The Pittsburgh Pirates’ interest in designated hitter Kyle Schwarber has reportedly turned into more than just that.
The Pirates made a four-year offer to the National League MVP runner-up, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Rosenthal notes the offer is “almost certainly is for more than $100 million.”
It’s a stunning development for the notoriously stingy Pirates. Only once in franchise history has Pittsburgh signed a player to a nine-figure contract (Bryan Reynolds, $106.75 million).
While it sounds like the Pirates are at least attempting to make a competitive offer to one of the top free agents available this offseason, Rosenthal added that the Pirates “remain a long shot” to land Schwarber. The expectation is that he ends up back across the state with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Schwarber, 32, slashed .240/.365/.563 with a National League-leading 56 home runs and an MLB-leading 132 RBI. For his big-league career, he carries a .231/.346/.500 batting line with 340 home runs and 784 RBI in 1,291 games across 11 seasons with four different teams.
In addition to Schwarber, the Pirates have been linked to fellow free agents Jorge Polanco, Kazuma Okamoto and others as they attempt to improve their lowly offense from this past season.
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