Kyle Schwarber to the Reds? Manager Terry Francona comments
Cincinnati manager Terry Francona declined to reveal whether he has talked to Kyle Schwarber during the Reds’ pursuit of the Middletown free agent.
The Cincinnati Reds failed to sign free agent and hometown native Kyle Schwarber.Cincinnati’s final offer was reportedly worth about $125 million over five years.The Reds are now exploring other free agent and trade market options to improve the team.
ORLANDO – Whatever the Cincinnati Reds accomplish – or don’t – in 2026, the story for how it happened will start with Dec. 9 at MLB’s winter meetings.
Fifteen days after Kyle Schwarber and his wife got the Reds-carpet treatment at Great American Ball Park from Reds ownership, manager Terry Francona and top executives, Middletown’s most powerful man turned down an offer to transform his hometown team and instead returned to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Just like that, a Reds offseason of high hopes and tape-measure dreams pivoted to whatever comes next after the team missed on signing the first nine-figure, top-of-the-market free agent in franchise history.
“Kyle’s a great guy and obviously he made the decision that is best for his family. I’m happy for him,” Reds president Nick Krall said. “He’s a great talent, and you’re always disappointed when you don’t get somebody. But that’s just the way it goes. You’ve got to figure out how to pick it up and move on to the next guy.”
“We’re looking at everything,” Krall said.
Another big-ticket target? Multiple modest signings? A trade?
“We’re still working through the free agent market and the trade market and seeing who’s out there,” Krall said, “and what best fits us; and maybe it is a couple, and maybe it is one.”
Cincinnati Reds make hometown pitch to Kyle Schwarber
Schwarber, a three-time All-Star who led the National League with 56 home runs this year, fielded offers from at least four other teams before circling back to the Phillies and agreeing to a five-year, $150 million deal.
Coming off their first full-season playoff berth in 12 years, under first-year manager Terry Francona, the Reds stretched a limited budget for a final offer said to be worth about $125 million over five years.
The Reds got the call with the decision Tuesday morning, bringing a sudden end to a pursuit that began with an initial meeting last month at MLB’s general managers meetings in Las Vegas and continued long enough and seriously enough to generate an industry and civic buzz around the team into this week.
Krall said Schwarber and his wife joined team officials at the ballpark Nov. 24 for a pitch that included a meeting with more than a half-dozen top officials – including owner Bob Castellini – and then a tour and introductions involving other areas of the organization.
What did the Reds offer Kyle Schwarber?
The Reds made a formal offer last week while continuing conversations as Schwarber fielded offers from other teams ahead of this week’s winter meetings in Orlando, with potential further negotiations on hold for a few days.
“We were mostly waiting until we got here,” said Krall, who added, “I’m not going to comment on where the offers were.”
For a small-market team that has reached into its deep community baseball roots in the past to bring home local All-Stars such as Dave Parker and Ken Griffey Jr., the pursuit of Schwarber was as historically significant as it was an ideal fit competitively – and just as disappointing when it fell short.
Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, the lifetime Red from Moeller, called the potential “super amazing” and the opportunity “a very unique, ‘he’s one of us’ situation.”
Dusty Baker on Kyle Schwarber’s potential with Reds
Former Reds manager Dusty Baker, who managed the Reds’ last back-to-back playoff teams in 2012-13, took a moment during his media session representing the Nicaragua team he’ll manage in next spring’s WBC to wonder at the missed opportunity to land the two-time home run champ.
“He might have hit 72 in Cincinnati,” Baker said. “The Phillies have a good-hitting ballpark. But Cincinnati’s a really good-hitting ballpark.
“You don’t know if they (Reds) had it to pay like the Phillies do. The Phillies draw big-time,” Baker added. “The Reds are getting better, but the Phillies are already knocking on the door to a championship.”
Beyond that, Baker suggested the idea of changing teams for a known team/clubhouse leader such as Schwarber might have been a less appealing thought.
“I don’t know Schwarber, but I’ve heard nothing but good stuff about him as a team guy,” Baker said. “Every time you change teams you change your role, or it takes time to (adjust); that’s about as comfortable as you can get (for Schwarber), being on the Phillies.”
But imagine if the power-hungry Reds could have dropped the hitter with the most jaw-dropping power in the game into the middle of their lineup, to help support all that starting pitching on the roster.
“Too late, man,” Baker said. “No, I’m serious. It’s too late. It’s over with.
“They better go try to get somebody else.”