1:31PM: The signing has been officially announced by the Nationals. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the deal also contains an $11MM mutual option for the 2022 season. That option contains a $3MM buyout, so Schwarber’s guaranteed money breaks down as that $3MM plus $7MM in salary.
9:44AM: The Nationals have signed outfielder Kyle Schwarber to a one-year contract, The Washington Post’s Jesse Dougherty reports (via Twitter). The deal will be official once Schwarber passes a physical. Schwarber will earn $10MM from the one-year pact, as per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Schwarber is represented by Excel Sports Management.
Dougherty reported last month that the Nats were looking into Schwarber after he was non-tendered by the Cubs, with such teams as the Yankees, Angels, Blue Jays, and Twins also linked to the slugger’s market. It isn’t surprising that Schwarber generated such interest given that he had a 38-homer season in 2019, and hit .234/.337/.492 (with 94 homers) over 1606 PA with Chicago from 2017-19.
While those numbers were solid, however, they weren’t quite the elite-level production Chicago hoped to receive from a player drafted fourth overall in 2014. Schwarber’s gains with his bat were also rather mitigated by a lot of swings-and-misses (512 strikeouts from 2017-20, the 12th-most of any hitter in baseball in that stretch) and average to subpar baserunning and left field defense.
Things went south for Schwarber in 2020, as he hit only .188/.308/.393 with 11 home runs over 224 plate appearances. Between these lackluster numbers and the Cubs’ desire to cut payroll, Schwarber was non-tendered so Chicago could avoid paying him an arbitration salary projected to fall somewhere between $7.01MM and $9.3MM.
The fact that Schwarber surpassed even the highest arb projection in landing $10MM from Washington is indicative both of how much interest there must have been in his services, and a sign that the Nats are taking more stock in some of Schwarber’s advanced metrics than his bottom-line 2020 numbers. A look at Statcast indicates a solid case for a bounce-back performance, as Schwarber still made plenty of hard contact (including a 95th-percentile exit velocity of 92.8 mph). Between a .219 BABIP and a .302 wOBA that fell well beneath his above-average .330 xwOBA, it can also be argued that Schwarber ran into some bad luck over his sample size of 224 PA.
The Nationals are certainly hoping for a return for the 2017-19 version of Schwarber, as his left-handed bat would nicely augment a D.C. lineup that still leaned mostly towards right-handed hitters even after the addition of switch-hitter Josh Bell. Between Bell and Schwarber, the Nats have now added two sluggers looking for rebound seasons, and a lot of major power potential to a team that finished 21st among all clubs in home runs last year.
Juan Soto looks to be moving to right field to accommodate Schwarber, a position shift that was known to be under consideration depending on what type of corner outfielder the Nationals brought into the mix. Schwarber will surely get some DH time should the National League again use the designated hitter next season, which might have the benefit of unlocking some additional hitting potential for Schwarber since he could focus solely on hitting for those games. It also isn’t out of the question that Washington could break Schwarber in as a first baseman, as Anthony Rizzo’s presence at the position forced the Cubs to deploy Schwarber in the outfield once Schwarber was moved from his original catcher spot.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
3M..I can feel it in my plums
More like $17m
um…
Take the average of the first two and they’re right on target.
$3 mil and headed to minors where he can learn not to strikeout.
Im a Nats fan so I wished Ozuna or Brantley but if we get 2019 Kyle imma be so happy!
I think he’ll do good for you guys. He’s a very underrated LFer. He doesn’t get enough credit. He could probably play 1B as well.
He (arguably) doesn’t get enough credit outside of the North Side of Chicago because Cubs fans have made a habit of significantly overrating him his entire career; it makes it easy for everyone to hate on him.
If you accept him for what he is and call him a fine platoon player, I think most people would agree. If you live in fantasy land and want to call him Babe Ruth Jr, everyone will laugh at you and tell you he sucks. The bar has been set way too high since day 1.
@Priggs89
How dare you criticize fans when comparing Kyle Schwarber to a young Babe Ruth?
Fact: The Hulk hit 121 HR’s in his first 6 seasons with the Cubs. The Bambino only slugged 49* in his first 6 seasons as a Red Sox.
*Ruth was primarily a great pitcher in Boston.
I love asteriks when it comes to the Babe and dingers!
Because of service time, he can’t be sent to the minors without his permission
He will be happy to go to minors to keep his K’s down.
12th worst in baseball (2017-2020)! LOL.
It’s kind of amazing how you can continually spew hate this Cub, hate that Cub, and still never come up with an original thought.. Must be exhausting.
Nobody cares if a player strikes out anymore. As long as they hit HR and walk.
