Phillies $79 Million Two-Time All-Star Could Surprisingly Join Royals, Per Insider

The Kansas City Royals have ramped up their spending a bit. Does that mean they're prepared to start big-game hunting in free agency?

Expecting the Royals to sign a top-tier free agent is playing with fire. The biggest free-agent contract the Royals have ever given out was $72 million for outfielder Alex Gordon in 2015, and he was a homegrown talent coming off a World Series trophy.

It's something else entirely to convince someone from another team to come to Kansas City. The biggest deal the Royals have ever done for a player who played elsewhere the year before was Seth Lugo's $45 million contract before the 2024 season.

Nevertheless, one baseball insider thinks the Royals could try to extend themselves for the right player this winter. And it's obvious what they need: pure, unfiltered home run power.

On Wednesday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic called the Royals a potential landing spot for Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber, who is currently tied for the major league home run lead (17) with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani.

"The Phillies want to retain Schwarber and are prepared to give him a long-term contract at the appropriate time," Bowden wrote.

"However, several other teams would love to have him, including the Braves (if they lose Marcell Ozuna in free agency), Reds (who could use his power and leadership), Padres (he’d be a great fit in their clubhouse) and AL Central teams like the Tigers, Royals and Guardians who all need more power."

Schwarber, 32, is having a banger of a season, slashing .257/.390/.583 to go with 37 RBI and a 167 OPS+. He also hit the 300th home run of his career on Monday night, then added number 301 on Tuesday.

The issue will be money. Schwarber is coming off a four-year, $79 million contract, and has performed well enough throughout the deal that he's probably looking at a nine-figure deal this time around.

It would be a major surprise to see the Royals win the bidding war over the Phillies and likely a handful of other interested parties.

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