REPORT: Cincinnati Reds Have LEGIT CHANCE At Signing Kyle Schwarber! | MLB Off Season News, Rumors

REPORT: Cincinnati Reds Have LEGIT CHANCE At Signing Kyle Schwarber! | MLB Off Season News, Rumors

Well, hey, what’s going on? Nick Kirby joined 
by Mike Hart. A little quick special edition of Chatterbox Reds. Uh because I I don’t know. 
I don’t know. Mike, the stove’s hot. Maybe it’s hot. I I don’t know. But the uh reports 
on the Cincinnati Reds and Kyle Schwarber, maybe. I I’m I’m just I’m trying, Mike, not to get 
people’s hopes up too much while also still trying to report what I see out there and what I feel. 
So, like if you’re someone who’s like, “Don’t get my hopes up for nothing.” Just turn it off now, 
okay? Cuz I’m probably going to get your hopes up. All right? It’s just the nature of the business. 
But Mike, we had to talk about the latest report today. I ignored the one from passing a couple 
days ago. This one today, we had to come on and talk about it. Um, Mike, how you doing? I’m 
doing great. I would be doing even better if this this video becomes immediately obsolete because it 
announces later tonight that they are signing Kyle Schwarber. This could be a piece of history, Mike. 
That’s right. That’s right. Live reaction. So, this will be a short and sweet one. Me and Mike 
are actually literally going to record something right after this for later in the week. Uh, but 
we’re going to talk all about this this latest Kyle Schwarber newsish piece. Uh before we get 
to that, uh just want to real quickly shout out our sponsors. Of course, omahastakessakes. Um 
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you. All right, Mike, let’s jump into this news. Uh so we’ll start with the one from a couple days 
ago. Uh it says 17 hours ago if you’re watching, but it wasn’t 17 hours ago. This was when I 
screenshotted this. Um, but Jeff Passin tweeting about all the free agents just casually threw out 
in here. Uh, the Phillies remain the favorite for Kyle Schwarber with Boston, Cincinnati, and 
the Mets and others in the mix. So, you know, I saw that. I was like, okay, hey, you know what? 
Look, they’re still in the mix. You know, hey, it kind of felt like maybe, you know, still in 
the mix on Tioscar Hernandez. And then this one drops from Mark Sheldon. I’ll just read it all 
here to you. Why the Darkhorse Reds could be a uniquely enticing fit for Schwarber. Mark Sheldon 
says, “While it may have seemed like a long shot going into the offseason, don’t count out the Reds 
in pursuit of free agent slugger Kyle Schwarber.” Multiple sources told mob.com that the Reds remain 
among the teams trying to sign Schwarber and are still in contention for one of this winter’s top 
free agents. And Mike, just a few weeks ago, Mark Sheldon came on the Stone Shield show here on the 
airwaves of Chatterbuck Sports, and he said that the Schwarber signing was probably fantasy land. 
So, this is this is why I think there’s something to this. I’m not saying the Reds are signing 
Schwarber. It’s happening. Go buy a jersey. I’m not saying that. I’m saying I do think there is 
some legitimate smoke to this. Do you agree, Mike? Yes, I do. I think that we’ve seen in the past 
that Sheldon is one of the best sourced beat reporters when it comes to specifically like the 
front office and and ownership. We’ve seen a lot of things come through with different reports 
about, you know, how ownership is feeling and a lot of that has come through Mark Sheldon. So, 
I don’t in any way doubt his sourcing there. Um, yeah. I I I think that this is there’s too much 
smoke now to know, you know, to to think that it’s they’re not at least trying to get something 
done. And he mentions later on in the piece that it’s part of the issue is going to be financials 
and things like that. But, you know, we’ve both come on here before and talked about how there’s 
are ways that they can be creative to either open up room through trades or potentially um bring you 
know be willing to spend a little extra dollars to bring home uh you know a hometown hero. So, I like 
that because to me that’s what it sounds like. It sounds like, hey, that initial asking price, 
the Reds were probably like, oo, that’s that’s it’s like, how do we work with that? And maybe 
they’re continuing to explore ways to be able to meet that demand so that they can um, you know, 
with whatever they are resourcewise be able to um, get uh, a contract that Schwarber would agree 
to. Yeah. So right now the most projections have Schwarber probably about four years 125 million. 
Maybe the Reds are on a more friendly side of that being his hometown. And I say maybe I’m not saying 
there’s that’s any sort of guaranteer that even we should realistically expect Shbert to do that 
because I don’t think that’s fair to him either, but maybe the Reds could do 4110 or something like 
that. Um, but you’re you’re obviously looking well over $25 million for him, which we think the Red’s 
budget right now is about $20 million of based on what they have. So, that eats it all up and then 
some. Deferring it would certainly be a way to uh cut into that a lot. Um, I don’t really think 
Mike necessarily that in 2026 is is the big issue if I’m guessing with ownership. Like I think they 
can maybe be creative and maybe they’re a little bit more willing to increase the payroll for one 
year to get Korea. I think it’s more 2027, 2028, 2029 that they’re probably concerned about. Um 
but yeah, I mean we we talked about deferrals. There’s there’s ways for this to happen. 
And for me, Mike, this is why I from the outset said I thought there was at least a 
slim chance because yes, the Red’s ownership is cheap like most small market owners, but they 
do care about their perception to a degree. Now, they’re not going to they’re not going to 