That’s what analytics have done to the game. Launch angle, exit velocity & distance of HR’s!! There were more strike outs than base hits for the 3rd straight year. The only times in ML baseball history!
And this is why I care. It’s made the game significantly less exciting. The vast majority of fans want to see athletes show thier athleticism. As opposed to standing in CF or at SS or on 2B and watching players strikeout.
@ Pads Fans AND everyone else:
I care! It’s one reason why I am rooting so hard for Nick Madrigal. If he is successful, perhaps more teams will emphasize the signing and development of players who excel at making contact, who were once more the norm in MLB. Many of those old time greats also had the ability to crush the ball while rarely whiffing. This included the two greatest pure hitters of all-time, Ted Williams and Stan Musial.
More batters with the ability to make regular contact while also hitting to all fields could eliminate the thought of banning shifts. I believe there is too much emphasis on launch angle and exit velocity and not enough on bat-to-ball skills. There seems to be a direct correlation with the teaching of those two ‘skills’ and the greater frequency of strikeouts.
Back in the day and up until the ‘great egghead revolution’, hitters who possessed plus speed but lacked physical power were admonished for hitting the ball in the air. They were encouraged to take advantage of their natural speed by hitting down on the ball. It made for a more interesting and exciting game, one that featured more stolen bases, hit and runs and other strategies that emphasized ‘small ball’. This was something that wasn’t restricted to NL teams or even those with artificial surfaces. It continued to be emphasized even after the AL adopted the DH. Great teams like the Oakland A’s could beat you with their legs as much as with their brawn.
As a 65-year old baseball fanatic, I’ve always appreciated statistics. The emphasis on stats and the ability of every MLB player to accumulate them against each other individually and collectively is what separated this great game from all the others. I actually enjoy digging into most of the new metrics as well. I just wish there was more balance in the way the game is played now to the way it used to be played.
MLBTR comments sections can always be counted on for one thing: massively, massively undervaluing player contracts.
10M is way too much for a softball player.. blueish hue
hahahaha these are all professional baseball players whether your hate-filled brian likes it or not.
Who’s Brian?
The kid from “Alf”
Brian of Nazareth. He was the guy born next to Jesus and was mistaken for the Messiah his entire life 🙂
Who upon his crucifixtion learned to “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” (cue the whistling)
He is so bad an AL team wouldn’t even sign the dud.
I grew up in Nazareth (Pa), I wonder if I’ve met Brian?
I went to a car race in Nazareth Pa when I was a kid…
*** Massively massively overvaluing and hyping their favorite team’s players.There I fixed it for you
Well I have a problem with it being more than the arbitration this is not good with the player’s association and MLB contract ending agreeing on a new deal won’t be fun and this is showing that players get more money in free agency than arbitration showing the aberration system kind of sucks.
Well yes, that is true almost all MLB player acquisition systems are illogical and are in dire need of a reset.
If his high end for arbitration was $9mil and the Cubs let him walk how the heck does he get $10mil on the open market? Shouldn’t the Cubs have been able to make a trade?
10 million for a platoon bat that isn’t great in the OF, in a league which might not have a DH? Seems like a unnecessary risk given the other options. Not to mention a RH hitter to hit behind Soto was the nationals biggest need. Robbie Grossman at 2/10 million looks a lot better now for the tigers.
Schwarber slash line against left hand pitchers
.197/.301/.348 I dunno how much time if any he’s had at 1st but he could be a perfect platoon with Zimmerman. Would have made the Bell trade redundant though.
Where does Bell play if you want to slot Schwarber in at 1b?
Bell is the primary 1st basemen Shwarbs is the primary LF. Kyle has not had a full season of ABs in any season since he came up, except for 2019 when he finally topped 500.
His Left/Right splits show a huge drop off on the off side–> Platoon [Andrew Stevenson]. When Davey is looking for more defense Shwarbs will probably sit But when bell needs a break/doesn’t match up. If Zimmerman signs Bell will get less time. But even then if the Plantar Fascitis flares up Bell moves to 2 on the 1st base depth Chart
Is he really a good fit there?
Well Andrew Stevenson is currently slotted for left, so yes
I’m thrilled the White Sox did NOT sign him.
No you’re not. You’re just saying that because you hate the Cubs. If your 100 year old manager-led Sox signed him you would have wrote how stupid the Cubs were for letting him go. Nice that you’re in agreement with Jed though.
Yes, I am!
But maybe “ecstatic” is a better choice!
Sox just need a closer now so their “young guns” can set him up.
Not sure why so many of my fellow Sox fans have made it such a point this offseason to talk about how much they don’t want Schwarber. Congrats to them I guess…? It’s not a crazy take to think that Schwarbs out-produces the Eaton/Engel combo.
