Apr 3, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) reacts after reaching second base on a fielding error during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski appeared on "The Show" with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman Wednesday.
Naturally, Dombrowski was asked about the long-term future of Kyle Schwarber, who is in the midst of a tremendous contract season.
"Well, Schwarbs has been fantastic for us," Dombrowski said. "Four years, we've made it to the postseason the previous three, and I hope again we do it this year. He's not only a quality performer, he's a clubhouse [leader] ... he's a gamer ... he's what you want on a club.
"We would love to keep him as part of the organization for the long term, there's no doubt. We'll see where that takes us. He's putting up big numbers, and I'm sure there will be a lot of other clubs that are interested in him too. But we'd love to keep him part of the organization, and hope that it happens."
Schwarber recently launched his 300th career home run, one of the 18 bombs he's hit this season. Typically, you worry about how power will age as someone approaches their mid-30s. But Schwarber, 32, seems to be getting better with age, both in terms of hitting for power and average.
Though he hit 93 home runs during his first two seasons with the Phillies, he did so while hitting .207 with an .822 OPS. Since the start of the 2024 season, Schwarber has increased his batting average to .249, and OPS to .879. He's still hit 56 home runs during that span, a mark that trails only Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani.
As Dombrowski alluded to, Schwarber is also perhaps the most important leader for the Phillies. The term "clubhouse guy" gets overused in baseball, but in a recent On Pattison story where we asked six Phillies what that phrase really means to them, four mentioned Schwarber as an example.
Ultimately, this will come down to price. The Phillies — according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic — did offer Schwarber an extension in the offseason, "but after an initial proposal, talks failed to advance." It's unclear what either side was looking for at that time.
ESPN's Jeff Passan opined earlier this month that a four-year/$100 million deal for Schwarber would be "eminently reasonable." On the surface, that sounds a little crazy for a player entering his age-33 season that's almost exclusively a DH. But the more you watch Schwarber, the more it feels like he's destined to eclipse $100 million with his next contract.
If the Phillies aren't the team that ultimately secures Schwarber's services moving forward, it's unclear how they will avoid taking a major step back in 2026.
