Jun 25, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker (30) celebrates his home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the third inning at Busch Stadium with teammates in the dugout. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
Could the Phillies be a player for Kyle Tucker this offseason? There is apparently a perception they could be, but only if they lose Kyle Schwarber in free agency.
Four of The Athletic's top MLB writers — Ken Rosenthal, Will Sammon, Patrick Mooney and Katie Woo — published a story Monday grouping potential suitors for Tucker into tiers based on how likely they are to sign the No. 1 player available in free agency this winter.
The Phillies didn't go into Tier 3 — a group dubbed "The Usual Suspects," that included the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants — but rather their own group in Tier 4. That tier was called "Focused on Kyle Schwarber, but..." and came in part with this analysis:
However, multiple officials from rival clubs speculated that if Schwarber somehow ends up elsewhere, the Phillies are worth watching in the Tucker sweepstakes. From the perspective of these officials, the Phillies need more in the lineup to protect Bryce Harper, with a corner-outfield spot standing out as a logical area to upgrade.
“They are players if they can’t get Schwarber back,” an AL executive said.
Tucker spent the first seven seasons of his career with the Astros, making the AL All-Star team in each of the final three seasons he spent in Houston. Notably, he homered twice in Game 1 of the 2022 World Series against the Phillies.
With the Astros unwilling to meet the asking price Tucker was headed for this winter, they dealt him to the Chicago Cubs last offseason. While Tucker was an All-Star, he posted just a .738 OPS after the All-Star Break, a disappointing dip considering he had an .882 mark prior to the Midsummer Classic. However, that swoon is a lot easier to excuse with the added context that Tucker played through a hairline fracture in his right hand that he sustained in early June.
Tucker may not be one of the 10 best position players in baseball, but he likely falls somewhere between 11 and 20, and given that he's entering his age-29 season, it's not hard to see why he's viewed by most as the best free agent available this offseason.
Whether or not the Phillies enter the sweepstakes for Tucker, as noted, will likely be contingent upon whether they are successful in Plan A, which would be to re-sign Schwarber. Schwarber is entering his age-33 season, but is coming off of a campaign where he clubbed an NL-best 56 home runs and led all of baseball with 132 RBIs. He appears in line for a lucrative four or five-year deal this offseason, with the Phillies seemingly as motivated as anyone to place the winning bid.
However, two of his former employers could complicate that.
The Boston Red Sox — who employed Schwarber for the second half of the 2021 season — are in need of a cleanup hitter, making them a real threat to the Phillies. In fact, Chris Cotillo of Mass Live noted last month that the Red Sox "love" Schwarber, adding in that "[manager Alex] Cora has been clear about his admiration for Schwarber."
Perhaps an even more interesting scenario in this case would be for the Cubs — the team Schwarber helped to snap a 108-year World Series drought in 2016 — to circle back on a player their fanbase still adores.
The Cubs are already signaling that they are unlikely to re-sign Tucker, something that's quite frankly ridiculous for a franchise that plays in one of the biggest markets in the sport and can print money from the revenue made at a stadium that's a tourist attraction.
“If I told you Cubs [signed Kyle Tucker this offseason] would you be stunned?”
“Yes.” - @Feinsand pic.twitter.com/U6CQhoazxT
But an interesting way to mitigate some of the criticism of owner Tom Ricketts would be to make a serious play for Schwarber. The max years Schwarber is likely to get as a DH approaching his mid-30s is five, which is still only half of the number Tucker is likely to command.
Whether it's the Cubs, Red Sox or another team — perhaps the Cincinnati Reds, the club Schwarber grew up rooting for — it would be interesting to see how the Phillies would pivot if they were to lose Schwarber. To be clear, the Phillies are the most likely landing spot for Schwarber. But they need to have a Plan B. Would that be pivoting to another early-30s player like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso or Cody Bellinger? None of them have qualifying offers attached to them. Tucker does, meaning in addition to the $300+ million it will likely cost to sign him, the Phillies would have to surrender their second and fifth-round picks in the 2026 MLB Draft, along with $1 million in international bonus pool money. That's a ton.
For whatever it's worth, Bryce Harper did have this to say of Tucker to the aforementioned Mooney back in April:
“He’s one of my favorites in the league,” Harper said of Tucker. “He’s a big-moment player, a red-light kind of player. It’s a lot of fun to watch the way he does it. He’s very impressive. It’s kind of weird to see a superstar player like that get traded from a really good team to another really good team. Great for Cubs fans. Great for the team.
“He’s got a really good opportunity next year to make some pretty good coin.”
Only the Phillies know if they believe Tucker would be worth giving up that type of capital to sign, and whether they believe he could help fill the leadership void that would be created if Schwarber — the defacto captain of the team — would leave. The idea of having Tucker take over in right field and not having one player entrenched at DH is intriguing, but bringing Schwarber back still seems to be the best course of action for the Phillies.