Seeing as he’s a bat only left fielder that is incapable of hitting LHP, I’d argue it is pretty crazy to think he outproduces a properly utilized Adam platoon. He could’ve made a fine left side of the platoon with Engel and/or at DH, but we’re well past the point of expecting him to produce as a full time player; he’s just not that good.
I know everyone is down on Eaton because of his terrible COVID season, but I’ll take my chances on him bouncing back to form; the guy hasn’t had an OBP under .360 since 2014. Assuming he bounces back, he’ll fit perfectly in this lineup.
So you’re willing to take your chances on Eaton bouncing back, despite his bad offensive AND defensive numbers last year, but not on Schwarber?
Yes, assuming Eaton bounces back then he will be a good fit. And assuming Schwarber bounces back, he also could have a solid year. Eaton is also 32, while Schwarber is 27. And Engel is worthy of praise after 227 ABs last year, despite his crap career prior to that?
I’m hoping for the same stuff you are here, but it sounds like there’s some bias going on with your takes. It’s not crazy to think Schwarber could have a better year than a 32 year old coming off a bad year and a guy who’s had one good year in his career that was a 227 AB sample size.
There is no bias here; you need to reread what I said.
I did not say he was incapable of bouncing back and being a fine player. I said that he’s incapable of hitting LHP and being a full time player, which has nothing to do with bouncing back because he has spent an entire career being very bad against LHP; to expect anything else would be foolish. I also said that he would’ve made a fine left side of the platoon with Engel. I’m literally saying that either one would’ve been fine as a platoon partner, but based on the types of players they are and their careers to date, I’ll happily take my chances with Eaton in this lineup as I like the way he fits this lineup better.
As for Engel, where did I praise him? By saying he should be the right side of a platoon? I’d hardly call that praise. He plays elite defense, and in a lineup with 7 guys that can leave the yard at any second (plus Madrigal), they don’t need him to be a great hitter. He hit really well last year and put up an OPS of ~.850 vs LHP in 2019. Let him get AB’s vs lefties and use him as a late inning defensive replacement; it’s a no brainer. I’m really not sure what “praise” you’re speaking of.
Sorry, my original comment was directed towards Sox fans as a whole, so not everything I said in my last post was in direct response to your previous post. Just kind of a continuation of my thoughts on Eaton and Engel.
I understand that Schwarber has been bad against LHP, and my point is that he can still outperform the Eaton/Engel duo this year. Eaton can easily be on the decline, and Engel’s sample size is extremely small. An 87 AB sample size in 2019 is even smaller than the 2020 sample size.
So if Eaton does suck this year (hopefully he doesn’t), then yeah… I don’t think it’s crazy to think Schwarber can outperform a platoon made up of 1 bad player and 1 player who will provide good value in about a quarter of the games.
No worries. I get your point, and like I said, I think Scwharber would’ve made a fine platoon partner. I do not think he’s a complete waste of space like ChiSox clearly thinks.
My only rebuttal is that unless you think Eaton has completely fallen off a cliff production wise, which I personally would find very hard to believe based on everything prior to the COVID season, the chances of Schwarber outproducing a properly utilized platoon are very slim, seeing as he should be a strict platoon player himself. And quite frankly, if they expect him to be a full time player, his value should only drop due to his likely terrible hitting vs LHP and below average outfield defense.
And like I said with Engel, I don’t particularly care about the bat in this lineup, so the small sample size doesn’t bother me. As long as he continues to play elite defense, which allows Robert to shade over towards Eloy’s side, he’ll provide value as a role player. If he can provide anything close to the ~200AB sample size that we’re referring to, that’ll just be icing on the cake. Clearly I’d prefer a full time player like Springer out there, but I feel confident in saying that’s not going to happen.
I hope I am wrong but I think his injuries have taken a toll on him.
Curious who will play left? Since Eloy is always hurt half the season, who’ll play there?
The guy that played 54 games in LF last year?
Then you are an idiot. He would hit 40 home runs in the short porch at guaranteed field.
Interesting choice especially if there’s no DH. I can see this turning into Thames 2.0 but maybe he can still mash.
He’s become better in the field. Will probably play left but you still probably don’t want him out there everyday.
Schwaber is a million times better defensively than Castellanos, Blackmon, Markakis (2020 version), Harper and Soto. He’s very slightly below league average in LF, all those guys are horrific in the outfield. I know what this is all about though, so, the big guy can’t run or play defense, huh? Body shaming much? You don’t watch enough baseball to be commenting here. Go away.
Well that escalated quickly…
Is trumpian a word?
