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Kyle Schwarber Reportedly Had Offers from Three Other Teams
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From Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic (now with ads) –
The Orioles offered Schwarber the same five-year, $150 million contract he agreed to Tuesday with the Philadelphia Phillies, according to people briefed on the negotiations.
The Cincinnati Reds also offered Schwarber five years, but their proposal was in the $125 million range, with room to grow. The Pittsburgh Pirates were at four years and $120 million. The amounts of any other offers Schwarber received are not known.
Did anybody really think that Schwarber was going to sign elsewhere? Maybe if the Reds offered him six years and $175 billion. That would have been the hometown return for Schwarbs, but the Cincinnati Reds are not a serious baseball franchise. That team hasn’t won a playoff series since 1995 and won’t win a World Series in our lifetimes unless cloning technology advances to the point where they can have multiple Elly De La Cruz and Andrew Abbott replicas out there.
The Orioles have had their moments. 101 wins two seasons ago, 91 wins in 2024, but they’re also playoff bums and they have to play in a loaded division. There’s no point finishing your career down there.
And nobody is willingly signing for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Yinzers were “in on” Schwarber the same way you and I are “in on” a 17-leg anytime touchdown scorer parlay. Pitt football will make the College Football Playoff before the Pirates land a big free agent.
It was always the Phillies. This was always the best place for Schwarber.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com