Cincinnati finished 14th in the MLB in scoring despite playing in one of the sport’s most hitter-friendly venues. They had a .245/.315/.391 slash line and finished 21st in home runs. Elly Dela Cruz was the team leader with 22 home runs, and their only two batters to hit at least .450 in more than 100 at-bats (Miguel Andujar And Austin Hays) are free agents. The Reds need offense in general and would especially benefit from a power bat.
Schwarber is the best slugger around. He is coming off a 56 home run season, hitting .240/.365/.563 while starting all 162 games for the Phillies. He hasn’t hit fewer than 30 home runs in a full season since 2018 and is tied for the lead Shohei Ohtani for second place in the MLB (behind Aaron Judge) in longballs over the past four years.
In Cincinnati, no one is locked into the day-to-day DH role. They’ll probably want to give a 22 year old Sal Stewart more time to see if he can be a useful defender at first base. Spencer Steer could play left field more often or simply be shopped in trades if the Reds were to add Schwarber (or Pete Alonsoa long-speculated potential fit).
While it’s an obvious fit from a roster perspective, it would require an unusually bold commitment from ownership. Schwarber is expected to easily surpass the $100 million guarantee and could rake in more than $30 million annually. The Reds have handed out two nine-figure contracts in franchise history: $225 million for Joey Votto and $105 million to Homer Bailey. Those were both extensions. Their largest free agent deals had associated four-year terms of $64 million Nick Castellanos And Mike Moustakas. Those average annual values ​​of $16 million were the highest for any multi-year free agent signing. Schwarber may need double that amount.
President of baseball operations Nick Krall said last month that the Reds expect to run a similar payroll to last season’s level. They opened ’25 with a payroll of about $116 million. They have about $40 million in guaranteed contracts, but have a sizable arbitration class that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz expects to cost about $45 million.
If you were to fill out the roster with players who make the league minimum, they would have around $20-25 million to spend. They’ll certainly add a bat of some significance, but a Schwarber signing may require ownership to push the budget beyond where they seemingly prefer to place it. The other option would be to take money out of the arbitrage class by buying one or more of them Brady singer ($11.9MM projection), Tyler Stephenson ($6.4MM), Gavin Lux ($5MM), TJ Friedl ($4.9MM), Nick Lodolo ($4.3MM) or Handlebars ($4.5MM).
In a less obvious context: Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported this morning that the Giants have also been in contact with Schwarber’s camp. That’s a much tougher matchup from a roster perspective. San Francisco has Rafael Devers under contract through 2033. Even if they are confident he will be a capable first baseman, they need at-bats at the designated hitter to get the best chance at first base. Bryce Eldridge. There is an argument for the Giants to bring in a short-term first baseman/DH to give the 21-year-old Eldridge more time in Triple-A, but that wouldn’t apply to a four- or five-year contract for Schwarber.
The Giants likely wouldn’t have any interest in using Schwarber as an everyday outfielder. There would only be a deal if they traded Eldridge for a starter. They have already downplayed their desire to make a nine-figure commitment to a starter, despite calling pitching their top priority. It would be a big surprise if they trusted that kind of money to a DH.
Schwarber turned down a qualifying offer, so whichever team signs him will lose draft compensation. Philadelphia has made no secret of their desire to bring him back. The Orioles and Red Sox are both in the market for an impact bat and have expressed interest, while the Pirates have been cited as an extreme longshot after a failed attempt at Josh Naylor away from Seattle.
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