just spend just to for their perception alone, but this is was such a unique opportunity has 
the potential to be a unique opportunity for them to win over a large portion of the fan 
base with one signing that’s not one of these $250 million signings that completely handcuffs 
the franchise for a decade. uh this is a a deal worst case scenario handcuffs you for four years. 
Uh that’s not that big of a deal in today’s Major League Baseball. And that’s why I always thought 
the Reds might the ownership might be able to do that. My my hope, Mike, as a Reds fan is that all 
this $15 million payroll stuff was just was just uh uh posturing and okay, well, we’ll up it 
just for Schwarber. I don’t necessarily think that is. Maybe there’s something in the middle of 
that where like they’re up it by like 10 million, not the full. And you still have to maybe cut 
Brady Singer. Uh, and obviously Gavin Lux. I don’t think any of us would lose sleep over Gavin 
Lux. Um, cut. You mean trade? Probably. Trade. Yes. Yes. Trade. Trade. They’re not just going to 
Maybe Gavin Lux would be a almost a cut, but uh Singer would definitely be a trade. Yeah. No, I 
what an interesting thing that I I would imagine is potentially part of the calculus for some of 
these other teams is Kyle Schwarber is what how old is he? He’s 32 going to be 33 here. And you 
know, projections have potential decline. Now, you know, we’ll take decline from 55 home runs or 
however many like, you know, if oh boy, he only hit 40. Obviously, there’s there’s that aspect of 
it that I think that some of some teams are trying to build in to it as well. Like I would imagine 
maybe the Phillies were not initially like, “Yes, we’ll just, you know, this is what you’re 
projected. We’ll we’ll sign you right away because of all the intangibles because their expectation 
is there’s going to be some decline there.” Um, so I think there’s an inherent risk with any 
of this. Um, so I think that may be part of it, but to be honest, to me, that is something that 
I think that um may even work towards the Red’s benefit. You know, a 28-year-old Kyle Schwarber is 
for sure going to be out of the Red’s price range, but a 32-year-old guy that wants to come here and 
wants to settle down and may show some decline, but you know, has been the pillar of consistency, 
I feel like this is a guy you got to take a chance on. you know the odds of I mean there is a chance 
that you have a you know a candelario fall off a cliff right that that is out there I’m not saying 
that that’s likely but there is a chance that that is still the case and then that contract looks 
looks even worse but the idea here is like there based on his track record based on um what he’s 
you know he plays DH basically you know he goes and bats four times a game you know and he played 
162 too last year and things like that um makes it more likely I think for the Reds to be able to 
be willing to take that risk and therefore also be able to um you know afford it because other people 
may not be willing to take that risk as much as the hometown team that wants to make a splash to 
sell tickets to you know hopefully get the power bat to put their team over the top or you know 
into the playoff mix. So, uh, I think that that’s an interesting part of it, too, that um, you know, 
maybe is, you know, maybe part of the the the the quarrel in between some of these teams is like 
he they they might be like, I’m not going four years. I’d be willing to give you that AEV, but 
I’m only going three or something, you know. So, we don’t know how those are going. But it’s it’s 
interesting to see how when there’s a guy that’s getting to the age that he’s getting to, like 
you know, how much of that is playing into uh you know, where he selects a a spot. Yeah. I think 
that the teams that the Reds are competing with, I just don’t think Kyle Schwarber is like they’re 
also not expecting him to kind of be their best or second best player, right? Like like I think 
that like the Mets like they obviously have bigger pocketbooks, but I think the Mets at some point 
might tail off and be like, “Yeah, you know what? Like this just isn’t worth us. We can go sign 
another free agent. We can we we have all these other options that we can do. We’re not going to 
keep going where where the Reds know, hey, this is the one free agent that we know we can actually 
maybe get. We might be able to buy we might be able to to to hold the meds.” Now, the Phillies 
are a little bit of a different story because the Phillies also have the PR hit. It’s not going to 
go over well in Philly Sports Talk Radio if they lose Kyle Schwarber to the Cincinnati Reds. So I 
if if the Reds get into this, I think it would end up being the Reds and Phillies would be the last 
two teams standing. If the Reds get into it to the end with one other team, it’s probably just 
trying to beat out the Phillies. And it it did cross my mind, Mike. I I hope this isn’t true, but 
there’s a possibility of the fact that Schwarber, not Schwarber, but Schwarber’s agent could be 
playing the Reds to the the the advantage here of of telling teams like the Phillies, yeah, Kyle 
said he’ll sign for Cincinnati for 25% less of of whatever the best offer is and trying to get 
the price up. There’s a possibility of that. I’m not going to sit here and deny that that’s a 
possibility because it is, but I do think there is some legitimate smoke here. Yeah, I would hope 
that’s not the case. Um, you know, I wouldn’t say that’d be Schworber. It seems very it, you know, 
everything that we’ve heard, it seems very genuine interest to want to play at his hometown team. 
But yeah, you know, that’s why you pay an agent, right? You pay an agent slimy to have those hard 
