{"id":436806,"date":"2025-12-10T02:08:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:08:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/436806\/"},"modified":"2025-12-10T02:08:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T02:08:13","slug":"orioles-matched-phillies-offer-to-kyle-schwarber","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/436806\/","title":{"rendered":"Orioles Matched Phillies’ Offer To Kyle Schwarber"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first major free agent chip fell this morning<\/a> with Kyle Schwarber<\/a><\/strong> returning to Philadelphia on a five-year, $150MM deal. The reunion seemed likely from the start, though the slugger had several other suitors, including at least one willing to match the $150MM price tag. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported<\/a> the Orioles offered Schwarber the same deal he ultimately accepted with the Phillies.<\/p>\n

President of baseball operations Mike Elias has made it clear<\/a> the team is looking for an impact bat, even after acquiring Taylor Ward<\/strong><\/a>. The Orioles still have a significant gap between last year\u2019s payroll and their financial outlook for next season, giving them the potential flexibility for a large expenditure. The club has already spent some money this offseason, though it\u2019s all gone to the bullpen. Baltimore added Ryan Helsley<\/a> <\/strong>on a two-year, $28MM deal and picked up the $9MM option on Andrew Kittredge<\/a><\/strong> after acquiring him from the Cubs.<\/p>\n

Camden Yards would\u2019ve been a fun fit for Schwarber. Statcast\u2019s Park Factors ranked it as the third-best home run venue for left-handed hitters. Citizens Bank Park tops the list, so Schwarber isn\u2019t missing out on much by spurning the Orioles.<\/p>\n

Baltimore will now turn its attention to the remaining free agent bats, including Pete Alonso<\/a><\/strong>. The Orioles and Red Sox are expected<\/a> to meet face-to-face with the former Met this week. Baltimore\u2019s lineup is strong up the middle and behind the plate, but there should be room to make additions at the corners and DH. Youngsters Samuel Basallo<\/a> <\/strong>and Coby Mayo<\/a> <\/strong>will likely factor in at first base and DH, but they wouldn\u2019t preclude the club from adding a player like Alonso. Rosenthal noted the club is also considering Kyle Tucker<\/a><\/strong> in its pursuit of an elite hitter.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s interest in Schwarber was met with skepticism, but the club came through with a legitimate offer. Rosenthal had the Pirates\u2019 proposal at four years and $120MM, while Alex Stumpf of MLB.com reported<\/a> the club offered $125MM. Pittsburgh\u2019s offer either met or exceeded the Philles\u2019 deal in terms of average annual value, according to those reports. The fifth year could\u2019ve been the trump card, but it\u2019s hard to scoff at an offer worth upwards of $30MM per season.<\/p>\n

Landing Schwarber for anywhere near those reported numbers would have easily set a franchise record for a free agent signing. The current mark is $39MM for Francisco Liriano<\/a><\/strong> in 2014. Pittsburgh\u2019s last multi-year signing was a three-year deal with Ivan Nova<\/a><\/strong> heading into the 2017 campaign.<\/p>\n

GM Ben Cherington\u00a0previously touted<\/a> the team\u2019s increased financial flexibility this offseason, and the front office is doing what it can to make a big splash. Pittsburgh was also in on Josh Naylor<\/a><\/strong> before he re-signed with Seattle. Stumpf noted that the club will now turn its attention to another former Mariner, Jorge Polanco<\/strong><\/a>. The Pirates are expected to have an offer to him soon, per Stumpf.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati had been connected to Schwarber given its proximity to his hometown. Rosenthal had the Reds\u2019 offer at five years, but closer to $125MM. C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reported<\/a> that Schwarber and his wife met with Cincinnati brass before Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n

Unlike the Orioles and Pirates, the Reds are not expected to redirect the money offered to Schwarber elsewhere. Their pursuit of the slugger was driven by the idea that signing him would benefit ticket sales, per Rosenthal. Schwarber is from Middletown, Ohio, less than an hour from Great American Ball Park.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first major free agent chip fell this morning with Kyle Schwarber returning to Philadelphia on a five-year,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":436807,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8321,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-436806","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-kyle-schwarber","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115692837479299503","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}