PHILADELPHIA — In a Phillies season highlighted by streaky play, Kyle Schwarber’s constant elite production has been their saving grace. Consider where Philly, currently in first place in the National League East, would be without him.
He leads the team with 24 home runs, whereas the injured Bryce Harper is tied for second with nine. Schwarber’s 153 wRC+ is ranked eighth in Major League Baseball. He’s hitting the ball harder than he ever has. His batting average and walk rate are both up, and his slugging percentage is elite. At 32 years old, Schwarber is on pace to record his best career season in the big leagues.
“We’ve seen it the last three years,” Schwarber said at Citizens Bank Park this past weekend. “We keep putting ourselves in positions to get to where we want to be. And that’s what I play for. I came here to win.”
In a star-studded lineup that — when healthy — features Harper, Trea Turner, J.T. Realmuto, and Nick Castellanos, Schwarber is the Phillies’ best hitter, and he’s one of the biggest reasons they’re considered World Series contenders.
There’s only one problem: Schwarber is an impending free agent.
The Phillies offered him a contract extension back in spring training before those discussions failed to advance past an initial proposal. Now, Schwarber is all but certain to enter free agency when the season is over. That quandary brings with it a whole host of questions for the Phillies this season and beyond, particularly when it comes to their championship window.
“You want to make sure that you give the best that you can to your team,” Schwarber said on approaching free agency, “Because if it is the end, how do you want to be remembered? Do you want to be remembered for being selfish, where you’re only caring about yourself? Or do you want to really be remembered for giving everything you had to your team?”
This upcoming offseason will be Schwarber’s third time going through free agency. After starting his career with the Cubs, and winning the 2016 World Series, he was non-tendered in December 2020 after six seasons on the north side of Chicago. Schwarber signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Nationals in Jan. 2021, then he was traded to the Red Sox in July. That offseason, he entered free agency for the second consecutive time, eventually agreeing to a four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies in March 2022.
Now, in the final year of that contract, the designated hitter is single-handedly keeping the Phillies offense afloat. Schwarber, a premier left-handed slugger, will be in high demand this winter. He’s expected to receive offers from multiple contending teams in the range of $100 million over the next four years. The Phillies should be at the top of that list, particularly because it’s hard to envision them winning a championship without him.
“Of course, you don’t want to lose a Kyle Schwarber,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday. “He’s a unique talent and he’s a quality individual. We don’t want to lose him. But I think your responsibility, as somebody in my job, is to make your club better in other ways. I’ve lost free-agent players in the past that we’ve gone out and been able to do things. Again, not that you want to lose him. But I don’t think it’s the end of any window or anything.”
The Phillies’ core is getting older, and it will be difficult for the roster, as currently constructed, to sustain this level of excellence for much longer.
Realmuto is in the final year of his contract. Ace Zack Wheeler is 35 years old and expected to retire in a couple of years. Castellanos will become a free agent after 2026. Harper is 32 with a ton of mileage underneath him since debuting as a 19-year-old rookie in 2012. Of late, his stints on the injured list are beginning to pile up. He’s currently sidelined with the same wrist issue that bothered him last year. It’s unclear when he will return and how the injury will affect him going forward.
All of which makes it that much more important for the Phillies to not only win now, while Schwarber is still in red pinstripes, but to maximize the roster talent by being aggressive at the trade deadline. But Dombrowski, the longtime baseball executive, doesn’t necessarily see it that way. He believes in the Phillies’ younger players and is relying on them to make strides at the major-league level, and he trusts that his veterans still have at least a few years of elite production remaining in them.
Bryce Harper, Bobby Dickerson and Nick Castellanos of the Philadelphia Phillies look on from the dugout against the Chicago Cubs. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
Dombrowski does not believe he has to be more aggressive at this year’s July 31 trade deadline because the Phillies’ championship window is closing.
“The Philadelphia Phillies, we’re in good shape for years to come,” Dombrowski said. “That’s one of the responsibilities that you try to do, if you can, is to stay in contention despite some players becoming free agents. We have an owner that’s very generous with us. We have a hefty payroll in that regard. So even if we lose guys, we normally have the capability to sign somebody else.”
Since Schwarber joined the Phillies in 2022, only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani have hit more home runs than him. If the Phillies lose Schwarber in free agency this winter, it’s unreasonable to believe they can replicate his production, even despite a generous owner in John Middleton who gives Dombrowski the flexibility to spend. That’s why it’s essential for the Phillies to match, if not top, the offers that Schwarber will secure this offseason. It will be fascinating to see how the market develops for an elite designated hitter who has yet to play more than 10 games in the outfield since 2023.
However, while they still have Schwarber, Dombrowski is on the clock to bolster the bullpen at the trade deadline. He should be focused on, at the very least, adding a high-leverage reliever and a right-handed platoon bat to the outfield. The Phillies should be in solid shape for a long October run if they can get healthy and stay that way sometime after the All-Star break.
As of Tuesday, FanGraphs is giving the Phillies the fourth-best chance to win the World Series, with only the Dodgers, Yankees, and Tigers ahead of them. After falling to the Houston Astros in the 2022 World Series, the Phillies lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 NLCS, and then they were defeated by the New York Mets in the 2024 NLDS. Throughout those playoff appearances, the Phillies have largely pushed out the same core. Despite their recent success, winning 10 of their last 13 games and grabbing first place, the Phillies know they have to get hot at the right time in order to go the distance and finish the job in October. They’re focused on putting their heads down and racking up wins.
[2025 World Series Odds: Dodgers Favored To Win It All]
As for Schwarber, who faces uncertainty as he approaches free agency, he continues to rely on the advice he received from a former Cubs teammate. More than five years ago, three-time World Series championship Jon Lester told Schwarber: “The best way for you to get paid is to win. Winners get paid.” To this day, those are the words that Schwarber lives by. Wherever he ends up next season, whether it be ringing the bell or wearing his fifth different major-league uniform, Schwarber knows he can set up a bright future for himself by living in the moment — and carrying the Phillies to glory.
“I know from our side that as soon as the season’s over, whenever the time is appropriate, some sort of conversation will be had,” Schwarber said. “I got a lot of respect for the Phillies organization, and obviously for the players here, and the management and things like that. They’ve done a lot for me. And that’s why I don’t think that it’s just going to be a goodbye, right? There’ll be some sort of conversation.”
Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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