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The New York Mets could be poaching one of the big bats in the National League East this offseason in Kyle Schwarber. On December 5, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that “the juiciest rumor [he has] heard this week was the notion that the Mets could push the Phillies for Schwarber.”
Schwarber had a batting average of .240 with 145 hits, 56 homers, 132 RBIs, and 111 runs scored in 162 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2025, per StatMuse. While New York would welcome the power bat, Olney believes there could be another reason that the free-agent hitter makes sense to the Mets.
“Beyond Schwarber’s power and on-base capability — can you imagine pitchers working to get through Schwarber and Soto in the same inning? — he is known as someone who works to pull players together,” Olney wrote.
Amid this free agent rumor, SNY’s Will Sammon shared what he knows about the Mets’ interest in Schwarber.
“I can say that, talking to some sources around the game,” Sammon said on the December 5 edition of “Baseball Night in NY.” “Now, the level of interest I personally kind of question and I wonder about, but it does exist. There is something there.
“I will add, though, that the Mets typically cast a pretty wide net, and they want information on all these guys. Kyle Schwarber is a tremendous hitter, so why wouldn’t you be interested on some level? So we’ll see on that.”
Does Kyle Schwarber Want to Leave the Phillies?
While it would be fun to see the Mets steal one of Philadelphia’s top bats this winter, Sammon questions whether Schwarber wants to leave the Phillies. This offseason presents the last major contract that the veteran slugger will get in his MLB career, considering he’ll be 33 in March 2026.
Nonetheless, does the slugger want to compromise, leaving Philadelphia, where he’s found a home, for whoever will pay him the most money? Sammon doesn’t believe so.
“The Mets have plenty to do,” Sammon added. “There’s a lot of work to be done in other areas as well, and then as far as Schwarber goes, I personally question, just me talking here, I have a hard time not seeing him go back to Philadelphia.”
Kyle Schwarber Makes Sense as a Plan B for the Mets
While Sammon and others on the panel questioned the link between the Mets and Schwarber, SNY’s Maggie Gray embraced the idea of the slugger being a Plan B option should New York lose Pete Alonso in free agency.
“We have no idea what’s going to happen with Pete Alonso,” Gray said on the same broadcast. “If he’s gone, the Mets absolutely need this power in production… If Alonso signs with the [Boston] Red Sox, if Alonso goes anywhere, you can weaken a division opponent [by signing Schwarber].
“You can get Kyle Schwarber, who over the last four years, has been one of those productive power hitters. I want us to get a little more excited about this. I think because great Plan B, if the Mets are not real about signing Alonso.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports journalist covering the NFL for Heavy.com. He previously covered the league for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has contributed as a freelance writer for The Sporting News. He also served as an editor for Athlon Sports and Heavy Sports focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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