One of the Boston Red Sox’s most pressing needs this offseason is a power hitter. Boston slugged 186 homers last season, which ranks 15th in MLB and comes in at nearly 100 less than the league-leading New York Yankees.
If Alex Bregman departs in free agency after opting out of the final two years of his contract, a slugging corner infielder would be the base case-scenario for the Red Sox. Pete Alonso has been floated as an option, and there’s another who will be posted to MLB by Nippon Professional Baseball this offseason.
Munetaka Murakami is a power-hitting corner infield phenom who’s been linked to Boston multiple times, most recently by MLB insider Mark Feinsand. He noted that the Red Sox could use Murakami at first base or at third if Bregman signs elsewhere in free agency.
Murakami, 25, holds a career .270/.394/.557 slash line and .951 OPS over eight seasons with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. In 2025, he slashed .286/.392/.659 with a 1.051 OPS and 24 homers in 69 games. The quality of pitching in NPB is still generally lower than MLB, but he would be on a 56-homer pace in a 162 game season.
Red Sox again linked to power-hitting Japanese free agent Munetaka Murakami as potential Alex Bregman replacement
Despite his undeniable power, Murakami isn’t perfect for the Sox’s roster. He strikes out very frequently, with 71 strikeouts in 2025 and 977 in his 892-game career. The Red Sox struck out 1419 times last season, the eighth-most in MLB. Murakami also isn’t as defensively sound as Bregman would be at third base, and he made six errors in 63 games there last season. He had a perfect fielding percentage over eight games at first base and a .994 there in his career.
Murakami’s market is likely to be extremely competitive, with the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, Phillies, Mariners and Giants in the mix, per Feinsand. The Dodgers are deeply embedded in the Japanese free agent market and with Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki on their roster, they could have a significant edge over any competition.
Murakami would certainly fix the Red Sox’s power deficiency, but the defensive downgrade compared to Bregman and his strikeout rate could present some valid concerns to the front office. If Bregman returns, he could be an even better candidate for the Sox’s first base vacancy or a DH role.
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