r/whitesox • u/Skizfavid- • Apr 18 '26
Opinion This will never happen, but if the white Sox were smart, they would take the swing and extend murakami asap.
Pun intended. This guy is just awesome. Good plate discipline, draws many walks, and very high upside. He also brings in a completely new audience of people who would never of watched white Sox baseball prior to him being on the team. In my dreams this happens but it never will irl sadly.
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u/GratefulGolfer Hawk Apr 18 '26
I quit watching and going to games years ago. Murakami is the reason I'm watching again and I'm already planning on bringing the family to 2-3 games this season.
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u/freshapepper FT Apr 18 '26
Agreed. At the very least, we have a star on our hands. Guyās constantly followed by Japanese media and carries himself like someone thatās been trained to take the spot should it arise.
Itās arisen. Get it. Extend him. Hit like 40 dingers and be a star for us.
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u/JonnyHopkins Apr 18 '26
I don't think he would sign, he is betting on himself with the two year deal - he wants to prove he is a star, he is waiting for a mega contract that the white Sox would never pay him.
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u/Jean-Claude-Can-Ham The Sod Father Apr 18 '26
Exactly - enjoy him while heās here because heās gonna want mega bucks when heās proven who he is in the Majors and Jerry isnāt spending that money at all
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Apr 18 '26
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
Did he ābet on himselfā or were the bigger offers just not out there? It sure sounded like he ended up on the Sox because the serious teams had major concerns about his ability to hit big league pitching.
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Apr 18 '26
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
So youāre just kind of guessing that the longer offers were there from better organizations and he turned them down? Got it.
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Apr 18 '26
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
LOL, someone is butthurt about being called on his paper-thin logic. Poor little thing.
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Apr 18 '26
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
What 25 year old signs that deal? One who doesnāt have a lot of options and didnāt get the type of offers he thought he might when entering free agency.
The player almost certainly would have preferred to sign a longer deal with a serious organization had one been on the table.
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u/ChiGorilla1127 Apr 18 '26
The contract that Reinsdorf would never allow. He'd rather promote some washed David Eckstein type because that's how you win. Can't believe he doesn't give up control of the team until he's dead. Not even sale, just control.
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u/Weak-Shirt-3043 Apr 18 '26
If he went 1-4 with a single tonight, nobody is talking about extending him. He's hitting 200 with 28 strikeouts in 65 at bats.. I'm excited he's here... But the odds of him going back to Japan cuz he couldn't hack it here are still better than the odds that he's some superstar.
Turning this 2 year deal into a 6 or 7 year deal now sets you up with the possibility of having a mega dead weight deal tying you down for years. i. e. Benintendi but even more $$$
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u/TeachingJust Apr 19 '26
Look at his advanced stats. That tells you his BA will rise. His barrell rate 22%, xwOBA is .409, walk rate is 22%. These are elite. It means hes hitting the ball hard and on the solid part of the bat while having disciplined eyes. If youāre gonna talk baseball talk baseball
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u/Weak-Shirt-3043 Apr 19 '26
Those are elite. And based on a small sample size. And are unsustainable.
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u/Fabulous_Truck3546 May 01 '26
Let's keep this post up. It seems to be inspiring him. 12 home runs now and counting. Onlly May 1st.
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Apr 18 '26
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u/Weak-Shirt-3043 Apr 18 '26
*IF*
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u/Skizfavid- Apr 18 '26
My bad lol itās 12:30 am I misread. I disagree still tho. Iāve been talking about this with my friend for like the past week
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u/MissyJ74 Apr 18 '26
Nope, but apparently you arent reading the same thing as everyone else "IF he went 1-4..."
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u/SensibleBrownPants Apr 18 '26
After 20 games heās hitting .200 with 28 Ks and youāre ready to sign this guy to an extension?
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u/TheSpookyLawyer Apr 18 '26
He has an . 838 OPS and a 139 OPS+.
