Phillies Will Have To Pay Big Bucks Retaining All-Star in Opinion of MLB Insider

A Philadelphia Phillies All-Star set to hit free agency is going to cost the team a lot of money to re-sign.

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The Philadelphia Phillies are witnessing something special this season when it comes to the production of designated hitter Kyle Schwarber.

Playing out the last year of a four-year, $79 million deal he signed ahead of the 2022 season, he is putting together a career campaign. He is producing some eye-popping numbers, with his power on full display. What he did to be named the 2025 MLB All-Star Game MVP with the swing off was just one chapter of his story this year.

Schwarber is setting himself up for an unprecedented free agency. Historically, designated hitters who don’t offer positional flexibility aren’t going to make a lot of money. Especially when they are going to be 33 years old ahead of Opening Day in the first year of a new contract. But, he is different.

For starters, this production is out of this world. He has already set a career-high with 49 home runs and counting, which leads the National League. He has 119 RBI, which is first in the Major Leagues. His weighted on-base percentage is bested by only Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees and Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning AL and NL MVPs.

His Batting Run Value of +45 is in the 99th percentile. Schwarber’s Baseball Savant page is full of dark red metrics, making an impact at the plate that virtually no player is close to replicating. What he is doing with the bat more than makes up for the lack of impact he provides as a base runner or defender. 

Kyle Schwarber Predicted To Land Massive Contract in Free Agency

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Add on top of that his durability and other aspects that don’t show up in a box score. He is an incredible leader in the clubhouse, making an impact off the field as well. There is so much to like about Schwarber that MLB insider Jeff Passan of ESPN believes he is going to get paid, big time.

“But Schwarber's total package will ultimately push some of them off such concerns and trigger a bidding war. If he wants, he can get at least four years. The salary, at that term, should be at least $30 million a year,” he wrote.

Based on Passan’s prediction, he is likely looking at a four-year, $120 million contract, at a minimum. That is an unprecedented amount of money for a designated hitter who will be as old as Schwarber when the next contract begins. But it is impossible to argue against him being deserving of it.

He is in the discussion as the most productive hitter in baseball, and the other intangibles he brings to the table cannot be ignored. Given the market that is assuredly going to develop for him, it is going to cost the Phillies a lot of money to bring him back to the team this offseason.