Just over a week ago, reporting indicated that the Phillies and slugger Kyle Schwarber have engaged in “broad” conversations about an extension. That came not long after Schwarber expressed a desire to stick in Philadelphia beyond the life of his current contract, which expires at the end of the coming season. While no updates about the status of talks between the sides have been made public since then, it was just over a year ago that the Phillies agreed to an extension with pending free agent Zack Wheeler after reports of mutual interest between the sides gave way to radio silence as the sides hammered out a deal. Things have been similarly quiet regarding Schwarber’s teammate and fellow possible extension candidate J.T. Realmuto, as the sides reportedly have mutual interest in an extension as of last month with few details having emerged since then.
Getting back to Schwarber, it’s understandable why the 32-year-old would have interest in sticking in Philadelphia long-term. Aside from the team’s on-field success, which has seen them capture the NL pennant in 2022 and follow that up with 90- and 95-win campaigns the past two years, Schwarber himself has found an impressive level of consistency in Philadelphia. Across three seasons in a Phillies uniform, he’s slashed .221/.344/.488 with a wRC+ of 128 while never posting a figure below 120. That’s not only a substantial improvement over his career 119 wRC+ prior to arriving in Philly, but the results are also far more consistent on a year-to-year basis: his wRC+ figures prior to joining the Phillies ranged from as low as 91 in 2020 to as high as 146 in 2021.
Aside from the success both Schwarber and the team have enjoyed over the past three seasons, Schwarber may be hoping that avoiding the open market could afford him longer-term stability. The veteran has always been a lackluster defender, and in 2024 he spent virtually the entire campaign at DH. There’s been talk of Schwarber getting more reps in the outfield (or perhaps even at first base) this year, but the market has proved harsh in recent years for players like Schwarber regardless of whether he’s viewed as a bat-first corner option or a pure DH. Veteran DH J.D. Martinez resorted to taking one-year deals with the Dodgers and Mets during both the 2022-23 and ’23-24 offseasons, and he remains unsigned in March for the second consecutive year. Other defensively limited players like Pete Alonso and Anthony Santander ended up with contracts that fell below expectations this winter, while Schwarber’s longtime teammate Anthony Rizzo has seemingly struggled to get any sort of tempting offer this winter.
That’s not to say Schwarber is necessarily doomed to the same fate of underwhelming offers on the open market, of course. Teams are almost always willing to pay for truly elite talent in free agency, and Schwarber’s 131 wRC+ over the past four seasons is good for 25th in baseball over that timeframe. Those numbers are only slightly ahead of Alonso, who ranks 29th with a 129 wRC+, but it’s worth noting that Alonso faced questions about his future production after back-to-back down seasons. Meanwhile, Schwarber’s 2024 was nothing short of excellent as he slashed .248/.366/.485 with 38 homers and a career-high 3.4 fWAR. Another strong season from Schwarber in 2025 would surely line him up for a healthy contract in free agency, even if his age and defensive profile would likely inhibit his ability to land a lengthier contract.
There’s both pros and cons to the idea re-upping with Schwarber from the Phillies’ perspective as well. Schwarber offers rare left-handed power and exceptional consistency for a player with his skillset, but it’s not hard to see why an aging Phillies club might prefer to go with a younger alternative with strong defensive skills rather than continue to trot out a team that relies on both Schwarber and Nick Castellanos as regular fixtures of the lineup in 2026. Schwarber’s strikeout-heavy approach could be cause for concern in theory, but the club is more than capable of balancing that out with more contact-oriented hitters like Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm, and Trea Turner.
Perhaps the strongest argument for keeping Schwarber in the fold is the lack of clear upgrades available in free agency next winter. Unless the Phillies opt to splurge on an aggressive pursuit of either Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Kyle Tucker, they’ll be hard pressed to find a better hitter on the market next winter than the one they already have. Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suarez, and Cody Bellinger (if he opts out) are among the best hitters in the next tier of free agency next year, and while all three are solid players, none of them come close to offering the reliable offensive impact that Schwarber has given the Phillies over the past three years.
Is that impact enough to live with the high strikeout rates and lack of defensive value on what would likely be a two- or three-year extension? Have your say in the poll below:
They’d b crazy to give him an extension.
It’s the classic “Bird in the hand…” scenario.
If not Kyle, who replaces his production?
That’s for the Phillies to decide. He’s about to be 33 next offseason so I’m guessing hes looking for one last decent contract at probably a 3 year deal so I would stay away personally. DH is not a hard spot to fill generally speaking.
