Whenever there's a big Japanese star looking to come stateside, you can expect the Los Angeles Dodgers to be lurking. When Munetaka Murakami was officially posted, it was expected that the Dodgers would at least sniff around.
They didn't really have a spot for him. The soon-to-be 26-year-old has mostly been a (poor) third baseman, and many believed he'd move to first base in the majors. The Dodgers exercised their option on Max Muncy, giving him another year manning the hot corner. Freddie Freeman, of course, is going nowhere.
Murakami's billed to have prodigious power, and there was a thought that would be enough for the Dodgers to take a chance on him and figure out the logistics of such an acquisition later.