The Boston Red Sox have a long, spotty record with recruiting stars from the top Japanese professional leagues..

Outside of landing Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007, the Red Sox have whiffed at luring generational talents such as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki. However, Boston successfully signed solid but unspectacular contributors in Junichi Tazawa, Hideki Okajima, Hirokazu Sawamura and Masataka Yoshida — to name a few.

So, what will next offseason bring?

Corner infielder Munetaka Murakami is set to be one of the top players available in free agency. And, during a recent Bleacher Report podcast , MLB insider Jon Heyman identified the Red Sox as one of his top-five “fits” for Murakami. Heyman noted that Alex Bregman’s contract uncertainty — he owns a $40 million player op

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