The word for the day is “hyperbole.” Can you say “hyperbole,” boys and girls?
You can take Harper off that list, pretty much average for a right fielder. 2019 he was much better than average.
Harper had one bad year in the field and it was when he was playing CF for the Nats. The guy is much better than Schwarber in the field.
@VonPurpleHayes
Harper has a career -32.1 defensive WAR, Schwarber is -10.8.
Compare Harper to elite defenders and its night and day. Only in 2012 and 2019 did he record a positive dWAR.
I didn’t call Harper an elite defender. He’s not. He had 2 awful defensive years when ge was playing for the Nats.Tjose years he was playing out of position. Comparing an average season, Harper is better than Schwarber defensively. It’s also ridiculous to compare the two if you add in offensive stats.
One, Schwarber got his career started in 2016 and Harper got started in 2012. Two, FanGraphs’ defensive rating is not dWAR. dWAR found on Baseball Reference. FanGraphs’ defensive rating is adjusted for their position. Corner outfielders are hit hard by it and even players generally known as great defenders at non-defensive premium positions like there is no first baseman with a positive defensive rating on FanGraphs, Whit Merrifield at 2B and RF, Cody Bellinger in RF (all since 2018). Overall throughout their careers Harper only has a -3.1 dWAR in 9550.2 innings played in the outfield while Schwarber has -3.6 dWAR in 3602 innings played in the outfield.
WAR is a very subjective stat. Just some fat kid sitting at a computer making judgements. Stop with the Jonah Hill worship. The A’s have yet to win anything.
Can’t take a guy who -3 in the field each of the last years and talk about his defense… someone has a crush on Schwarber
Soto isn’t that bad in left field. He has worked at his defense over the years. He was bad at first, but he is at least league average, at least to the eye test.
Soto NEVER played LF when he came to the ML’s, was a RF’er only in his minor league career. He’s improved noticeably at LF since.
Marty, you also said that Tatis was 100 times better defensively than any shortstop in the MLB. Maybe you should sit this one out
I will agree with you that Schwarber’s defense is underrated in LF but he is still a horrible defender. His one saving grace is that his arm is fantastic and it’s lighting quick! I think anyone who has truly watched him play would agree, it’s one of the best arms a LF has as far as release and accuracy is concerned.
I don’t love the signing from the Nationals perspective (do not hate it either) but IMO it should have been Schwarber or Bell, not Schwarber and Bell. Bell I do not like anyway, at least not as a pivotal piece of my line up (similar to Schwarber). I feel like when you have Juan Soto and Trea Turner, you owe it to them (and yourself) to get at least one solid piece and then a flyer. Not two flyers.
As for Schwarber himself, I hope he blossom’s into the power bat he has the potential to be. I think he is more Adam Dunn than the complete hitter fans thought he would be in Chicago, thinking he was basically Anthony Rizzo with a little more power upside.
I think the Cubs organization has a new philosophy under Hoyer which is going to be contact and run prevention. It’s similar to the way the 2015/2016 teams were built, at least as far as run prevention is concerned.
I bet Marty likes to get extra cheese on his whopper, you know what I’m saying? That’s why he is taking this personally. Sorry Marty, it’s just not good to be a fat slob. There’s nothing admirable about it. And fat guys don’t make very good outfielders, because you know, they have to run.
in a good year Bell + Schwarber is an ungrade over Eaton + their previous situation at those positions. but in a bad year…
At least the Nats are trying. My team (Cardinals) are just content to waste some years of really good pitching by sitting back with an atrocious offense.
euh, the Cards have a tendency to make modest moves and still win the division. especially with the way the rest of it is, they dont have to be crazy to win it and that roster could win in the playoffs.
the only way i see cards doing anything in the playoffs is one of 4 very unlikely things happening. 1st we get a late christmas present and mo is fired. 2nd badder fowler and carpenter figure out how to hit again (would actually love to see that but i’m not banking on it). 3rd mlb gives us special permission to steal signs so the off. is at least maybe watchable. 4th and most unlikely until mo is gone we actually go a trade for a bat instead we will go and get some low hanging fruit overpay them in years (sometimes money as well) just to hear them cry poor.
Could be worse. You could be a Cubs fan…
This offseason is going to end in a flurry with massive amounts of moves in March and April, I wouldn’t worry about Dec+Jan this time around.
What I like is that the Nationals have gotten two lefty hitters who draw a lot of walks.
In a good year for Schwarber and bad year for Eaton, Schwarber is an upgrade. In a good year for both, Eaton is still the better player.
