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In a major move for their retooling roster, the American League club have officially added Japanese star Munetaka Murakami, completing a lucrative contract bringing in the high-profile player.

Financial Terms and Player Perks

The deal includes a substantial signing bonus, issued within 30 days, in addition to annual pay of $16 million for the upcoming season and seventeen million for the following year.

Notably, Murakami's final-year pay may grow based on award achievements in 2026:

• An additional $1M for earning the MVP award.
• Half a million dollars for finishing second or third in MVP voting.
• A quarter-million for finishing between fourth and tenth.
• Another $250,000 for winning the Rookie of the Year honor.

The contract also stipulates that he will not be optioned to the minors without his consent and makes him a unrestricted player at the termination of the contract. Further benefits include a team-provided interpreter and travel costs between his home country and the States.

Posting Fee and Franchise History

As part of the signing, Chicago owes a posting fee of over $6.5 million to the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Murakami's former team in Japan's professional league. The Swallows would also receive a additional payment of 15% triggered salary escalators.

Murakami is set to become the fourth Japanese-born to play for the White Sox, joining pitcher Shingo Takatsu (2004-05), infielder Tadahito Iguchi (2005-07), and fielder Kosuke Fukudome (2012). Of note, Takatsu once managed Murakami back in Japan.

Career Highlights

Murakami, a lefty bat who will turn 26 on February 2nd, joins a young lineup in Chicago that contains prospects like Colson Montgomery, Kyle Teel, and Chase Meidroth. The club are coming off a difficult season, placing at the bottom in the American League Central but showing a 19-game improvement from the previous campaign.

The winner of back-to-back Most Valuable Player honors in 2021 and 2022, Murakami is famous for a historic 2022 season where he hit 56 homers, surpassing the longstanding record for a player in Japan previously held by legend Sadaharu Oh. That feat also made him the youngest player ever to win Japan's elusive Triple Crown.

His most recent NPB campaign was shortened to just 56 appearances due to an oblique injury. Even with fanning 64 times, he still managed .273 with 22 homers and 47 runs batted in.

Over his eight-year tenure with the Yakult club, Murakami has accumulated a .270 lifetime batting average with 246 HRs, 647 runs batted in, and 977 strikeouts in 892 contests. He started playing mostly at first base, he has since transitioned to third.

International Pedigree

Murakami's big-game performance were on center stage during the last World Baseball Classic. In the semi-final against Mexico, he drove in a walk-off double that drove in teammates for a come-from-behind 6-5 win. The next night in the championship game against the USA, he hit a game-tying homer in the early innings, helping Japan's 3-2 title triumph.

The lefty slugger is slated to be formally introduced at a press conference on the coming Monday.