Kyle Tucker. Look what happened to Alonso, whom Schwarber will be 2025’s version. Tucker would actually give you a COF glove you didn’t have to deal with, on top of a solid bat/baserunning. Yes, a lot more money, but you have his (Schwarb) and soon, Castellanos off the books. If you replace a Walker with a Painter and any of those young guys latch on, whoa!
This scenario would make Braves Nation quake.
Tucker’s bat in Philly would be lethal.
Vlad Jr. Or Alonso?
131 HR’s the last 3 seasons, and they’d be crazy to extend him? Why?
Because the next 3 years are unlikely to provide the same, and he can’t play the field. Only reason to extend is a nice hometown discount.
Its a great core with Harper and Realamuto – play em till its time for them all to hang em up
DON’T DO IT!
Love Kyle and what he has done for the team and community. Just a pure good dude. If he’s willing to sign under market for (2) years I’d lock him up now but not for the DH money and years he is probably seeking. Better to wait it out and dive into the Kyle Tucker market this offseason.
Cambo — That’s probably the right approach. See how close they can get to Tucker, and if not, quick pivot back to Kyle.
Not sure how old you are Cambo – but all the while Kyle has been to me Pete Incaviglia if he stayed healthy. I really enjoyed your comment too.
@Buff Barnacles Not a good comparison. Incaviglia didn’t walk nearly as much. Schwarber’s career OBP is more than 30 points higher, and his slugging is 50’ish points higher.
@pt57
You forgot to mention that Pete was faster.
Agreed – Kyle is the most vocal and authentic team leader in that clubhouse; and it is a very solid clubhouse atmosphere. Hard to let that go, plus a key bat in that lineup for sure with power and patience. All balanced out by the DH-only status, potential for downturn given his age, lack of other value on D or the basepaths and payroll concerns.
The only answer for me is – yes, subject to contractual details. Two years for sure; vesting option for 3rd year and not far above the current AAV gets it done now (and Schwarbs says no unless he really wants to stay). If he wants a lot more then let him hit the market and as noted by others take a good look at Tucker and deal with things as they play out in free agency.
no
Do you get the 2023 Schwarber with 0.6 bWAR or the 2024 Schwarber with 3.5 bWAR? He has no defensive or baserunning value, so any extension would be strictly for the bat. He just turned 32 and the offense could go south in a hurry.
I’d offer a two-year deal at $25 million annually with a third year club option at the same rate and a $10 million buyout. That’s $60 million guaranteed and a possible $75 million. Toss in some plate appearance incentives to get the total possible up to $80 million. If he doesn’t take the deal, look elsewhere for a bat-first guy.
Depends on how greedy he is
Poll: Should we end pointless polls like this that have no bearing on reality and are only meant to create content when there isn’t anything relevant to say?
(Insert check mark here) I’m not sure/I need more information
I vote no
This is a rumors sight….polls fit right in
Love him but I want Vlad Jr instead
Let’s see….one of the best hitters in baseball…
The wet behind the ears crowd, showing their level of maturity.
That “old man”, is way better than 95% of the adults 2/3 his age.
Young should not mean childish.
Most still would say “I prefer to sauce my own apples thank you very much”
Not trying to discount his value to them, but on a team full of guys who suck at defense and should be DH’s anyways, kinda seems like an unnecessary use of cash.
Then get rid of someone else who can’t play defense, instead of Schwarber…the guy can hit
I’d say no just because he’s pretty much a full time DH. If they’re going to make a run at Vladdy Jr. next year, they’d be better off having flexibility with the DH
By all accounts, Schwarber is a big part of their clubhouse culture. So extending him should be a priority, subject to cost. Given his age and lack of defensive ability, it’s hard to justify a heady valuation. Brent Rooker had his age 33-35 seasons valued around $19MM by a team that had a monetary incentive to be loose with their spending. JDM remains a free agent. I figure Schwarber could argue he’s worth another 5/$100MM but teams would be more comfortable in the 3/$66MM range. He’s someone who would either sign early for more than expected or linger deep into the winter. I don’t think there’s anything Schwarber could do to increase his value this season. It’s all downside risk.
If the Phillies are feeling budget constrained because of repeated years near the top of the tax structure, they could wait him out as they did with Realmuto years ago. If Schwarber is willing to price in the risk of injury/decline showing up in 2025, then a 3/$60MM extension should be acceptable to all parties.
btw, anyone thinking the Phillies are going to take a run at Vladito is in for a disappointment. They’ll sniff around as they did with Soto. Nothing more. They might more seriously pursue Tucker. As of today, I would expect them to position themselves as a fallback option for Tucker. The development of Painter, Miller, and a few others will go a long way to informing their free agent strategy next winter–as well as potential trades for someone like Luis Robert.
