Philadelphia Phillies Fan Favorite Slugger Hints At Desire For Long-Term Deal

One of the fan favorites on the Philadelphia Phillies has strongly hinted at the fact he wants to stay with the team for the long haul.

Michael Brauner | Feb 7, 2025

Sep 6, 2024; Miami, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates with teammates after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the sixth inning at loanDepot Park / Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies have done as good a job as anyone over the years at bringing in star players with big names and personalities to join the roster.

With one of the highest levels of name recognition on a roster in all of Major League Baseball, the Phillies are a team filled with stars both homegrown and from other franchises. But a reality of a team constructed like that is not being able to always keep everybody when it comes to fan favorite players hitting free agency.

One of those fan favorites is mashing two-time All-Star Kyle Schwarber. Coming to the end of his four-year, $79 million deal he signed with Philadelphia prior to the 2022 season, the slugger will hit free agency again next winter. At this juncture it feels more likely than not that he will not be back.

Such is the nature of the business side of baseball, but if all things were equal, it certainly sounds like Schwarber would love to be back.

"I’ve enjoyed my time so much,” he said via Sports Talk Philly while reflecting on his time with the team. “I was with the Cubs for how many years, and then I signed the one-year deal with Boston. Being here, it feels like home now. I’d love to keep that going for as long as I can. Hopefully we can win multiple World Series in the years to come."

Unless Schwarber plans on winning 'multiple World Series' in 2025, that certainly sounds like a big hint that he wants to be in the City of Brotherly Love for the duration of his career.

Realistically though, it's going to be difficult to make it happen.

Schwarber bounced back in 2024 from a 2023 season in which he hit below .200 for the first time in a full season in his career and led the league in strikeouts for the second consecutive year with his highest ever WAR in a season and lead the league in walks.

Raising his OPS to .851 and still blasting 38 home runs, it was maybe the best season of Schwarber's career. While all of that bodes tremendously for the 2025 Phillies, another season like 2024 would likely raise the price to the point the team wouldn't even make a real attempt to bring him back.

As Schwarber becomes a more technically sound player entering his 30s, he also becomes more valuable and the more teams are going to be willing to pay him on what will likely be the last chance of his career to truly cash in.

For Philadelphia however, if they want to extend him, they do have the benefit of the fact Schwarber clearly loves it here and wants to be with the Phillies.

Sometimes that can be enough to motivate both sides to work something out, but time will tell if that's the case here.

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