conversations. I want the nice guy. No. No. So, um, yeah, I hope that’s not the case. Another 
thing that has crept into my mind also, you know, he technically um you know uh declined the 
qualifying offer, right? So, uh you know that that plays in two ways in my mind. one, if the Phillies 
do lose him, they will probably get a first round compensation pick back, which to a team like the 
Phillies that is trying to win every year, that’s not as big of a deal as it would be for say the 
Reds, uh, a smaller market team that can turn that into South Stewart, who is, you know, your top 
three projected war person. You know, it’s just like that those those can be much more um valuable 
to a small market team. And that being said, there is also the team that signs Shoreber, I think, 
would also be on the hook for losing a draft pick. Now, I think I’ve talked with you about this 
before. That draft pick would probably be in the third or fourth round or something like that. And 
I think everyone in their mother would say, “Yes, sure. Our third or fourth round dart throw that 
we’re going to do for another college catcher that is not going to pan out. I would much rather 
just pay the money for Schwarber.” you know, a much more certain thing than a third round pick. 
So, uh, I think that that in most fans minds would make a lot of sense, but I would just also would 
hope that for some reason the draft pick is is not uh playing into the calculus here because to me 
it’s it’s just absolutely worth any of that um, you know, anything that they would have to give 
up. I think if I understand this correct, and I’m not 100% sure I understand this correct, if the 
Phillies lost Kyle Schwarber to the Mets, the Mets have to give the Phillies the comp pick that’s 
after the the sec the first round. It’s because they are in the whatever, but the Reds only have 
to give up the fourth round. Yeah. Because they are in the it’s part of the competitive balance. 
Yeah. So So like the Reds are even That’s even another incentive for the Reds to sign a player 
like Schwarber. um and less of an incentive for a team like the Mets because those picks do matter 
and I think the Mets are are finally starting to realize, hey, you know what? Uh we have the 
largest payroll in the world and uh we’re losing to small market teams because we’re not sharing up 
our draft picks and uh building prospects and all that. You have to do both. That’s why the Dodgers 
are unstoppable right now because they have done both for almost a decade now at this point. Um so 
yeah, there there’s there’s reasons for hope. Uh, but again, I don’t want to get people’s hopes 
up. I don’t want to, you know, I’m not out here saying like if I gave you odds, I’d say maybe 
25%. I is where I’m at right now. So, take that for what it is. Uh, but it it’s exciting and it’s 
interesting and we’ll see how it plays out. And, um, I I don’t think there’d be any show I’d 
rather do than uh jumping on live to to talk about the Red Signing Kyle Schwarber to probably 
2,000 of our closest friends online. That’s right. That’s right. And you know, most Cincinnati fans 
right now are hanging on the less than 10% that the Bengals can win out and still somehow make the 
playoffs. So 25% seems like a ton compared to what the what Bengals fans are having to to hope for 
in order to, you know, keep this season alive with Joe Burrow. So you know, you know, that might as 
well be, you know, that might as well be 50% with as uh which is as far down and out as uh Bengals 
fans are having to uh to deal with right now. So, you know, that’d be just wonderful news. 
We can tie it with another um you know, win uh that Joe Burrow gets to bring us with the 
Cincinnati Bengals. That would be great, too. But, um yeah, that news would I I think there would 
just be a uh a different level of electricity going through the rest of the offseason because 
they’re going to they’re they still going to have to fill some holes, but like if it’s Schwarber 
and like not much else, I don’t think that this city’s going to care. It’s gonna be like, 
“All right, opening day, here we come.” Because uh we’re winning the Central. Yeah. I I don’t 
think too many people are going to be upset. Well, you signed Kyle Schwarber and uh uh you’re not 
going to be able to go out and uh uh resign Ailio Pagan. I don’t think people are going to lose 
their sleep. I It might be I will say I think that does mean more than it probably does. Uh 
but certainly the sentiment would be there and the excitement would be there and uh uh we shall 
see. I hope you took this with the grain of salt that I tried to preface this with that we’re just 
reporting the news. We’re sharing our feelings, our thoughts on this. We’re not trying to get 
people’s hopes up and dash them or anything like that. Um, but some fun news. Mike, we got all 
kinds of other content here on Chatterbox Sports. I already recorded today an interview with Jesse 
uh Borick uh who’s out in the Arizona Fall League. Uh covered Alfredo Dudo and all those guys. 
I think I’m going to release that on um on uh Wednesday. We’re going to record something here 
in just a minute talking about some of the other uh some of the players that were non- tendered 
that I think I’m going to release on Thursday. So, all kinds of content on Chatterbox Sports. 
Uh we’ll do a lot of coverage with the winter meetings. I got to see exactly how that’ll all 
shake out. Um but we’ll let you know. Follow us on social medias and uh make sure you hit that bell 
in the top right corner, turn on notifications, and you’ll be notified anytime we go live. 
And hopefully it’s uh talking about signing Kyle Schwarber. All right, for Mike, I’m Nick 
Kirby. We’ll talk again soon. Go Reds. Go Reds.