Tucker is a better player than Vlad and signing him keeps Bryce at 1B. The team would be better than if they signed Jr.
I would only trade for Robert if he makes it through the whole season without multiple or lengthy IL stints
Phillies are getting really close to being this generation’s big spending Tigers of the oughts. Oh, hey! That was Dom’s team too!
Nothing wrong with that era of the Tigers. Nor this era of the Phillies. The World Series isn’t everything. Hell, the most celebrated Phillies roster of all time got walked off by Joe Carter.
I agree that ‘going for it’ is beneficial to a franchise, fanbase & community in general. Only bummer is the drawn out rebuild and all of the losing that inevitably comes after all the heroes age out, but their contracts haven’t.
No. Because, as a Hoosier fan, I want the Reds to sign him. Haha
The only thing Dombrowski shouldn’t do is fall into the same trap that Ruben Amaro Jr. Did and lock up everyone and watch the team get old together and fall apart
Let him walk. Go all in for Tucker. Upgrade defensively and keep the offensive upside.
One year. Be smart.
Where’s the poll? I doesn’t show up on my feed.
2/$50
Kyle Schwarber can hit a ball farther than most major leaguers. Unfortunately, he cannot do it consistently or in clutch situations. His home run production is misleading because many of his homers come as a leadoff hitter in situations where pitchers are trying to throw the first strike of the game, and Schwarber is sitting back, just waiting for a prime cut fast ball down the middle of the plate to hit out of the park. At no other time in the game is a hitter guaranteed such a hittable pitch. Schwarber knows this. That’s why he has always lobbied to be a leadoff hitter to his managers, while professing “I’ll do anything to help the club,” to the sports writers. In trying to hit home runs, Schwarber strikes out more than the vast majority of major leaguers every season. He has frequently lead the NL in strikeouts, and been runner-up in that category on other occasions. That’s why the Phils have been trying to convert him more into a contact hitter than home run hitter. Even then, his 2024 .248 batting average and .230 lifetime batting average show his inconsistency as a hitter. Schwarber does walk a lot which increases his on-base percentage, which is why many analysts who concentrate exclusively on stats feel he is a valuable player. However, instant replays have shown a pattern of umpires being overly generous to Schwarber on 3-2 counts, with Schwarber getting 4th ball calls more than replays have shown he deserved. This is an important point with MLB trending toward pitch challenges and computers calling balls and strikes. When this happens, Schwarber’s Ks can be expected to increase and his BBs and OB%s to decrease. Schwarber’s vocal presence in the clubhouse has long been used to defend his being a DH who cannot contribute defensively to the team. His community presence has also been used to portray him as a nice guy. His name presence on the sandwich menu at Wawa has shown him to be popular. All this notwithstanding, the Phillies are at a crossroads in which they must decide to either add more pieces to an aging lineup in order to finally win a world series or start getting rid or pieces that are both expensive and no longer cost effective. Even if Schwarber gave the Phils a hometown discount, keeping him beyond 2025 would still be expensive, and not as cost effective as transitioning to a DH by committee in which a single player like Schwarber was replaced by the Phils’ best hitters who took turns DHing but, more importantly, got regular days off from having to play defense. Older players like Realmuto, Harper, Castellanos, Turner, and Sosa would especially benefit from an occasional day off from defensive duties, and younger players like Clemens and Marchan would benefit from the greater amount of playing time a DH by committee would provide them. Schwarber has not been setting the world on fire this spring, hitting .130 as we speak and, if the past is prologue, Schwarber will not be expected to start hitting with any consistency until summer rolls around. Even then, inconsistency may continue plaguing him. That being said, the Phils could certainly extend him for 2 or 3 years at roughly his current salary before the regular season starts, or they could tell him they’re interested in extending him but unwilling to do so until they see how he performs during the first half of the season and how the Phillies perform as a team during that same time period. Should Schwarber exceed all expectations and the Phils give every indication of going to the world series in 2025, the Phils’ front office may have sufficient justification to extend Schwarber. Conversely, if Schwarber falters, as do the Phils as a team, the Phils’ front office may finally realize it’s time to circle the wagons and give a few new players the chance to do what the Phils’ current all-star lineup has been unable to do for the past 3 seasons. It’s true that Kyle Schwarber has been an important part of the Phils’ current culture. It’s also true that the Phils’ current culture may be talented and popular, but unable to win a world championship. In the not too distant future, it is this that will matter most.
I voted sign him. I’m a Nats fan and think signing him helps the Nats long term