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Phillies Projected to Bring Back Free Agent Star Slugger On Huge Contract

Originally posted on Philadelphia Phillies on SI
By Michael Brauner | Last updated Oct 12, 2025 11:23 AM ET

The Philadelphia Phillies suffered a crushing exit last week in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers to have their season come to and end and potentially this era as a whole for the team.

Major decisions await president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski this offseason from free agents to whether or not to keep the manager and everything in between. What is inevitable though is change after this core fell short once again for the fourth straight year and the end of contracts for numerous stars.

Philadelphia is going to have to weigh who they value the most and what they are willing to do in order to keep them, and this conversation of course starts with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber coming off his historic season. While the projections seem to vary wildly, the Phillies received a fascinating projection recently from Jackson Roberts of Fastball on SI.

Roberts predicts Philadelphia is going to bring back Schwarber, but that he is going to be the only one of the big-time free agents they actually keep.

Schwarber Projected to Stay with Phillies This Offseason

"The Phillies just can't afford to lose their top slugger," Roberts wrote. "Schwarber has seemingly become the de facto captain of this team, belting a career-high 56 home runs this season and finishing fifth in Major League Baseball with a .928 OPS. It's tempting to say Ranger Suárez will be back too, because the Phillies need to fortify the rotation in case Zack Wheeler isn't back early in the year. But that's the bidding war they'll more likely be priced out of than Schwarber's."

Roberts went on to mention his belief that Schwarber will be prioritized over someone like catcher J.T. Realmuto due to the huge market the veteran standout will have. If fans were polled and told they could only keep one free agent though, most would likely say Schwarber.

Schwarber is Heart and Soul of Philadelphia's Clubhouse

Playing in every single game this season, Schwarber picked a good time to have the best season of his career and become a legitimate MVP candidate. While it remains to be seen whether or not the forthcoming financial reward as a result is from the Phillies, it makes a ton of sense why they would potentially go far enough to keep him.

The masher slashed .240/.365/.563 with a National League leading 56 home runs and a Major League leading 132 RBI this season while putting up an insane 4.7 bWAR despite not playing the field. This is not offensive production that can simply be replaced by anyone you throw money at.

An argument can be made that another playoff failure screams to Philadelphia that they need to let everyone walk away and hit the reset button, but having the kind of pop in the lineup that Schwarber provides could ease the transition of any sort of re-tooling process.

The Phillies may or may not end up keeping Schwarber, but they are absolutely going to give it a real attempt, and that's exactly what they should do.

This article first appeared on Philadelphia Phillies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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