White Sox sign Japanese slugger Munetaka Murakami to $34 million contract

The White Sox have landed an intriguing free agent with the potential to add some serious power to their lineup.

Japanese infielder Munetaka Murakami agreed to a two-year, $34 million contract with the White Sox on Sunday, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed.

The 25-year-old slugger, who is coming over from the Yakult Swallows, hit 56 home runs during the 2022 season and has four other 30-homer campaigns.

His strikeout rate that eclipsed 28 percent over the last three years made teams wary, but it’s a fairly low-risk move for a White Sox team looking to turn things around.

The corner infielder is expected to play first base in Chicago, according to ESPN.

During an injury-plagued 2025 season, Murakami still hit 22 home runs in 59 games with a 1.043 OPS.

Murakami was part of the Japan team that won the 2023 World Baseball Classic alongside Shohei Ohtani, Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.

Since winning the AL Central in 2021 with 93 wins and losing in the ALDS, the White Sox went 81-81 in 2022, 61-101 in 2023, 41-121 in 2024 (setting a modern-day record for losses) and 60-102 this year.