Nick Kirby and Mike Hart break down the latest buzz surrounding the Cincinnati Reds’ continued pursuit of free agent Kyle Schwarber. They dive into how serious the Reds’ interest really is, what a potential contract could look like, and which teams pose the biggest competition. Plus, plenty more insight and reaction to a pivotal storyline in the Reds’ offseason.

The Cincinnati Reds enter this offseason in a fascinating and pivotal position, standing at a crossroads between patience and urgency. After a 2025 season filled with flashes of potential but limited consistency, the front office faces real pressure to push the roster forward and capitalize on what should be a promising competitive window. With a core of young, controllable talent and one of the more flexible payroll situations in the National League, the Reds have the opportunity to be one of the more active teams this winter—if they choose to be.

The biggest storyline early in the offseason has centered around the Reds’ pursuit of more offense. Cincinnati’s lineup struggled with prolonged slumps in 2025, and while injuries played a role, the lack of dependable middle-of-the-order production was the larger concern. The Reds have been linked to several bats, most notably Kyle Schwarber, who would bring a combination of power, plate discipline, and postseason experience. While the fit is obvious, the question comes down to whether Cincinnati is willing to commit to the years and dollars necessary to land a player of his profile. The Reds have been in conversations, and the level of interest across the league suggests real competition.

Whether they land Schwarber or not, the Reds are expected to add at least one impactful bat. Their offense features explosive upside with players like Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Spencer Steer, but it also showed how volatile it can be when too many young hitters are asked to carry the load. A proven veteran bat would help stabilize the lineup, deepen the bench, and reduce the pressure on the younger core. The Reds know that scoring in Great American Ball Park isn’t the problem—consistency is.

On the pitching side, the Reds find themselves in a more stable position than in recent years, yet improvements are still needed. The rotation has promise with Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, and Rhett Lowder headlining the long-term group. Greene and Lodolo both took meaningful steps forward last year, but the Reds still lack a true veteran anchor—a dependable innings-eater who can stabilize the rotation across a 162-game season. Adding a mid-rotation starter, or even more than one, would significantly raise their floor. It would also help relieve the bullpen, which has often carried a heavy workload due to short starts.

Speaking of the bullpen, Cincinnati’s front office has made it clear that they would like to add at least one established late-inning reliever. The Reds bullpen improved in stretches last season but still lacked a consistent setup man to bridge games to the ninth inning. Alexis Díaz remains the closer, but after a year of inconsistent command and heavy usage, the Reds need to build more protection around him. Adding swing-and-miss relievers is a priority across baseball, and Cincinnati is no exception.

Another major storyline is roster consolidation. The Reds have a lot of players who deserve major league opportunities but not enough roster spots to give them regular playing time. This creates an opportunity—and a need—for the front office to explore trades. Whether that means dealing from their surplus of infielders, using prospect depth to acquire a starting pitcher, or moving players who may be blocked long-term, the Reds are in position to make a multi-player deal that reshapes their roster. It’s not about tearing down; it’s about shaping a more balanced team.

Defensively, the Reds have decisions to make as well. Elly De La Cruz has locked down shortstop, but the long-term alignment of the rest of the infield is less certain. Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s injury history complicates first base. Jonathan India remains a trade candidate. Spencer Steer has proven he can play everywhere but needs a consistent home. What the Reds prioritize this offseason—defense, versatility, or pure production—will dictate how the pieces fit.

The Reds’ front office has repeatedly said that the team’s competitive window is open. The fanbase is eager for a big move, and the urgency of the NL Central race only adds fuel. The division is winnable. The Reds have the money. They have the prospects. They have the young core. What they need now is impact—a player or two who can lift the floor, raise the ceiling, and give the team the stability it lacked in 2025.

This offseason is a chance for Cincinnati to take the next step. What they do over the coming weeks will shape not only 2026, but the long-term direction of the franchise.