Bell makes Schwarber look like a Gold Glove candidate, and that’s hard to do
He gonna play RF?
id guess Soto goes to RF
If Zim does retire this year I could see him splitting time between DH in AL parks, LF and 1st base. A lot depends on Schwarb’s defensive performance in NL parks [assuming no NL DH] and the offensive performance of Bell & Kyle.
Schwarber’s defense is totally fine, why is everyone saying he’s a bad defender? Have you ever watched him play defense? All this hate for no reason on who is essentially a league average guy just screams body shaming to me. Funny how yall think Willians is a great defender but can’t make that connection to Schwarber.
Let him be body shamed. No professional athlete should be out of shape. Don’t care what sport it is. Like it or not, they should be physical specimens.
@JaysForDays you are in the wrong sport then, pal. Tony Gwynn’s ghost says hi.
John Kruk said it best “I ain’t an athlete, lady”.
The metrics say Schwarber is a terrible defender. Body shaming has nothing to do with it.
With all your body shaming obsession, there seems little doubt that someone around here is a fat porker with a tiny tool.
science says different people have different optimal.health situations. you can be out of shape at 150 and fit at 250. there is no exact formula for what “in shape” is.
I have watched, for years, he’s not a good defender. Trying to deflect criticism of his ability by saying people are body shaming him? That’s weak.
Nobody said Williams was a great defender. Last 2 years, he’s been a negatvie defender in DRS (-6), UZR/150 (-1.3), range runs above averge (-1.3) and -14 outs above average. While that’s not the worst defender ever, it’s not good either.
Body shaming? He’s overweight. Which isn’t healthy. He should be ashamed for himself.
When exactly did “science” say that? Can you post the exact quote? In all lower case letters of course.
John Kruk has also stated, “I never pulled an oblique. You can’t ‘pull’ fat.” Kruk is simply the best!
Soto in RF, Schwarber in LF unless there is a DH according to Jim Bowden
Thank god for Robles
Left, Soto to right
Neither Soto nor Schwarber can even be considered for CF, so definitely counting on Robles. Stevenson isn’t really a CF either but I guess he’s now the default backup at all 3 OF spots.
First Bell now Schwarber? I’m not sure what exactly the Nats are thinking. Two overrated hitters with no defensive skills.
Schwarby and Belly should help tip the scales for maybe at least a WC spot for the Gnats…
Lol
Yeah, is it lame I chuckled as typing it?? lol..
All jokes aside though, if their hitting coach and hitting instructors can get these two going then these two could significantly lengthen and strengthen this Nats lineup.
With Turner, Soto, Castro, Gomes, Garcia, and then Robles the Nationals could have a very solid 1-8 with some quality, versatile bench guys to help out all around the diamond…
If Robles and these two can bounceback, it could very well be the difference in seeing the playoffs and going home early..
Ops + well above league average in 2018 and 2019. He can hit and cubs should already be regretting not picking up his contract, especially if nl gets dh
DH is bargaining chip in contract talks. They have already said they won’t use it this year and they will dangle it as a concession in talks next year.
No they haven’t. They said assume that there won’t be a DH this year, but it has not been officially decided on.
Not a done deal yet.
Would’ve been perfect AL DH…perhaps asking $$$ to high.
I thought he’d go to Cleveland. He loves hitting in Ohio. His first career hit was a triple vs @ Jacobs Field.
10 MM
Robles better stretch between every pitch. He’ll need to cover a lot of ground on both sides.
Good work by the Nats regardless. Schwarber knows he needs to make the most out of this opportunity, and this is a good situation for him.
Wrote this before the salary was announced. Wow didn’t think Schwarber would command $10-mil. Probably (estimating) could have received the same level of production for less from Eddie Rosario. Joc Pederson’s agent just did a happy dance.
But what we don’t know is if there was another team(s) bidding on him. Several have publicly expressed interest.
Tailor made Yankee goes else where……
Hal needs his DNA checked.
You’re only allowed one DH.
NL East is going to be fun to watch this year.
That makes me sad. I was hoping he would come back to the Cubs. He will always be a hero here.
Not sure how I feel about this, we have 3 strike out pitchers but our defense is going to be among the worst in the league.
The good news is we do have 3 guys that can hit 30+ HR’s for the first time in awhile. Last year Soto was the only one I could confidently say that for. Hopefully we’re still in play for Bryant or JTR.
Who does your team have to get KB? It won’t be 1 for 1. Cubs will get at least 2 players.
Kieboom and Antuna, Cate, Henry, or Mendoza. I dont want KB
Already forgetting soto, harper and rendon?
Reunited with Dave Martinez, great move Washington. Glad to see someone is trying to win it in 2021!
