Insider Drops MASSIVE Mets Report...

An insider drops a massive Mets report. New York might be moving on from their first baseman, Pete Alonso, at the end of this season by taking a huge gamble in international free agency with a Japanese slugger. And that's exactly what we're going to be diving into only here on Mets Digest. I'm your host today, Mike Duda. We're going to talk about this slugger and Alonso's future in blue and orange. But first, we got to talk about some subscribers. And that being the fact that 69.8% of you that watch these videos aren't one. So please do me a favor, do us a favor here on Mets Digest and hit that free subscribe button. That way, we can bring content to you about the amazing. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and dive right in. Kicking it off with the player himself, and it is, of course, the big name in Japan that might be coming to the MLB next season, Munetaka Murakami. He is a first baseman that can also play third. We'll hear from the experts. We'll talk all about him. As John Heyman reports, a potential fit, of course, is our New York Mets. In addition to the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox, John Heyman is one of the most trustworthy sources you can get. He is the MLB insider. Him and Jeff Passan are the two biggest insiders in the sport. So, very interesting news there. Very big news there. And it's confirmed about the Mets. President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns, I've been harping on him of late. He's not firing the pitching coach, Jeremy Hefner. He's not doing anything with the hitting coaches, Eric Chavez or Jeremy Barnes, or firing both. He's not doing anything with the manager, Carlos Mendoza. Instead, he focused his attention on Tuesday, which, by the way, is the day that Pete Alonso broke Daryl Strawberry's record for most home runs ever in Mets history by a Met. He was over in Japan looking at Murakami, watching him play. So what do the experts have to say about Murakami? We're going to talk about him first, and then, of course, we're going to get into Alonso in just a little bit. Why Murakami from a statistical standpoint? Well, Logan Van Dyne of Sports Illustrated's got you covered there, saying, The Slugger has played in NPB for eight seasons and has a career slash line of 273, 394, 543 with 246 home runs, 681 RBIs, 165 doubles, and an impressive 943 OPS. The 25-year-old has also had 30-plus home run seasons in five of the last six seasons for the Swallows. Murakami's best season at the plate came in 2022, where he slugged 56 home runs, breaking a single season record by a Japanese-born player. Now, what I like about him, he's very, and I mean very similar to Pete Alonso, but I also don't like that. We'll talk about that in a little bit, about Alonso and the future of him being a Met, but I could very well see the Mets replacing Alonso with Murakami, because if you look at these statistics and you say, hey, that is basically Pete Alonso. a little bit slightly elevated batting average a slightly elevated OBP slugging percentage is in that similar range over eight seasons he basically has the exact same counting statistics as Alonso when it comes to home runs, RBIs and even doubles he also has had multiple 30 plus home run seasons Alonso has done that and a league best a record over in Japan with 56 home runs Pete Alonso has a record in the MLB with 53 home runs that being the most ever by a rookie so there are a lot of similarities between Murakami and Alonso which is why I would love to pair the two but that is going to cost a lot of money and a lot of attention because look at these statistics we heard the numbers there a lot of good things about Murakami he is 6 foot 2 213 pounds actually hits from the left side and throws righty we'll hear a little bit in a just a bit about his versatility he can play third base but these seasons are really really nice the OPS is usually above 850 that's really solid he's been intentionally walked a ton look at 2022 he was always getting the intentional walk it seems like 25 times in a season so that means Japanese pitchers and players over there in Japan are scared to face him there's a similarity there to Pete Alonso this guy is very very similar to Alonso and we'll talk about this again just a little bit which concerns me in an aspect but also doesn't I personally would love to go get Murakami but I don't want him at the expense of Alonso so the stats are on your screen now pause the video if you want to go take a deeper look as let's turn it over to seeing if the Mets have interest of course we saw president of baseball operations David Stearns was over there to watch Murakami and it absolutely is true Van Dyne says the Mets showing some level of interest in Murakami is notable as the team will face some more decisions to make once the season comes to an end Pete Alonso who signed a two-year $54 million deal with a player opt-out after the season is expected to exercise that opt-out this winter. He is almost definitely going to test the free agent market because with the statistics he's putting up, and we'll check those in just a little bit, there is no way that in this given market he is quote-unquote only worth $24 million. If New York can't bring back their homegrown first baseman, Murakami could be seen as a potential replacement if the Mets and Alonso can't come to an agreement on a new deal. Again, we've talked about this. They're very, very similar players. It almost seems like, at least from a Mets standpoint, if Murakami is the same player that he is in Japan in the MLB, you're basically replacing Pete Alonso with a left-handed version of Pete Alonso. With Murakami also a third baseman, the Mets could also opt to play him at the hot corner if they sign the slugger due to the team using third base by committee, with Mark Viento's struggling after his breakout 2024 campaign. Brett Beatty and Ronnie Mauricio have also gotten reps there. And you have Luis Angel Acuna. Again, if the Mets go all out and they get Murakami and Alonso, you're going to have to start dealing some guys. Vientos, Beatty, Mauricio, Acuna, maybe make a blockbuster deal in addition to going out and getting Murakami. Who knows? But right now, let's focus on the problem, and that is that Murakami is highly sought after. Bandai says, Murakami could be a free agent at the end of the season, and, if posted, could be a highly coveted player on many teams' radars. We heard the Mariners, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, the Mets. That was John Heyman's best fit. There's going