With the hope that Christian Walker would be someone the Houston Astros could count on long term, and that obviously not being the case during his first season with the organization, there’s a very real possibility they could look to move on from him and sign a better player.
There aren’t many elite first basemen available, but Pete Alonso and Munetaka Murakami would be two players who could help this Astros team in a massive way.
According to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, the Astros have been linked to Murakami, but it’s also been stated that for that to happen, the team would likely have to move on from Walker’s contract.
“The Yankees have a history of highly valuing exit velocity and age when it comes to acquiring players, so they’re one of the rumored potential landing spots more because of their expected evaluation of Murakami, rather than needing power in the lineup from a corner position per se.
“The Chicago Cubs make sense, as Murakami would join an influx of young hitters (Matt Shaw, Moises Ballesteros, Owen Caissie, Kevin Alcantara, Jonathon Long), while others either just entered free agency (Kyle Tucker) or are set to after next season (Ian Happ, Seiya Suzuki, Nico Hoerner). The Giants also make some sense, the Houston Astros could be a fit if they move Christian Walker’s contract and the Toronto Blue Jays (if they don’t land Tucker) could also be a landing spot,” he wrote.
Murakami clearly doesn’t have as much Major League Baseball experience as Walker, but considering the massive power in his bat, he’d be a nice addition if it could happen.
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