White Sox's attempt to steal Dodgers' thunder in Japan with Murakami hype will be an uphill battle

Munetaka Murakami is drawing (positive) national attention to the White Sox for the first time in years. Although Aaron Judge has since overtaken him, Murakami led baseball in home runs for a time and is still on pace to hit 60 homers as a rookie, which could have him stealing RoY votes from the Tigers' Kevin McGonigle by the end of the year. He's already beaten some of Shohei Ohtani's rookie records.

He also just looks like an all-around endearing guy, whether he's getting bidets installed in the White Sox's clubhouse or learning Spanish to communicate better with his teammates.

White Sox GM Chris Getz knows that he might have an opportunity on his hands. The Dodgers are Japan's team, but Murakami's early success could split some loyalties.

Jesse Rogers of ESPN wrote, "The White Sox would love to monetize Murakami's success the way the Los Angeles Dodgers have grown their following in Japan through the stardom of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani."

But they also know there's a lot more that goes into that than simply having a star player. White Sox chief marketing officer Brooks Boyer said, "The bigger hurdle is the amount of money that is spent in LA. So much of it in Japan is what your distribution is on television there. Their national network is dominated by the Dodgers. They've kind of become the nation's team."

White Sox have a long way to go if they think they can catch up to Dodgers' popularity in Japan

There's also the fact that the White Sox are still playing below-.500 baseball even with the occasional heroic from Murakami. To be fair, the entire AL Central is playing pretty horrendously, and only one team currently has a winning record, but the White Sox still have quite a long way to go before they're actually taken seriously again.

And Murakami is on a two-year deal. And the White Sox don't seem to have extension talks in the works.

Ohtani signing with the Dodgers changed everything for them in terms of international supremacy, but it's also been a full-court press ever since, with sponsorships (Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium) and increased Asian scouting and overseas series. The Angels weren't even able to capitalize on Ohtani's popularity in Japan to the same extent the Dodgers have.

If they actually want to catch up with the Dodgers in this realm, first things first: they need to extend Murakami. If they don't, then you can be sure that the Dodgers will be knocking on his door the second he hits free agency.

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