Orlando, Florida — Slugger kyle schwarber and this philadelphia phillies A five-year, $150 million contract is being finalized, sources told ESPN on Tuesday, reuniting the National League home run leader and the franchise with which he developed into a perennial MVP candidate.
Following a frenetic free agency that saw attempts to sign Schwarber New York Mets, boston red sox, baltimore orioles And even small-market teams pittsburgh and his hometown cincinnatiA late push by Philadelphia secured the 32-year-old a rare big-money, long-term deal for a designated hitter.
After losing a division series to the eventual World Series champion los angeles dodgersThe Phillies were reluctant to live without Schwarber, their apparent clubhouse leader and a highly respected figure in the game. His propensity for clutch hitting excited Philadelphia in 2025, when he finished second in MVP voting after hitting .240/.365/.563 with 56 home runs and an NL-leading 132 RBI.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “We always wanted him back. He’s very different from everybody I’ve ever dealt with.” “He’s a great player and he knows how to take the clubhouse down when things are going bad. He’s a big part of our ball club.”
Schwarber has been a model of slugging consistency since joining the Phillies on a four-year, $79 million deal through 2022, and has hit at least 38 home runs in each of his four seasons. This year, he played in all 162 games for the first time in his career, becoming the 21st player in MLB history to hit four home runs in a game and one of just five players to draw at least 100 walks.
In addition to his prodigious power, Schwarber is regarded as a titan in the Phillies’ locker room, a reputation that made him even more attractive to teams as he nearly doubled the guarantee from his final attempt in free agency. Aging DHs rarely get multi-year deals on the open market, let alone a $30 million per year deal, but Schwarber was a leader in many respects.
“Just work ethic. The body has gotten better over time,” Thompson said of Schwarber’s durability. “He’s in the best shape of his life right now. I don’t think that’s going to change.”
The three-time All-Star found the best version of himself in his 30s after winning the 2016 World Series chicago cubs And getting non-tendered by them before spending 2021 with citizens And the Red Sox. Schwarber, viewed as a one-dimensional player at the time, went to Philadelphia and became even more of a player, and destroyed the left-handed pitching that teams deployed to neutralize his powerful left-handed swing.
In his four years with the Phillies, Schwarber hit 14 home runs in 38 postseason games and remained a consistent on-base threat near the top of Philadelphia’s lineup. Six home runs came during Philadelphia’s 2022 World Series, where it lost in six games houstonWhile Philadelphia entered the offseason looking to rebuild a team that had been stalled in the playoffs, losing Schwarber proved too difficult, even with a cadre of teams pursuing him,
with alex bregman Reaching free agency after one year in Boston and pete alonso Opting out of his deal with the Mets, both teams considered adding Schwarber to their lineups. Baltimore made a strong push, sources said, as did Pittsburgh, which offered a high-dollar four-year deal that would be more than three times his previous biggest contract given in free agency.
Because of the need for the Power Bat in Cincinnati, the Hidden Horse and its appeal to Schwarber – who grew up about 30 minutes outside the city – did not meet the financial demands that others were willing to make.
Ultimately, this gave the Phillies an opportunity to strike out and maintain a fearsome top of the order, with the leadoff hitter tree turnerSchwarber and bryce harperHow to travel through Philadelphia the rest of the winter – with a long haul JT Realmuto Reaching free agency, there are many players every day who are trade candidates and talented prospects. aidan miller And justin crawford The winter will be one of the most fascinating stories – at the pinnacle of the big leagues.
The Phillies won the NL East division for the second consecutive season in 2025, winning the second-most games in MLB before being joined by a Dodgers team that eliminated them after an 11th-inning error in Game 4 of the Division Series. Upon completion of the World Series, Philadelphia made it their clear priority to re-sign Schwarber.
His signing is expected to accelerate the free agent market, which has been moving slowly so far. The majority of top free agents in both hitting (kyle tucker, cody bellinger, bo bichetMunetaka Murakami, Bregman and Alonso) and pitching (framber valdezTatsuya Imai, ranger suarez, michael king And zack gallen) markets remain available.
In the 11 seasons since the Cubs drafted him with the fourth overall pick out of Indiana University, Schwarber has hit .231/.346/.500 with 340 home runs, 784 RBI and 800 runs batted in, twice leading the NL in home runs.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers contributed to this report
