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Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Phillies agree to deal with Kyle Schwarber

The Phillies have agreed to a deal with free-agent outfielder Kyle Schwarber, a source told MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. The club has not confirmed.

Schwarber, who turned 29 on March 5, was a free agent for the second straight offseason. A year ago, the Cubs non-tendered him rather than take him through his final arbitration-eligible season, with Schwarber coming off his least productive Major League campaign. In a pandemic-shortened 2020, he hit only .188 with a .701 OPS, despite launching 11 homers in 59 games.

Schwarber settled for a one-year deal (plus a 2022 mutual option) with the Nationals, who later shipped him to the Red Sox before the Trade Deadline. He also rebuilt his value, swinging a prodigious bat for both clubs to produce an overall line of .266/.374/.554 (148 OPS+)—setting a career best in each of those categories. Among hitters with at least 450 plate appearances, Schwarber ranked 15th in the Majors in OBP, 10th in slugging and ninth in OPS+.

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: March 16, 2022 at 09:55 AM | 12 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: kyle schwarber, phillies

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1. Itchy Row Posted: March 16, 2022 at 01:11 PM (#6067978)

Fine, we'll deal with Kyle Schwarber.

2. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: March 16, 2022 at 01:16 PM (#6067980)

4 years, about $78m.

Hmmm...the Red Sox are starting to run out of logical options for 1B that aren't either one extreme (Freddie Freeman) or the other extreme (Dalbec and a platoon partner until Casas takes over this summer).

3. What did Billy Ripken have against ElRoy Face? Posted: March 16, 2022 at 01:24 PM (#6067981)

Mitch Moreland is available!

4. Walt Davis Posted: March 16, 2022 at 06:18 PM (#6068038)

I'm sure they can swing a reverse-Punto trade for Hosmer. Probably straight up for the actual Punto.

5. Walt Davis Posted: March 16, 2022 at 06:22 PM (#6068039)

4/$78 seems like a very nice payday for Schwarber. He's still got the potential to be a very nice bargain for the Phils but is there a higher-paid DH other than JDM? (Not that he's incapable of playing LF. Hmmm ... I guess Stanton is really a DH now.)

Which suggests the answer for the Red Sox would be Luke Voit if it weren't for the facts the Yanks would surely rather not deal him to the Sox.

6. Tom Nawrocki Posted: March 16, 2022 at 06:24 PM (#6068041)

Kris Bryant is signing with the Rockies for 7/$182.

7. dejarouehg Posted: March 17, 2022 at 08:35 AM (#6068121)

Love this deal for the Phillies and happy for Shwarber.

8. John DiFool2 Posted: March 17, 2022 at 10:14 AM (#6068130)

...or the other extreme (Dalbec and a platoon partner until Casas takes over this summer).

No reason to splurge on a vet when a Top 100 prospect waits in the wings, and the kid who is already there could develop too, and had a .254 ISO last year.

9. jacksone (AKA It's OK...) Posted: March 17, 2022 at 11:30 AM (#6068140)

Anyone else see Harper's comments about getting another bat in the line up? Was asking for Schwarber, Bryant, or Castellanos, and said no need for Correa. Thought that was interesting, I wonder if Carlos has a bad rap with other players.

10. John Reynard Posted: March 17, 2022 at 02:20 PM (#6068178)

Anyone else see Harper's comments about getting another bat in the line up? Was asking for Schwarber, Bryant, or Castellanos, and said no need for Correa. Thought that was interesting, I wonder if Carlos has a bad rap with other players.

I think Harper had been working with Bryson Stott one-on-one during the last two off-seasons (Harper is going all-in for the Phillies and before K. Long signing probably figured he was a better hitting coach than whoever the Phillies were pairing Stott with). Stott looks good-enough imho so I probably wouldn't dump a ton on Correa either.

I am intrigued to see who gets Correa now though since the NYY are seemingly out. Its quite possible he stays in HOU. Though, I wouldn't put it past SD to sign him and move Tatis to CF or something. There is a non-zero chance Tatis breaks himself badly enough eventually you'd want an alternative anyhow.

11. Walt Davis Posted: March 17, 2022 at 03:47 PM (#6068194)

No reason to splurge on a vet when a Top 100 prospect waits in the wings

That is not a philosophy that wins ballgames. Top 10 prospect maybe and of course it depends on the vet (and the length of the contract). But you're still lucky if a top 100 prospect turns into, oh, Kyle Schwarber (9 WAR, 1 WAA career). You don't pass on signing Freddie Freeman or trading for Matt Olson and probably not even pass on Rizzo or Castellanos because you might have the next Schwarber a year away.** And if your Schwarber starts looking like Freddie Freeman then (a) that's why it's nice to have a DH or to plonk your young 1B into LF for half a season follwed by (b) trading your vet.

** There might be plenty of other reasons not to sign those guys, mainly money.

12. John DiFool2 Posted: March 17, 2022 at 04:05 PM (#6068195)

Ya think?

Except that many times teams have done exactly that, ended up blocking the prospect as the veteran floundered, wasting the kid's development time when he was clearly ready a month or two into the season. It's a choice which may lose both money as well as games. I'm not sure what's so bad about waiting half a season to see how the kids all shake out; this obsessive need to fill every single hole, make a panic signing way over market value just because seems like the much riskier strategy. Jeez Walt, how many overpriced contracts have you seen which have become albatrosses? Esp. when you could use the money to fill an actual need, nobody on the farm even close.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Phillies agree to deal with Kyle Schwarber

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