Munetaka Murakami Reportedly Lands White Sox Contract, Who Are Top Free Agents Left?

The Chicago White Sox have reportedly won the Munetaka Murakami sweepstakes after the Japanese superstar agreed to a deal on Sunday.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported the single-season home run champion in Japan agreed to a two-year, $34 million contract.

Passan added context to the agreement:

Murakami is the latest slugger to reach an agreement with a team after Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies) and Pete Alonso (Baltimore Orioles) did so as well.

Here is a look at some of the top remaining free agents available for teams looking to make a move:

• Alex Bregman, 3B
• Kyle Tucker, OF
• Bo Bichette, SS
• Cody Bellinger, OF
• Framber Valdez, SP
• Ranger Suárez, SP
• Tatsuya Imai, SP
• Zac Gallen, SP
• Eugenio Suárez, 3B

The Yakult Swallows posted Murakami on Nov. 7, giving all 30 MLB teams 45 days to negotiate with him. Since he was already over the age of 25, he was not subject to the international free-agent rules that limited Roki Sasaki to a $6.5 million signing bonus from the Los Angeles Dodgers last offseason.

Murakami debuted for the Swallows in NPB as an 18-year-old during the 2018 season. He came out of the gate hitting and never really stopped over the course of eight years.

In 892 NPB games, Murakami posted a .270/.394/.557 slash line. He slugged a career-high 56 homers in 2022 and hit at least 30 homers five times in six seasons from 2019 to '24. He only played 69 games in 2025 due to an oblique injury, but still put up a .286/.392/.659 slash line.

Murakami has primarily played third base, but has also spent time at first base. He could end up being used primarily at designated hitter in MLB.

Scouting reports for Murakami are more mixed on his offensive upside against big-league pitching. Everyone agrees that he has huge power potential, but there are questions about whether or not he will make enough contact to maximize it.

"He has legit power," said one scout who watched Murakami multiple times told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand in October. "It should translate to the Majors."

Murakami's strikeout rate has been above 28 percent in each of the past three seasons. His patience does allow him to rack up high walk totals as well, including drawing more than 100 free passes in 2021, 2022 and 2024.

FanGraphs' prospect report only projects Murakami to have a future 30-grade hit tool (below-average on the 20-80 scale), but even with that his game power projects to be a grade-70.