Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers at Citizens Bank Park on August 3, 2025. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
If you ranked all the impending MLB free agents based on their performances in 2025, probably only Kyle Tucker would come in higher than Kyle Schwarber, and even that could be debated.
Yet, Schwarber checked in only at No. 8 on the rankings done by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors of those who can become free agents this offseason. Not only was Tucker above Schwarber, but so were Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman, Framber Valdez, Cody Bellinger, Dylan Cease and Ranger Suárez.
It is true that there will be aspects of Schwarber that turn people off. First off, he's going to be entering his age-33 season. Secondly, he'll be saddled with a qualifying offer, which means any team that signs him other than the Phillies will have to give up draft-pick compensation. Perhaps the most notable red flag is that while he will still occasionally appear in left field, he's pretty much just a DH.
At the same time, Schwarber has hit a staggering 172 home runs in parts of four seasons with the Phillies. His 21 career postseason home runs are fourth in MLB history. He's got lightning-quick bat speed. At a certain point, if you're so great at the most important dimension of the game, that has to carry some extra weight.
Schwarber was also consistently brought up unprompted earlier this year when On Pattison asked Phillies players to describe a great clubhouse guy.
While Adams ranked Schwarber lower than we would have, he still pointed many of these things out in his assessment of the three-time All-Star:
"On top of the gaudy on-base numbers and nearly unmatched power output, Schwarber is a beloved clubhouse presence whose teammates and coaches rave about what he brings to the team off the field. He’s going to be 33 next March, and while some teams will want to keep him to a high-AAV three-year contract, the offensive contributions have reached a point where it’s hard to envision less than four years. A fifth year isn’t even completely out of the question, even though he’ll receive and reject a qualifying offer."
Phillies managing partner John Middleton and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski have both been consistent in discussing their desire to retain Schwarber beyond this season. But the Phillies will surely face competition if Schwarber reaches free agency, something that seems overwhelmingly likely to happen at this point.
What if the Cubs — the team Schwarber spent the first six MLB seasons of his career with — pivot from Tucker and make a push to bring Schwarber back? They did non-tender him after the 2020 season, but the nostalgia of having broken a 108-year World Series drought in 2016 might help Schwarber to overcome any hurt feelings.
A native of Middletown, Ohio, Schwarber grew up rooting for the Cincinnati Reds. It's fair to wonder if Reds ownership would make this type of expenditure, but if they did, could you imagine Schwarber hitting 81 times a year at Great American Ballpark?
Other suitors will definitely emerge for Schwarber, because for as much as some teams will be hesitant to give a long-term deal to a DH, Schwarber checks so many other boxes. He's as good of a leader as there is in the sport, and he seems to be getting better with age. Whether you rank him as the No. 2 or No. 8 free agent in this class, Schwarber is going to be coveted.
Over the last 20 years, the Phillies have pretty much retained any of their free agents they've wanted to, even ones who tested free agency like J.T. Realmuto and Aaron Nola. The only exception might be Jayson Werth, who left for a seven-year/$126 million deal with the division-rival Washington Nationals before his age-32 season.
For far too long, Phillies fans held a grudge against Werth for taking a deal that his former employer wouldn't sniff. Throughout this year, Mike McGarry from The Press of Atlantic City has brought up the idea of a team making a similar Godfather offer for Schwarber. It's not a hard scenario to envision. In this case, though, the Phillies might feel compelled to match it.
