Kyle Schwarber will stay with the Phillies, somewhat unsurprisingly.  

After entertaining offers from the Mets, the Orioles, the Red Sox, the Pirates and the Reds, the 2025 National League MVP runner-up agreed to a five-year, $150 million free agent contract, a record-smashing amount for a designated hitter.

“I’ve grown as a player in Philadelphia the last four years and I feel like there’s a mutual respect between both of us and a lot of unfinished business to be had there,” Schwarber said on Baseball Tonight. “I want to see this through. I want to win a World Series in Philadelphia, and I want to win more than one.”

Philly! We can’t tell you how excited we are! Can’t wait to keep riding with you guys and to get the job done 🤟 pic.twitter.com/0jQ5sFDegQ

— Kyle Schwarber (@kschwarb12) December 10, 2025

The first reports of the deal came the same day Schwarber was announced on the U.S. team for next year’s World Baseball Classic.

Schwarber was one of the biggest names on the free agency board this offseason. His final decision didn’t seem like it was that much of a mystery to folks in the know at this week’s MLB Winter Meeting in Orlando:

Everyone at the Winter Meetings had a feeling Schwarber was headed back to Philly pic.twitter.com/bHFflQSY0S

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) December 9, 2025

Our own Phillies experts on the Hittin’ Season podcast didn’t see any other outcome than Philly.

“This felt natural, that’s ultimately the term I’m going for here,” Justin Klugh said. “ I never thought he was going anywhere else, so I can’t say I felt relieved because I was never very stressed that he was going to go anywhere else … every story that came out about him going somewhere else was just like a thought exercise done for fun.”

He has been a crowd favorite, to the point a “Declaration of Independence” urging the team to resign him gained hundreds of signatures as it passed through the stands of Citizens Bank Park.

Besides his ability to hit 56 “Schwarbombs” in a season —- four of those in one game, right before filming a cameo on “Abbott Elementary” —- Schwarber’s leadership presence in the team was highlighted as a major reason why the team wanted to keep him around.

“He knows how to bring the heartbeat of a clubhouse down when things are going rough, and not only the clubhouse, but individuals as well,” said Phillies coach Rob Thomson, who also got his contract extended through 2027.

Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, right, reacts to his three-run home run with Bryson Stott, left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

The other standout point about Schwarber’s new deal is his age — he’ll be turning 33 in March, and will be 37 by the time this contract winds out. A lineup of stars that includes him, 33-year-old Bryce Harper, 32-year-old Trea Turner, and 34-year-old J.T. Realmuto (if he likes the offer the team has reportedly given him) is getting creaky.

All indications coming from the Phillies are that Schwarber’s part in that conundrum isn’t a concern, given his past few seasons with the Phils. 

“He’s in the best shape of his life right now and I don’t think that that’s going to change … I think that there’s a really good chance that he’s going to maintain this level. I mean this was an unbelievable year for him, so I don’t think that we can expect this every year. But I still think he’s going to be a high-level performer.” Thomson said. 

Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber hits a home run off of Kansas City Royals pitcher Angel Zerpa during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Baseball’s stats trackers like John Stolnis, of Hittin’ Season, say the numbers back that argument up as well.

“He appears to be defying age,” he said. “All of the metrics back up the fact that there’s a reason to believe that there’s not going to be a big downfall with him as he ages into his 30s: the bat speed, the barrel rate, the fact he’s improved against left-handers, he’s making more contact in the strike zone.”

Schwarber himself was level-headed about how he came to this current purple patch in his career, and what he needs to do to remain in it.

“Just because 2025 was a great statistical season for me, it doesn’t mean that this offseason I’m going to go out and do the same thing, and expect the same results,” he said Wednesday. “No. I have to … go from top to bottom and be able to undress everything, to realize that there are things that I’m going to have to keep getting better at and keep evolving, because the game just keeps evolving.”