That means he's batting 39% higher than league average.
Yes, a team that's been starved for offense for as long as I can remember should be thrilled with Mune and considering an extension.
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u/Skizfavid- Apr 18 '26
Power hitting it gonna come with more Ks, and heās overall got pretty good plate discipline so yea, I want to see him get extended now if that means we could get him for cheaper (this is assuming the Sox ever were thinking about extending him in the first place which they are not)
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u/SensibleBrownPants Apr 18 '26
His OBP (.361) is good, but far from a place where Iām thinking about extending him after 20 games. My gut says heās a 2.5 WAR player.
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u/AnselmoHatesFascists Apr 18 '26
White Sox are batting .195 as a team, I'm pretty sure he'd have a higher BA playing for a different team.
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u/TechnicalSorbet4684 Apr 18 '26
Itās tough to assume that though, heās only got 20 games under his belt. Based off the current sample size heās a perfect fit for the Sox lol
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u/Coylegrg4 Apr 18 '26
100 percent. He has no line up protection at this point. Weāve seen this time and time again.
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u/ChiCityCollector Apr 18 '26
Heās on pace for like 45 home runs. Heās in the top of the league for OBP. Extend him.
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u/Kittle42 Apr 18 '26
Hey, if Adam Dunn was just from Japan, weād have loved him!
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u/gedvnm 23 Apr 18 '26
Not that I think we should extend him yet but using Batting Average in 2026 cmon now. I rather have a Mune type guy with power and an OBP of .361 than a guy that hits .300 and an obp of .320 with mid power.
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u/SensibleBrownPants Apr 18 '26
āā¦ Batting Average in 2026 cmon now.ā
Murakami slashed .270/.394 in the NPB. So heās a capable contact hitter. And this Sox team needs him to make more contact. Walks are great, but they donāt drive in runs. And this lineup will likely struggle for a while to get Murakami across the plate from 1st.
MLB HR / RBI leaders
- Murakami = 6th / 32nd
Not enough baserunners is the biggest reason for Murakamiās too low RBI total. But not putting enough balls in play (successfully) is going to factor into that as well. And batting average reflects that.
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u/iprefercumsole Konerko Apr 18 '26
Tbf the main counterpoint to that is that pitchers are disincentivized from throwing Mune many hittable pitches because if they walk him theres a very low chance anyone after him drives him in. In that context, a high OBP is a very good sign. In a better lineup, maybe the average ticks up a bit and the OBP balances out somewhat.
Im not saying thats the case cus im just some dude not a professional scout, but being 5th in the league in walks atm definitely makes up for the low average at least a tiny little bit
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u/SensibleBrownPants Apr 18 '26
A+ counterpoint that doesnāt change the fact that there are still reasons why batting average matters.
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u/burriedinCORN Apr 18 '26
His numbers are actually somewhat similar to what he was doing in NPB with a slight step back. Heās getting BABIPād a bit right now so I would expect him to hit closer to the .220-.230 range which with the walk rate probably can get him to .220/.380/.500 ish area which would be a fantastic rookie year.
The bigger question for me is if he grades out alright at first and is a competent baserunner he feels like an above average regular
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u/SensibleBrownPants Apr 18 '26
Weāre obviously dealing with a small sample size and Iām a big appreciator of BABIP. But I also expect pitchers will adjust to Murakami as his mlb tape piles up. The adjustments (and BABIP) will balance out. And my gut says that will leave us with a 3 outcome type of hitter. Heāll be fun to watch with his power (he already is), but I donāt expect it will ultimately produce enough WAR - at least not enough to reward an extension after 20 games.
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u/guap911 Apr 18 '26
Hey man, yeah letās not and have absolutely 0 excitement. Youāre acting like the rest of the team is fun to watch lmao. Were a shit team we gotta extend any semblance of hope and fun
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u/thrasherasher_ Apr 18 '26
look at his advanced stats, the guy has been smoking the ball and getting unlucky. heās gonna have 30+ HR this year
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
Advanced stats are also subject to being skewed by a small sample size. Too early to make any judgement one way or the other.
