Phillies

The Pittsburgh Pirates Reportedly Have Interest in Signing Kyle Schwarber

By Luke Arcaini

Published: Nov 18th, 2025 · 4:19 PM EST

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Every team across Major League Baseball should want to sign Kyle Schwarber. How many can actually do it? Nearly every contender, and a few middle-of-the-pack teams.

Others can dream. I thought the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the dreamer category, and maybe I was wrong.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan released a huge (and free) offseason preview with intel on just about every free agent and potential trade target that you know. When talking about Schwarber, he listed a bunch of teams that have interest, and even went on to say the Pittsburgh Pirates…yes, the Pirates, are “in on” Kyle Schwarber:

“The demand for Schwarber is high, which is no surprise considering he won’t get more than a five-year deal because of his age and positional inflexibility as a full-time designated hitter. Of course, when you hit like Schwarber, neither age nor position matters. Teams have made that abundantly clear, all the way from the obvious suitors (the Philadelphia Phillies are fiending to re-sign him) and the not-so-obvious (yes, Pittsburgh is in on Schwarber as well).”

The Phillies still have Schwarber at the top of their off-season list. Coming off a 56-homer, 132-RBI season, Schwarber and his camp won’t rush this offseason. Schwarber has an interest in returning to Philadelphia, but they’ll weigh out all of the options before he makes his decision on what could be the last “big contract” of his career.

If not the Phillies, there are a couple of teams that could make sense. The Cincinnati Reds have expressed their interest in Schwarber for months. Having his Dad throw out the first pitch at a Phillies vs Reds game was the first step. The Toronto Blue Jays are looking for a left-handed slugger. The Mets are always lurking.

It seems like the Pirates are finally wanting to spend some money and make the team better after being a bottom 5-10 team in payroll for years. Maybe that’s because of some rumors of Cy-Young winner Paul Skenes eventually wanting out of Pittsburgh? Or maybe they’re finally listening to the Pennsylvania lawmakers who basically asked the Pirates to stop sucking.

Listen, I don’t think you have to worry about Schwarber leaving Philadelphia to stay in Pennsylvania and sign with the Pirates. Is it a guarantee that Schwarber returns to the Phillies? No. He could go elsewhere, and if that situation were to happen, Passan reported that the Phillies could pivot to free-agent slugger Kyle Tucker. There are a few teams that could poach Schwarber; I can almost guarantee you that the Pirates are not one of those teams.

The Pirates are “in on” Kyle Schwarber, and I’m “in on” hitting my $1, 25-leg NFL parlay that pays out a million dollars.