Red Sox Insider Hints At Reunion With Phillies $79 Million Superstar

The Boston Red Sox, who haven't made the playoffs since 2021, recently got a taste of how the last four years could have gone.

During Boston's nine-game stretch after the All-Star break against top National League contenders, one slugger stood out above the rest. Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber pumped long home runs against Red Sox pitching on back-to-back nights, helping take two of three from his former team.

Schwarber was phenomenal for the Red Sox for the two months he was there, posting a .957 OPS in 41 games and hitting some memorable playoff home runs as well. But there was no significant push from Boston's end to bring him back in free agency, so he signed a four-year, $79 million contract with the Phillies.

That's been great for the Phillies and Schwarber, but the Red Sox have gotten far less production out of their designated hitter slot in that time span. And now that Schwarber is headed back to the open market, one Red Sox insider thinks Boston has an opportunity to right what once went wrong.

On Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive encouraged the Red Sox to make more of an effort to bring Schwarber back to Boston in free agency the second time around.

"We’re getting ahead of ourselves, of course, but there would be worse moves the Red Sox could make this winter than to sign free agent DH Kyle Schwarber," wrote McAdam. "To be sure, it would be an expensive investment, especially when you consider that they would have to eat most if not all of Masataka Yoshida’s remaining salary to make it work roster-wise."

Yoshida is owed over $37 million over the next two seasons, but he and Schwarber are virtually the same age, and there's no question who the Red Sox would rather have DHing. Schwarber's 36 home runs this year are more than Yoshida has had in his entire big-league career, and as a matter of fact, only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has hit more home runs than the Phillies' slugger in the last four seasons.

Manager Alex Cora also dropped a hint last week about the potential for a Schwarber reunion. If there's any way for Boston to make it happen financially, they should.