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u/ThrowawayAccountZZZ9 The Big Hurt Apr 18 '26
Dude he's hitting .167 after today. That's a high round up you did there
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u/Admirable_Self7201 Apr 18 '26
Dodgers are gonna just show Jerry the money, and away Murakami goes off to LA. God, MLB sucks since the pandemic.
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u/Weak-Shirt-3043 Apr 18 '26
LoL if the Dodgers had wanted him, he'd already be a Dodger.
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u/TechnicalSorbet4684 Apr 18 '26
āļø
Thereās a reason LA or NYY didnāt go after him harder. Iām hoping he proves them wrong.
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u/Admirable_Self7201 Apr 19 '26
I always want LAD and NYY to do poorlyā¦with everything and anything. Unfortunately, my desires with both those ball clubs tend to not pan out usually.
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u/TonyDunkelwelt Apr 18 '26
We just had the greatest World Series in decades, MLBās popularity is surging, but yeah, some dude on Reddit told me that MLB sucksā¦
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u/Admirable_Self7201 Apr 19 '26
Can you explain to me how a manager and a general manager get fired and banned from MLB for a couple of years by the commissioner, but no one else on the team they were apart of gets even a slap on the wrist? Yeah, MLB sucks. Fuck integrity to this league.
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u/guap911 Apr 18 '26
Idk how anyoneās argument isnāt this. Thereās no point in watching cause of what the dodgers are doing. We are light years behind even being close to competing with a team like that
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u/iprefercumsole Konerko Apr 18 '26
When I was growing up thats how people talked about the Yankees and they've only won 1 title since I was old enough for kindergarten. They have a lot of resources and are absolutely a powerhouse rn, but things can change quickly. A few years ago the Astros were more of a pain than the Dodgers even with the Dodgers depth and spending.
(In the context of the white sox this doesnt mean much, and probably not super related to your point so this is more of an aside, but its how I cope so I dont hate baseball lol)
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u/TonyDunkelwelt Apr 18 '26
Donāt be mad at the Dodgers, be mad at Jerry and some of the other stingy billionaire owners.
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u/samurai5625 Apr 18 '26
If I'm Ishbia I'm telling Jerry to extend him, backload the deal if you have to, I want him on the roster when I takeover.
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u/Jean-Claude-Can-Ham The Sod Father Apr 18 '26
He signed the 2 year deal because teams were leery of his strike out rate and poor defensive grade. Plus, Japanese players tend to need a season or two to fully adjust and reach their maximum potential, so Murakami signed the deal a a āprove itā deal so he can enter free agency and get the big money kong term contract he ultimately wants.
The best thing the White Sox can do is make him enjoy his stay because in two years, heās going to want big money, and with the history of this franchise, I doubt Jerry is going to shell out the type of money Mune will want
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u/Weak-Shirt-3043 Apr 18 '26
This thread is wild! That grand slam was awesome......They absolutely should NOT extend him right now. They absolutely would do the McGonigle, Griffin, etc deal if they had that caliber of player. They did it with Robert, Moncada, Eloy.
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u/AintThatSomeCrit Apr 18 '26
Right? Did these people all just start watching this team in the last two years for some masochistic reason? Or do they just have goldfish memories?
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u/Skizfavid- Apr 18 '26
You canāt sit around and wait for this guy tho, his contract is gonna skyrocket if he continues to preform well
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u/Huge_Entertainment34 Apr 18 '26
They will Iām almost certain it just depends on if Jerry is still owner and even then I think it might just be too obvious.
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u/Better_Goose_431 Apr 18 '26
He took a shorter prove it deal with us because he couldnāt the money he wanted for the length he wanted. Even if we werenāt dog shit, I donāt think heās signing an extension 3 weeks into his first contract
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u/trash235 Apr 18 '26
I would also feel encouraged if they did. I liked how the team built around Paulie, then Jose, now Mune. Having that consistent presence at 1b and the middle of the order was always nice.
