murakami along with fellow offseason signing Anthony Kay and returning outfielder Luis Robert Jr. (so long as he isn’t traded). 

The White Sox also have the No. 1 pick in next summer’s MLB Draft, which will give them another chance to add to their core. 

While the Guardians don’t play the White Sox as much any more thanks to the new MLB schedule, the Guardians have taken advantage of Chicago’s organizational malaise in recent years to the tune of a 19-7 record over the past two seasons. 

Murakami would have been a solid fit in the Guardians’ lineup given his power and ability to hit right-handed, but it’s incredibly hard to believe that the normally frugal Guardians would be willing to pony up that amount of money for a player with such subpar strikeout numbers. 

The Guardians will get their first chance to see Murakami on June 22 when the Guardians travel to Rate Field for a three-game series.