Mariners already one of many teams eating crow over Munetaka Murakami decision

The Mariners will always be able to say they paved the way for Japanese position players to come to the majors after taking a gamble on Ichiro Suzuki, who stunningly had immediate success in 2001 and embarked on a Hall of Fame career. Now, Munetaka Murakami is off to his own sensational start in the majors, in the process already making M's fans wonder about what could have been in Seattle.

Murakami was hailed as the best pure power bat to come out of Japan in many years, and the evidence of this was there to see in all its might through the White Sox's first series of 2026 in Milwaukee. He hit a home run in each of the three games versus the Brewers, and his much hyped power has been insane.

Perhaps seeing such explosive early returns shouldn't be that much of a surprise, with Murakami holding the all-time single season record of 56 home runs by a Japanese player in NPB. One of the biggest concerns surrounding him is still there with four strikeouts already through four games — he had a 29.26 percent strikeout rate over the previous two seasons in NPB — but with his three homers and four walks in 13 plate appearances, you have to love the ratios.

Munetaka Murakami was apparently never really a genuine possibility for the Mariners, but he should have been

To be clear, as per Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times covered back in November, it didn't seem as if Murakami signing in Seattle was ever really a realistic proposition. Scouts indicated the four-time NPB All-Star was too much of a defensive liability at third base and was better suited for first base, where the Mariners had just signed Josh Naylor to a five-year deal worth $92.5 million.

Further, the need at third base to replace Eugenio Suárez at third base was eventually resolved anyway with the acquisition of Brendan Donovan from St. Louis. Although we don't believe signing Murakami would have precluded a Mariners trade for Donovan, with the option of using the Japanese superstar as a DH and performing spot at first — and maybe, just maybe third — base as and when required. (He did have nearly 700 games of experience at third base in NPB.)

Let's also not forget that, as predicted by SoDo Mojo's Zachary Rymer, Murakami ended up signing for a discounted rate of the initial lofty projections that included $180 million over eight years. He instead signed for two years and $34 million in Chicago, which was notable for being $6 million less than the two-year deal Jorge Polanco signed with the Mets. (For further context, even this difference alone is still more than the $5.8 million Donovan will make in 2026.)

Overall, the offseason moves made by the Mariners mostly hit all of the right notes as the ownership showed they were willing to go all-in on making this team a genuine World Series contender in 2026. However, if the 26-year-old Murakami continues to rake even close to what he has done so far in the majors, the M's could live to regret not taking another gamble just like the one they made 25 years ago with Ichiro.