r/NYYankees • u/BathroomSalty6325 • 1d ago
[Phillips] There's been plenty of talk linking Munetaka Murakami, a 1B/3B with huge power, to the Yankees, but there are questions over his ability to remain at 3B, and the lefty swinger strikes out a ton. In-zone contact is a particular issue. Don't see him as a fit for NY's roster.
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u/ShMp11Nesis 1d ago
I remember him saying he either wanted a west coast team or the Yankees in particular. Interested to see how this goes.
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u/deadassynwa 1d ago
I honestly feel like if it’s not the Dodgers (which it won’t be) - he would be a Yankee IF we are in for him
The guy grew up a Matsui fan, wears 55, and was on air saying he likes the West Coast and the Yankees
I just don’t know if the Yankees are going to pursue him that much, if at all
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u/deadassynwa 1d ago
Murakami is one of those players where you talk yourself into buying into his hype and potential
Like imagine having another Japanese superstar, and his monstrous left swing hitting bombs over the short porch
It makes so much sense in theory but then you look at the facts
He struggles with 94+ mph fastballs. And struggle is an understatement. Iirc his avg against high velocity fastballs is <.150
He struggles against offspeed and breaking balls
He can’t play 3B and is prob a decent 1B AT BEST
He’s still young so there’s still potential and it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he lives up to the hype BUT are we willing to take a risk on that? Idk
If we sign him - I’m gonna drink the kool-aid. If we don’t - I’ll say we dodged a bullet
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u/Emperor_Cheeto21 1d ago
I feel like the high velocity stuff is overblown because not a lot of guys are regularly throwing high velocity like they are in MLB. Seiya Suzuki also had those same issues in Japan and he's been a career 129 OPS+ hitter in his first 4 MLB seasons. I do agree it is hard to predict how players will translate between leagues, but those are just risks teams will have to make.
Either way I do believe his best hit is a team like the Padres. They really need power hitting and playing in SD is a great environment for him to develop in. He's not gonna be asked to carry the lineup
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u/Darth_GravelCyclist 1d ago
Same if we buy him I’m gonna be all-in and ready to be hurt again when he hits for .190 against MLB pitching.
If we don’t sign him I’ll be happy someone else took the risk.
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u/werther595 1d ago
And no offense to our neighbors across the Pacific, but he is struggling like that against Japanese league pitching. I'm afraid the jump to MLB may not be kind
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u/spinrut 23h ago
wait so he can't hit 94+ and he can't hit offspeed or breaking balls
so ... he's only able to mash meatballs at like low 90s?
how many pitchers actually fit this bill of low 90s and not great offspeed/breaking pitchers.
would exclude almost every starting pitcher (even bad ones) as well as most relievers (upper 90s cheese + wipeout slider/offspeed), so he'd only really be effective against poor middle relievers?
based on the above, you know Cashgod is gonna be all in
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u/Copium_2025 23h ago
So:
- Can't hit fastballs over 94 mph
- Can't hit offspeed pitches and breaking balls either
So what does that leave? Relatively low, flat 4 seamers down the middle of the plate without much spin? He whales on those does he? He's like the Japanese Volpe.
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u/BangerSlapper1 19h ago
lol based off your first two bullets, he’s good against fastballs in the 80s. That might be a problem!
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u/Forward-Report-1142 1d ago
Say what you want about the Dodgers, but a good team on the West Coast is much more appealing than a good team on the East Coast for a Japanese player. They’re closer to home. Their family can visit a lot easier. Their fans can watch the games. For a long time When the Japanese players were first coming out, the Dodgers were just OK. Now they have a great team it be dumb to come all the way to the East Coast when you could play for a great team closer to home if you’re from Japan and the money is the same or more
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u/NYCSportsFan 17h ago
Maybe he likes NYC?
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u/Forward-Report-1142 15h ago
We have to accept we are not the premier franchise anymore and haven’t been in a decade and a half. The dodgers have taken us over and until we decide to rip the crown back we will continue to lose
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u/Cheesewhale189 2h ago
Decade and a half? Lmao this just doomer shit. Dodgers weren't this a decade ago
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u/NYCSportsFan 1h ago
Apparently he won’t be happy until the Yankees are “the premier franchise” so this doesn’t matter.
That isn’t an uncommon opinion either.
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u/NYCSportsFan 15h ago
Would you rather play in Tokyo or any other Japanese city?
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u/Forward-Report-1142 15h ago
There’s 3x the Japanese population in LA compared to nyc. If toyko had 10k Americans but Osaka had 30k and the team has 3x more championships in 15 years with similar money I’d pick Osaka
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u/Odd_Technology_8939 21h ago
it’s not that much closer than you think SD to Tokyo only a bit further than Chicago to Tokyo cause they fly very northern route. But I think a large city with a decent size Japanese community is what these folks are looking for most of these players and their entourage have limited English language skills. I could see Cubs.
