Kyle Schwarber sets tone of Winter Meetings by rejoining Phillies

Phillies' re-signing of Kyle Schwarber may signal they’re running it back

Entering the offseason, re-signing Schwarber was the Phillies' top priority, as president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has expressed. Bringing Schwarber back is only half the puzzle, as Dombrowski and the Phillies had previously talked about bringing both Schwarber and catcher J.T. Realmuto back.

“I think that we properly expressed that,” Dombrowski said, per MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “I want those guys to know how much we respect them, how much we would like to have them back. All that. But there’s a timeframe, too. It doesn’t mean you have to do something else, but at some point you need to move some things forward. So I think that’s been properly communicated. I’m not saying we’re sprinting forward with a lot of different things, but that’s been properly communicated. And I think that we’re prepared to shift if we need to.”

Though bringing back both players would benefit the team's on-field production, it would also keep the clubhouse's aura and energy. Despite this, some fans fear that essentially keeping the same core is not a great idea after four straight postseason exits (2022-25) and the past two seasons (2024 and 2025) ending early. 

According to Dombrowski, there's no reason to fear.

“We’re not running our club back,” Dombrowski said, per Zolecki. “We’re talking about [prospect Justin] Crawford coming in, playing with [Otto] Kemp at this point. Max [Kepler] isn’t going to be back with us. So we’re in a position where there’s already some changes. [Prospect Aidan] Miller’s getting close to playing. I’m not so sure that when you win 96 games that you should really look to have to do a lot of things differently. But you’re always looking to get better. It’s very dependent upon, if you sign guys, how much money you spend, who else is available. If somebody is better than what you have, then by all means we’re open minded to it.”

With Realmuto still a free agent and drawing interest from the same teams as his former teammate, the Phillies may have to overpay for him as they did for Schwarber.