Why we shouldn’t count out the NY Mets in the frigid Munetaka Murakami market

The rumblings of a bidding war for Munetaka Murakami started well before the offseason got underway. In fact, David Stearns traveled to Japan to personally scout Murakami back in August, signifying legitimate interest on the part of the New York Mets.

However, it's been over a month since Murakami was posted, and there has been little buzz about the left-handed slugger with his posting window set to close at 5 p.m. ET on December 22. The hopes for a long-term, big money contract for the soon-to-be 26-year-old seem to be dwindling by the hour at this point.

And for the Mets, that could be a very good thing as speculation has started to heat up that Murakami might be forced to settle for a short-term, opt-out laden deal.

Munetaka Murakami's lack of interest could allow the Mets to swoop in and steal him for a song

Murakami brings with him big power and big strikeouts, which typically isn't too concerning as long as they are in balance. A case in point is Kyle Schwarber, who has 340 career dingers to go along with a 28.4% strikeout rate over 1,291 career games. In comparison, Murakami has hit 246 homers while posting a 25.8% strikeout rate in 892 games.

However, the past three seasons have seen Murakami's strikeout rate rise past 28%, and the competition level in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league is not the same as in the MLB. Hideki Matsui famously hit 50 homers during his final season in the NPB before signing with the New York Yankees, but followed up with just 16 long balls in his stateside debut.

Still if the Mets want to replace the power they lost with Pete Alonso's departure, there's no better option left than a dice roll on Murakami.

In addition to everything else, the 56-homer season that broke Sadaharu Oh's record for most single-season homers by a Japanese-born player, the NPB All-Star awards, and the Central League MVP trophies, it's important to remember just how young Murakami is.

This isn't necessarily a finished product, but rather a player who has yet to enter his prime. It's not unreasonable to assume there's more room for development with Murakami, nor that he can't unlock yet another gear with big league coaching.

And, if he isn't going to get the eight-plus year contract approaching $200 million like what was originally projected, he could turn out to be a real steal and just what the doctor ordered for the Mets' lineup.

If Jorge Polanco can replace Brandon Nimmo's production and the Mets can bring in Murakami on a Stearns' special (short-term deal with opt-outs), suddenly the lineup doesn't look so bad, and the offseason plan will be back on track. We'll find out in the next few days.