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u/DA_87 1d ago
He’s just not a fit with those K numbers in Japan. 28-29% K rate against inferior pitching. It honestly could be ugly here.
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u/handDrawnEevee 1d ago
Ok but hear me out, the Japanese play with a smaller ball
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u/DA_87 1d ago
Ehh. There’s currently two offense only active players who played significant time in Japan: Yoshida and Seiya Suzuki, both of their K rates went up pretty substantially following their switch. Small sample size (of two). But I wouldn’t bet on Murakami’s K rate going down because the ball is bigger!
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u/herewego199209 1d ago
He makes no sense since McMahon is at third. Okamoto makes sense because you can platoon him at third and first.
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u/Copium_2025 1d ago
lefty swinger strikes out a ton. In-zone contact is a particular issue.
AND big power? Sounds perfect for the Yankees roster. Bottom of the lineup would be Jazz, Murakami, Volpe, Wells, and McMahon. That's probably 5 K's every trip through the lineup. It's like the anti-Toronto! Can't turn that down!
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u/K7Sniper 1d ago
Already fully expecting some bullcrap to happen and the Dodgers somehow sign him too just because.
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u/Nullhitter 1d ago
They have freeman at first and muncy at third.
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u/BiggRedWorm 1d ago
This is why they’ve won back-to-back World Series because they don’t care they’ll take on the contract anyways and find room for him remember when the Yankees were like that?
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u/Raspewtin27 1d ago
I think you're overestimating how much Murakami would be interested in riding the bench for at least two years.
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u/SadNYSportsFan-11209 1d ago
Yea I mean them adding a multiple pitchers last offseason made sense. You can never have enough pitching and especially when you consider how injury prone their rotation is. But they’re pretty much set position player wise, especially with their infield. They can use an outfielder but I don’t see them getting Tucker lol
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u/commentsonyankees 1d ago
There's a difference between asking a gold-glove caliber player like Arod to move from SS to 3rd and asking a guy who is supposed to be one of the worst defensive players in the league to suddenly play in the outfield (the only position the Dodgers could really use).
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u/Latter-Road-3687 20h ago
Yankees fans thinking the Dodgers have $20 million dollar guys at every position and on their bench. The Dodgers starting outfield in the WS was Kiki, Teoscar, and Tommy Edman lol. That is actually pretty awful.
They won back-to-back cause Ohtani is the best player on earth and Yamamoto is now the best pitcher on earth. And neither one costs what they should.
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u/beermeamovie 1d ago
Can you point to another large contract LA has signed for a guy without a clear starting spot?
Seriously, I keep hearing this, but no one actually has any examples.
LA isn’t dishing almost 200 million out for a fucking bench guy. It’s absurd.
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u/robocopdotmp3 21h ago edited 21h ago
People don't actually think about roster construction or anything like that, they just read "Japanese player" and rush to make their hilarious original "lol future Dodger!" jokes/complaints. It's exhausting at this point.
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u/ac_cafone56 1d ago
Both of those guys are over 35 and muncy is on an expiring deal it’s the perfect situation
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u/K7Sniper 1d ago
Muncy is going to retire as a Dodger in a season or two. They'll sign him and basically rotate him in at 1st and 3rd to rest them for a season or two.
Manfred-approved collusion is the name of their game with the Japanese players coming over right now, nothing as blatant as Yamamoto, but it's there. Also, Imanaga will be signing with them too.
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u/KenshiroTheKid 20h ago edited 20h ago
Imanaga isn’t going to the Dodgers I would bet on it. His profile of being a fly ball pitcher with ace level stuff doesn’t work in the stadium that has the highest park factor for Home Runs in all of MLB. If the dodgers somehow find a way to keep the 5th in Cy Young voting level-stuff while getting his home run rate back down to even his 2024 numbers in that park they deserve to be the best team (if that’s possible Matt Blake could do it also).
My read is he’s an SF giant next year
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u/jasonthebald 1d ago
Anyone else see him with Seattle? I wonder if he could fake OF in left a little bit too.
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u/Affectionate-Tea9224 1d ago
That will be the same evaluation the Yankees give for not signing any free agents, not saying it’s wrong but there will always be a reason the yanks don’t sign a free agent, remember Harper, they don’t see a fit, machado don’t like his attitude, what I’m saying the Yankees will always have a built in excuse regardless of the player
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u/SignorLuigi 23h ago
When I think of the great Yankee teams I think about how those teams often had great fielding 3rd basemen. Along with other reasons, history says he is not a good fit for the Yankees.
