Aug 28, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber speaks for a postgame interview following his historic four home runs against the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park. (Grace Del Pizzo/On Pattison)
Otto Kemp recently glowed about what it's been like to be teammates with Kyle Schwarber during his rookie season, but said the quiet part out loud as he talked about the future of the NL MVP candidate with the Phillies:
Otto Kemp on what it’s been like to witness Kyle Schwarber’s 50 home run season as a rookie: “It’s something that I’ll never forget, and I hope this isn’t the only year that I get to play with him.”
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/Fes5xml0OS
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) September 10, 2025
Well Otto, two stories published in the last week indicate that the expectation is that Schwarber will remain with the Phillies beyond his career-year in 2025.
Last week, ESPN's Kiley McDaniel "polled 20 scouts, executives and agents" in an attempt to figure out how Schwarber and Kyle Tucker will do in free agency. This part about Schwarber stood out:
"Conversely to the Tucker/Cubs situation, a lot of those surveyed think there's a strong chance the Phillies will act quickly after the season ends to bring Schwarber back."
As McDaniel alluded to, there wasn't a similar takeaway from those he polled about whether the Cubs — another big-market team — will retain Tucker: "There was little confidence from those surveyed (none of whom work for the Cubs) about the Cubs winning a bidding war for Tucker."
Perhaps the only downside of that from a Phillies perspective is that if Tucker prices his way out of the Cubs' comfort zone, they could be a team that pivots to Schwarber, who, of course, spent the first six years of his career on the north side. Schwarber did help the Cubs to break a 108-year World Series drought in 2016, but the team also non-tendered him following a disappointing performance during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. They could pitch him on a return to a place where he's beloved and has unfinished business at. How appealing that pitch would be when contrasted with a chance to remain in Philadelphia is unclear.
It is interesting that McDaniel suggested some believe the Phillies "will act quickly" in their attempt to re-sign Schwarber. Could that mean they try to re-sign him even before he hits free agency? That doesn't happen a ton, because players maximize their leverage by having multiple teams bid for their services in free agency. But it's not unprecedented — the New York Mets gave star closer Edwin Díaz a five-year/$102 million deal with the chance to opt out after the third season before he had the opportunity to reach free agency following the 2022 season.
At the very least, the Phillies will be able to give Schwarber a qualifying offer before free agency. He would surely decline the QO, but it would assure the Phillies got back some draft-pick compensation if Schwarber leaves in free agency. The Phillies gave J.T. Realmuto and Aaron Nola QOs before they hit the open market, and ultimately brought both back.
Kyle Schwarber is five home runs away from tying Ryan Howard's single-season franchise home runs record.
onpattison.com/news/2025/se...
— Tim Kelly (@timkellysports.bsky.social) September 15, 2025 at 10:41 PM
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McDaniel wasn't the only person to write about Schwarber's upcoming free agency in a way that would excite Phillies fans, as Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said this on Tuesday:
"The expectation is that designated hitter Kyle Schwarber will remain with the Philadelphia Phillies. A four-year deal at $30-million plus per season seems realistic, in part, because his leadership adds to his value. But there is no obvious free-agent precedent for Schwarber, who will be 33 at the start of next season."
Normally, giving a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $120 million to a DH entering his age-33 season would be hard to do. But considering Schwarber is better in the fourth year of his current deal than he was in the first, it would be more than fair in this case. Heck, if Schwarber tests free agency and it turns out the Phillies need to give him a fifth year, it would be hard to balk at that. That's how good he's been and how much he means to the Phillies.
Rosenthal is right — there isn't an obvious free-agent precedent for Schwarber. But if you're going to bet on someone, the guy with lightning-quick bat speed that's swatted 53 home runs in 2025, is a legendary postseason performer and would probably be voted captain if the Phillies had one would be a good person to go all-in on.