to be other teams that put their name in their hat. Look at Chicago. The Cubs would probably be a good fit for him. The Cubs have signed a lot of big free agent names from Japan. The Yankees will probably be a part of that. They will probably be a big team in the mix. Murakami is seen as a versatile player that makes him even more appealing. having played both first and third base for the Swallows. Now, extremely surprisingly, at least for me, the Mets statistically would have the best odds at him. We'll get into that on just a little bit as we continue looking on the front of his versatility and why teams want him so much. New York will also have to try and beat out a slew of teams this offseason for any potential pursuit of Murakami. The LA Dodgers may be the team that could present a challenge for the Mets thanks to their ability to ink deals with Japanese players over the last couple of years. Most recently, the Dodgers were able to sign starting pitchers Roki Sasaki and Yoshinobu Yamamoto out of Japan, as well as sign two-way sensational star Shohei Ohtani to a then-record 10-year $700 million deal on December 11, 2023. Of course, exactly one year later, Juan Soto broke that with a 15-year $765 million deal. But let's turn it back to how surprising the New York Mets have been at going out and acquiring Japanese talent this really surprised me because like we heard from Van Dyne I thought the Dodgers were the team to beat in this bidding order they got Yamamoto you have Sasaki they got Shohei Ohtani in free agency a lot of Japanese players are currently over there with the Los Angeles Dodgers right now and I thought it wasn't even close I thought the Dodgers would be the biggest Japanese team in terms of their history signing players from Japan, in addition to just the West Coast atmosphere. I thought the West Coast was going to blow out the East Coast, but it's a lot more interesting than I personally would have expected. Surprisingly, in my eyes, the most ever players signed by a team from Japan with nine is indeed our New York Mets. Then it's the Dodgers with eight, and then Boston and Seattle with seven. As we heard over here, look at the four teams that are most likely to go get Murakami per Heyman does it add up I think it does I think there's a reasoning behind that however Mets signing Japanese players simply has not worked out very well just a 14.6 total WAR over those nine players with the Mets and that is slightly more than one season of Shohei Otani's war I know he had an incredible 2024 don't get me wrong he had a 9.2 WAR and if he pitched could be even better than that. 14.6 for all Japanese players from the Mets, almost getting beaten out by one guy. Yeah, it shows, of course, that one guy is great, but also the Mets getting talent from Japan hasn't really panned out that well, maybe with the addition of Kodai Senga. Obviously, the Dodgers have had more success. Kenta Maeda with a 6.5 ERA, over a 6.5 WAR, rather, with the Dodgers. Roki Sasaki, 0.3. He's struggling, but he's still a big, big name. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 4.7. Ohtani so far with the Dodgers 14.7 WAR they got him out of free agency not out of Japan immediately and speaking of the Dodgers West Coast divisions do have more Japanese free agent signings originally than the East Coast but it's a lot a lot closer than I thought 34 to 27 with the Central grabbing 20 of them my division it's the NL West and the AL West with 17 each the AL East comes in second at 16 then the NL Central with 12 the NL East with 11 very much so carried by the Mets and then the AL Central with eight kind of went down a rabbit hole there just talking about the Japanese players and where they end up going in the MLB found that very interesting was a curiosity of mine and I went down that avenue so the odds of the Mets getting him I want to turn back to that because according to this research based on how many players previously have signed from Japan originally with the following teams the Mets would have a 9 and 31 shot a 29 percent but since Basically, Kodai Senga and Masato Yoshi were only successful for the Mets when it comes to Japan. Who knows if Murakami would even pan out? And I don't want to take that expense of this guy. Homegrown talent. Everybody loves this guy in Pete Alonso. He's a leader. Fans love him. He's been here since 2019. I really don't want the Mets to just say, eh, we don't want Alonso anymore. We're not going to pursue him. He's going to be a lot of money. Let's go get Murakami. Let's go get the Japanese version of Pete Alonso. who he very well could be. He could be better than Alonso, but you just don't know. You know what you're getting with Pete Alonso. You're getting a .250-ish hitter. You're getting a guy who's got around a .350 OBP and a plus .850 OPS, a .500 slugging, give or take. You know you're getting a guy that's going to hit you 35 to 45 home runs a year, drive in 100-plus RBIs, and look at what season he's having now. He's leading the MLB, tied for the lead with Cal Raleigh, leading the National League with 98 RBIs. He's having a great year. he just hit his 253rd and 254th career home runs he has the all-time Mets record in home runs he is clearly the first choice and needs to be the first choice it has to be Pete Alonso there is no way you can take Murakami as your number one choice but if Alonso doesn't work out or even if Alonso does work out and you still want to pursue Murakami and you think you have a shot at him and you think that he is really good because by the statistics he's a solid player I would love him go for him but do not do this at the expense of Pete Alonso other than this I am a full go on Murakami I think he's gonna be a really really solid player so go down there in the comment section let me know if you agree let me know if you disagree do you want Murakami would you even want him at the expense of Pete Alonso let me know give me your thoughts and reasonings down below unfortunately this is all the time I have for you in today's update and today let's go Mets I mean a brutal brutal loss go ahead and check out my last video if you haven't already if you want to know more about it last night but hopefully they can right the ship go ahead and take a series for the first time in a long time by beating the Braves tonight so LGM anyone that's going to watch I think it already happened by now but in the pregame they're honoring Pete Alonso for that career home run so good for Alonso glad to have watched that and let's go Mets tonight thank you so much as always for watching and let's go Mets