Munetaka Murakami: the Blue Jays are one to watch

On Friday, we learned that Munetaka Murakami was now available to MLB teams. The Japanese star has 45 days (as of Friday) to sign a contract with a Manfred Tour team if he wishes to make the jump to America.

Murakami will therefore have signed before the holidays, at the latest.

Naturally, he's a name that makes people sit up and take notice. He's made quite an impression in Japan in recent years thanks to his power, and it will be interesting to see which team gets hold of his services. And more importantly, at what price.

The Dodgers, Yankees and Mariners are often mentioned in this context… but according to Ben Nicholson-Smith(Sportsnet), executives across the majors are keeping an eye on two teams in particular for Murakami.

They are the Yankees… and the Blue Jays.

https://twitter.com/bnicholsonsmith/status/1986824353095229933

We know that Ross Atkins, in his end-of-season press briefing, mentioned that the club doesn't want to close the door on signing a player who is primarily a designated hitter. And that's interesting in view of the fact that Murakami, even though he played third base in Japan, could well only be a first baseman or designated hitter in America.

And with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, let's just say the position is… occupied.

That said, we know that George Springer is primarily a designated hitter at this stage of his career… and Anthony Santander, who still has several years left on his contract, is likely to become one at some point.

So you have to wonder if there's really room for Murakami in town… but obviously, there are executives across MLB who seem to believe there is. He'll obviously be a name to keep an eye on, then.

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