Good for you, Kyle. Best of luck with Davey in DC.
Solid move Nats. Go get ‘em.
Higher than I thought he’d get.
Wow. This seems like a massive, massive overpay. I can’t really imagine there being a competitive market for this guy- he’s just absolutely brutal out there right? And a total platoon bat? 10M? LOL okay. Nice steal Nats!
He’s really not that bad though.
$10M! Holy Lord!
I had Theo under my spell for many years. He threw a curveball by resigning before I could make it work on Jed. Jed could see what happened to Theo and threw his defenses up.
But Rizzo didn’t stand a chance.
And us Pirates fans are thinking….damn, so close! Missed him by only $9mil!
erm…at that price? Rizzo is banking on the one year deals once again. worked in 2019, but wolnt always.
These are what Theo once said are bridge signings. Get some short-term help while continuing to develop the farm.
Braves need to make a big splash with a bat. Cant let the rest of the division upgrade. The more players that come off the market, the higher the cost. Economics 101 right… plus, you run the risk of the player you want going elsewhere.
In my dreams, we go get Ozuna and KB, fill the bullpen with MM and Greene.. feel good about that Braves roster.. real good lol
I don’t disagree the need, but Schwarber signing a 1-year deal with no DH news is a silent fart in the free agency wind.
Your dreams that include Bryant and Melancon is my nightmare. Rub some lavender on your pillow and dream bigger.
Haha you’re totally right! My dream is definitely limited there! I guess I should say, my realistic dream, assuming we don’t overpay for Melancon and don’t trade away the farm for KB. But those are moves I can definitely see happening
@bravesfan. You are right. The Mets just got much better, and the Nationals have got better this offseason. Braves need a closer and at least 1 big bat or preferably 2.
Yup. Technically will Smith can close, but last year proved that a legit bullpen is huge. So we need the depth.
Wasn’t he only projected to earn like 7 through arbitration ???
According to the article, “Schwarber was non-tendered so Chicago could avoid paying him an arbitration salary projected to fall somewhere between $xxxMM and $xxxMM.”
That’s what a get for reading the headline and just skimming. Thanks. Seems like an overpay
Beer League Softball near me:
Washington Nationals
1500 S Capitol St SE,
Washington, DC 20003
Here comes the smug Dodger fans. *World Series
Teams really weren’t ready to act at or before the non-tender deadline. I’m guessing that had more to do with budget uncertainty, rather than being underprepared with respect to evaluation of players who might become available and their own teams’ needs. Otherwise it seems odd that the Washington baseball team would pay this much for Schwarber now and that the Cubs wouldn’t have been able to trade him for something a couple months ago.
Spending on the limited number of contracts that have been signed also continues to exceed expectations in almost all cases. It will be interesting to see if that applies to the high-end deals, too, or if the money will be spread around more this offseason.
I think you can call them the Nats and no one will be offended.
I just think unbridled nationalism is a problem — see for example Germany in the late 1930s-mid 1940s — and would rather not encourage that by referring to the Washington Baseball Team by their troublesome nickname.
Never in a million years would I equate the name Nationals with nationalism.. Guess that was a failure of imagination on my part.
6.7 million Doritos locos tacos seems a little steep, especially given his arbitration projection
I wonder if his mom will come with him.
Kyle exiled me to Rochester when he was trying to lose the weight so he could play LF better. Now that the Red Wings are the Nats AAA team, if he comes here on injury rehab, I’ll have a stack of garbage plates waiting for him.
Good God the Nationals are gonna be terrible next year. Already have a first baseman who hits inconsistently and can’t defend worth a damn, but now they added the same thing in the outfield. Lol.
Show me where Schwarber can’t defend worth a damn. I’ll wait, because you don’t know what you are talking about and are just mindlessly hating on a husky dude, forgetting husky dudes still can run and in Schwarber’s case, take solid routes to the ball.
He sucks and you are a bitter expos fan
There’s no expos fans man, cmon
Ummmmm are his terrible fielding percentage and negative defensive runs saved not enough for you? Just because you’re a husky dude who thinks he can make defensive plays in softball every Wednesday night, we’re suppose to apply the same logic to Schwarber without looking at the actual numbers?
You are disrespecting the ghost of Tony Gwynn right now and I am not having it.
11 career errors in 4 and a half years. Would not be terrible field %age.
Gwynn was like 35 pounds lighter than Schwarber and only an inch shorter. He also reached double digits in stolen bases 11 times and quite often stole upwards of 40 bases early in his career. Schwarber has never had 40+ stolen base speed.
