ESPN’s Jeff Passan made the inevitable news official today when he announced the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) would post 25-year-old third baseman Munetaka Murakami.
There’s no doubt that Murakami is about to land himself quite the paycheck. He’s a .273 lifetime hitter with 265 home runs in eight seasons. Murakami also holds the single-season record for most home runs by a Japanese player, with 56 in 2022. Plenty of major league teams will line up for a chance to offer him a lucrative contract, plus an even more lucrative posting fee to Yakult.