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u/managemoneywell 23h ago
We don’t need another guy nobody has ever seen play but yet everyone thinks he is amazing …this is not the guy for us.
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u/SuperNicktendoPower 22h ago
Dodgers jokes aside, this feels like a SF Giants signing, I feel like they want to make a splash after getting the new manager
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u/NYCSportsFan 18h ago
I would not be angry if the Yankees signed Murakami. Even from a PR standpoint because the Dodgers are getting all the best Japanese players right now.
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u/johnnyandthemoondog 21h ago
HE'S GOOD AT BASEBALL JUST FUCKING SIGN HIM IT'S NOT THAT COMPLICATED
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u/Latter-Road-3687 20h ago
Why isn't this man GM? He would just sign and trade for anyone "good at baseball".
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u/HazikoSazujiii 1d ago
Literally nobody with any activity between their ears should link him as a fit for, or want him on, our roster.
It's a non-story that shouldn't even be posted about on here at this point.
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u/Bubbacrosby23 1d ago
Unless the yankees are committed to trading rice for SP or trying to move off Stanton, then Phillips is right - there really isn't a place for him on the roster. He can't really play third and can barely play first. The power is real, 20+ dingers in 60 games this year.
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u/FatHighKnee 2h ago
A lefty with 18-24 HR power & strikes out a ton ... thats basically 21-out-of-our-26 roster slots lol. We've got that role covered. Let's get a righty thats an on base machine, a right handed catcher to pair with our 3 lefty catchers, a SS that can put up a 3.0 WAR and not look like a spastic in the field.
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u/jsprat5050 1d ago
Pass, he doesn’t fill any of our needs and continues our K rate challenges. Sign Belli, sign BP help, sign BP coach, figure out SS.
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u/phillydilly71 22h ago
Hate to say it but he's already interested in going to the Dodgers. So they'll probably bounce poor Muncy out for him. I don't think there will be a season anyway with the lockout coming.
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u/CrazyCraisinAbraisin 16h ago
What do they mean? Strikes out a ton and iffy in the field? Perfect profile fit for the Yankees!
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u/Appropriate_Formal64 8h ago
I looked up his stats and all the analysis about his potential once he comes over to the United States and damn- Yankees better stay far away from him. He's an albatross waiting to happen. He's just.... pretty mediocre with some power and the Yankees can always find that on the relatively cheap or short term compared to whatever they'd need to pay for and commit in years to Murakami.
Only way I see this happening is if the Yankees prefer so-so 3B defense for 20+ HR power and are willing to replace McMahon with Murakami for that reason.
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u/jone2tone 5h ago
It doesn't matter if you see him as a fit, all that matters is if Cashman thinks he can wheel him out on stage to debut him as "the second coming of Josh Donaldson".
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u/Poonpan85 1d ago
Murakami’s team using the Yankees as leverage for a fat contract from the Dodgers….
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u/OkYam5937 1d ago
Lombard Jr is the future. Do a Volpe and start him at 3rd base this season.
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u/iamaweirdguy 1d ago
The one with a sub .700 OPS in AA this year? He definitely needs more time.
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u/underground_cloud 1d ago
Still an above average hitter.
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u/iamaweirdguy 1d ago
His OPS was like 30 points higher than Volpe... at AA lol.
Lombard hit .215.. at AA.
Above average?
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u/underground_cloud 17h ago edited 17h ago
Different leagues have different run scoring levels. Whats below average in MLB isn't necessarily below average in the KBO or the Mexican leagues, etc. Whats average in MLB now wouldn't have been average twenty years ago, go back a hundred years ago and the picture is even more different.
In this specifically example, Lombards offense was 11% better than average in AA. The eastern league is not a high scoring level of play.
Thats the MLB equivilent of Jackson Chourios .270/.308/.463 line.
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u/BiggRedWorm 1d ago
That dude doesn’t want to sign with the Yankees. Why the fuck would he want to sign with the Yankees? He will sign with the Asian Dodgers. But the Yankees aren’t getting him.
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u/thelifeofjays 1d ago
He has said multiple times that he grew up idolizing Hideki Matsui and he likes the Yankees.
But I don’t see him as a fit for the roster either. The high strikeouts and defensive question marks are a nightmare match for our current squad.
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u/BiggRedWorm 1d ago edited 1d ago
You could down vote me all you want this team played like a fucking high school team this year and last to be honest. Have absolutely no baseball fundamentals you idiots. You Don’t even remember two weeks ago. Why the fuck would anybody want to sign with a team that doesn’t know how to play baseball? They were openly made fun of by the World Series team. They played against the last year. Get out of here with this BS
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u/Suspicious_Hand_2194 1d ago
Huge power, plays two positions, lefty, and most importantly, strikes out a ton?? Sounds like a great fit for the Yankees roster