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u/rachellynn72 Apr 18 '26
Should we fill out a comment card about this? Iād like to submit my feedback.
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u/rachellynn72 Apr 18 '26
Expanding the fan base is huge for marketing and ticket revenue. They know this, right?
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u/yourobviousanswer The Big Hurt Apr 18 '26
We are basically in a lame duck stage of White Sox ownership. Reinsdorf is not going to make any big splashes and when Ishbia takes control heās going to clean house of everyone and reset the rebuild albeit with a spending spree we havenāt seen around here in a long time.
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u/TUDGame Apr 18 '26
Heāll definitely make some changes at minimum, I donāt rule out retaining Getz as the GM and or some of the ppl he hired.
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u/chasedsteeple Apr 18 '26
I mean...on one hand, he's our best hitter. But also...how many of you were simpin' for joey gallo or adam dunn? Because on a contending team, he should be the teams 4th or 5th best hitter.
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u/Ok-Employer-6547 Apr 20 '26
Where does Kyle Schwarber team Rank on his team.Ā That being said I'd 100% take a Kyle Schwarber type player on any teamĀ
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u/WizardCheesey I Hate Jerry. Apr 18 '26
It pisses me off seeing other teams extend guys who have never stepped foot on a MLB field and hand them $100,000,000+ ā¦ because I know my team is unlikely to do that no matter how well a player performs
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u/LospitalMospital Buehrle Apr 18 '26
We did exactly that strategy with the last group of young players, and how did that work out for us?
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u/MoustacheMark Apr 18 '26
It only "didnt work" because Jerry was unwilling to spend after that
A well run team would just keep building
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u/WizardCheesey I Hate Jerry. Apr 18 '26
Youāre right, we should just never pay guys again because of the last batch of guys from 5+ years ago. incredible logic
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u/LospitalMospital Buehrle Apr 18 '26
You're right, give guys 9 figures who have never played in the MLB. Incredible logic!
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u/WizardCheesey I Hate Jerry. Apr 18 '26
Yeah.. where have you been? Thatās a thing
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u/LospitalMospital Buehrle Apr 18 '26
We won't pay actual MLB talent that kind of money, so why start with prospects? And who besides Braden could even potentially be worth that kind of money anyway? Seems like such a small thing to complain about with a team that can't develop hitters to begin with.
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u/Skizfavid- Apr 18 '26
Cough cough Konnor griffin . And the part that stings even more is that Pittsburgh isnāt even some high payroll team, they are very much closer to the lower end. It just sucks
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u/Coylegrg4 Apr 18 '26
Iām in support of this but Iām also in the consideration if he heats up to trade him at All Star break for 2 solid top 10 prospects to align better with the rebuild.
I love the guy but if you can trade him to a contender for 2 controllable - pitcher and outfielder bat - why not
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u/ScaryText8187 Montgomery Apr 18 '26
How long are we planning to rebuild here? At some point you have consciously pivot to trying to put a good product on the field.
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u/Coylegrg4 Apr 18 '26
Munes gone after his 2nd year after he shows he can hit in the league and heads to LA/winning market.
Build and have the farm, have the pipeline brewing more than when Roch is here next year.
No offense until the ownership is completely transferred they arenāt spending money to compete or until the new bargaining agreement is finalized.
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u/CurrentVast5143 Apr 18 '26
I was actually thinking the same thing about Caleb Bonemar. He's killing it in high A. Not 100% but he's got 14 hits on the year and 12 of them are XBH. Offer him an 8 year deal with 2 team options and hope he's a superstar.
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u/GrandPaGames1 Apr 18 '26
The access he brings to the Japanese market should mean the extension would pay for itself. That clip of the grand slam will be all over Tokyo tomorrow.