There are multiple areas of need for San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager AJ Preller to address this offseason. There are questions about the starting rotation and first
base and of course the overall lack of power and slug will certainly be a point of focus for the team that finished 28th in Major League Baseball in home runs. San Diego also finished 22nd in slugging.
There will be established MLB free agents, who could improve those numbers such as Pete Alonso and Kyle Schwarber, but it is unlikely the Padres will be able to add the salaries they are going to want and still be able to address other areas of need. Another possibility is bringing back Ryan O’Hearn if there is mutual interest and the two sides can agree on terms.
One subject of conversation that could be a potential option for San Diego outside of established MLB talent is Munetaka Murakami, a slugger on the Tokyo Yakult Swallows in the Nippon Professional Baseball league. Murakami is highly sought after and there is a wide range of speculation about where he could land. The Padres are just one of many teams with reported interest in Murakami. He is expected to be posted this offseason and will be able to sign a free agent contract with any MLB team.
According to Baseball Reference, Murakami has been in the NPB for eight seasons. He has a track record of hitting for power and driving in runs. Murakami’s best season was 2022 when he finished with a slash line of .318/.458/.710 with 56 home runs and 134 RBI. He is listed as an infielder and plays third base, but there is speculation he could play first base, an area of need for the Padres in 2026, or be a DH.
The Friar Faithful are well aware of Preller’s desire to sign big name players from NPB and as yet, he has been relatively unsuccessful. He did sign Yuki Matsui in 2023, but he also pursued Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels), Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs), Roki Sasaki (Los Angeles Dodgers) to name a few and all of them chose to sign elsewhere. Of course, Ohtani later reached free agency and signed with the Dodgers, which helped them land Sasaki.
Does the track record of failed pursuits change this offseason? Will Preller and the Padres be able to afford Murakami? The offseason is here and all fans can do is wait and speculate.