Kyle’s a big boy but its not like he’s Kevin Mitchell with the Reds big (and he had to play on astroturf)
Yeah, Leading the league 2 of the last 3 years in Outfield/LF Assists(11 in 18′ and 7 in 19′) ain’t worth a damn I guess, he did lead the league with 6 Errors in 19′(in 140 games played) but made just 1 Error in the other 168 games last 3 seasons(7 total L3 seasons), not to mention this guy spent early part of his career transitioning from Catcher to LF’er probably hindering his development! P.S. Here’s some other Defensive stats from Last 3 seasons(308 games worth) .986 Fielding%(Right at league-avg, actually slighly better…and that INCLUDES the league-leading 6 error season) -3 Defensive Runs Saved(That’s -1 every 103 games or so) and a +14 Total Fielding Runs Above Avg(Helped by 21 Outfield Assists Last 3 season, leading the NL twice) He certainly isn’t near as bad as people think defensively! 😉
We shall see…
One of the other unmentioned [so far] point to be made about the signing of Shwarb to a 1 year deal is he becomes trade bait at the deadline if other players such as Andrew Stevenson step up and fill holes.
For all those predicting doom for Shwarber, don’t get so caught up in last year’s 200+ AB sample. A lot of very good hitters are around 200 after the first third of the season every year. The strikeouts are aconcern but I expect Kevin Long will put in a lot of hours with Kyle to get the most out of his potential.
I agree that we should not place too much emphasis on individual stats for a 60-game season, regardless of whether the numbers were good or bad. Front office people around the game surely realize this.
Solid points. But I wasn’t referring specifically to just last year. I was summarizing his entire six years in the majors which has been inconsistent hitting and terrible field play. This would have been an OK deal if he was gonna be DH full-time. But man….to pay him above market value is too extra with so many guys left on the market who I frankly believe are just as good if not much better than him.
Career .230 hitter that never met a shift he didn’t like to hit into with mostly empty, meaningless HR in blowouts, BA w/RISP is dreadful and K’s a ton and whines after called 3rd strike, almost every time. Give him $10 mil. Putting a HR ball under plexiglass made a legend out of a barely average player.
If all he does is get back to his average numbers, the Nats will be real happy with this purchase!
I’m just curious, but have you looked at his career line?
?
Have you?
12th worst hitter in MLB in terms of K’s!!
Enuff said!
Power hitting trade piece at the deadline
If you can’t see past the K’s …and the batting average, you can’t see the value.
Enuff said.
Yes, and they’re trash. Which is why I’m confused as to how you think his career line is great. Let me rephrase that…his career OPS+ is 113 which is about 13% better than league average. So marginally better. Then everything he does outside of the box is below average which kills the value he brings as a barely above average hitter. Hence…the career WAR of 5.4 over six freaking years. Pederson, Rosario and about 10 other guys would have been a better move here. The issue is only compounded by the fact that this guy is terrible at all the things that the Nationals are already terrible at.
You keep swinging and missing:
1. Nowhere did I even suggest great.
2. 13% above average means significantly more of MLB is WORSE than him (do the math) and
3. I see this as a bet ON the NL having a DH, erasing most of your concerns
Striking out less would be nice but the rest of his offense is pretty easy to pay $10-11 million/year short-term
Well 137 HRs from the left side over 4 years ain’t bad.. He also had a .412 avg in the World Series that the Cubs don’t win without him. The Nat’s see something there.
I wanted to say they brought him up too early, but he crushed minor league pitching. He just crashed at the major league level.
Lol
I like the signing for Washington. It’s a response to what the Mets did two days ago.
Scwarber signing bad news for Zimm , Y. Tomas and Y. Hernandez.
No because Kyle is better,just because Tomas and Hernandez are Cuban ,
I’m I the only one who sees Schwarber as more of a bench piece?
I would assume he has too much power for that I see him as a poor man’s Stanton and with that amount of power I don’t think it matters how much he strikes out as long as he’s hitting 30=45 hrs a season.
The NL will have the DH this year.
@VonPurpleHayes $10M seems like a lot to pay for someone to sit on the bench most of the time. And it’s not like Scwarber has the defensive versatility to be a good utility or even 4th outfielder type “bench piece”.
@Oddvark that’s why I’m baffled by the signing. I see him as a DH or a power hitter off the bench. I don’t see why the Nationals want him as an everyday outfielder. His fielding is below average and he strikes out a ton.
I see him filling several roles. A bat off the bench will be one of them on more than a few occasions. Remember it took till 2019 for Shwarbs to amass 500 ABs in a season. Getting him above 550 is not likely this year either.
Looking at the Crystal Ball I see a player who will be used as often as possible in favorable matchups. He will get some playing time the rest of the games but only sporadically.
