Reds pitcher Hunter Greene discusses his MLB playoff debut, Wild Card loss to Dodgers
Reds pitcher Hunter Greene talks about his MLB playoff debut, Wild Card loss to Dodgers
ESPN’s Jeff Passan identified the “the single best move” for each 2025 MLB playoff team, and said the Cincinnati Reds‘ perfect offseason transaction would be to sign designated hitter and former Middletown High School standout Kyle Schwarber.
Is it a probable transaction? Passan acknowledged that it’s not.
“Currently the Reds are carrying a projected payroll of around $75 million,” Passan wrote. “They have run year-end payrolls as high as $135 million. Even if Cincinnati has indicated it doesn’t plan to increase payroll much over $116 million this year, there is room for a big swing. And the fact that the Reds have a glaring need for offense and that the best available free agent hitter grew up on the outskirts of the city is screaming for the Reds to throw caution to the wind and supercharge a team with plenty of potential to contend. Will they? Probably not. It’s the Reds. But it’s too obvious not to try to speak it into existence. Sign free agent DH Kyle Schwarber.”
The Enquirer’s Gordon Wittenmyer wrote that the 13 free agents who received qualifying offers from their clubs have until Nov. 18 to accept or decline the $22.025 million, one-year offers.
“If you’re a Reds dreamer, this means watching for Schwarber to decline the offer, then fail to come to terms with the Phillies on a new deal to return,” Wittenmyer added.
Schwarber finished the 2025 season with a career-high 56 home runs, increasing his total over 11 MLB seasons to 340.
Schwarber hit his 50th homer of the season in the 7th inning of his team’s 9-3 win against the Mets. Schwarber homered four times in a game for the first time in his career as he drove in nine runs in a 19-4 win against the Atlanta Braves in Philadelphia in August.