@adc6r He is a significantly better hitter against RHP, so if they can use him as the strong side of platoon situation in LF, and have him available as a pinch hitter when lefties start, they could maximize his production. Is that enough to justify the $10M price tag? Maybe.
@adc6r and Oddvark good points here, and I think Schwarber can be a really solid platoon player, but 10M for a platoon player seems like way too much in this market. Still, good on the Nats for being bold in a tough division.
No
Eh haters gonna hate. I like this and the Bell move. Obviously risk for downside but these are nice smaller moves that could leave the door open for something bigger or be a bridge year to something better when the market is clearer.
Nice pickup by the Nats.
I wonder if Rizzo knows something about NL DH and roster size. If no DH, if roster big enough can have defensive replacement for him and Bell.
$10MM is crazy. Nationals bidding against themselves.
Oh joy, another mediocre veteran. Surely he will replace Rendon.
Good for him. I was worried he wouldn’t sign somewhere. He’s getting 2mil more than what the cubs would’ve paid him. Shows just how cheap the ricketts are.
Schwarber was stellar second half of 2019. I don’t take much stock into last year. I honestly thought he could be a cheaper extension option for the cubs and then they cut him. The guy can get on base and hit bombs. I could see him being a very good dh/platoon left field going forward.
Kyle needs to get his launch angle back on track and he’ll be worth the contract.
I feel like every cub hitter is someone who if they go else where, you could say “they could use a change of scenery”. So much talent with such little performance. I don’t get what happened with the Cubs offense. I like this move for both Nats and Schwarbs
As a Cubs fan, I can tell you exactly what went wrong with the Cubs offense.
It starts and ends with balance and structuring a line up that is best designed to maximize players strengths.
The Cubs got way too caught up in the numbers and statistically, if you look the 2017 and 2019 teams drove in more runs that the 2016 so statistically, it worked, functionally it did not.
I’m going to use Kris Bryant as the prime example. KB has some major flaws in his swing, susceptible to breaking pitches down and down and away. Every pitcher in the league knew they could bury pitches down in the dirt and down and away on Bryant because he was not protected in the line up. The best way to protect a guy like Bryant is to RUN in front of him. The Cubs however play station to station and had Kyle freaking Schwarber bat in front of him. Teams had no worries about making mistakes to Bryant as long as they were low mistakes and outside mistakes, mistakes that a base stealer would capitalize on where Cub runners were standing on first base looking stupid trying to figure things out.
Second, Bryant is one of the best base runners in all of baseball, not base stealer but runner. His base running instincts are off the chart and accelerates extremely well. Again, having Schwarber (or Zobrist) batting in front of him was a mistake as they were not good base runners, clogged the base paths because they didn’t hit doubles, you couldn’t hit and run with any of those guys.
Basically, it was the Cubs neutralized Kris Bryant. The best solution last year was to have Javy lead off. Baez is not a middle of the order bat. He can surely carry an offense when he is hot, but when he is cold, he doesn’t do anything for the offense because he doesn’t work counts or take walks. He also happens to be one of the best fastball hitters on the team and best base stealer. JB could take advantage of the get over fastball and keep pitchers from burying balls on Bryant. Baez is also right behind Bryant in terms of base running skills and instinct.
Not doing simple things like:
A.) keep the train moving (taking Baez out of the middle of the line up
B.) putting your best player in the best position to succeed (Speed in front of Bryant)
Is what was wrong with the Cubs offense.
We all know about his baggage, but I wonder if it would have been a better move for the Nats to sign Puig. He could probably be had for about $6-7M for one year, and he’s a more well-rounded player than Schwarber.
Really doubt Puig gets anywhere near six million a year. Nobody wanted him last year.
I was also rooting for Puig to end up in DC. Nationals seemed focused primarily on a left handed bat instead. Probably they’re still planning to sign Zimmerman as a right handed bench bat.
And why only 6 or 7 millón for Puig if Puig is much better player than Kyle????Puig 277 lifetime hitter vs 234 ,almost 50 points difference!!!!!!!!!
Yeah he hits home runs but what else’s does he do I don’t get that he’s any good and not 10 million good.
Above average in LF.
Gets on base
OMG people that guy has a terrible career OBP and he’s terrible in left. Just please stop.
He’s an above average hitter with an above average obp and he’s young. His defense is passable. He got a decent mlb contract for 1 year. I can easily see him earning and even exceeding its value. He’s not a bad player. People act like he signed a Mookie Betts deal.
At that price I would even rather have Grichuk! (sadly he has more than 1 year on his contract)
Ya seems like an overpay for Kyle and all his warts. But I wouldn’t worry that much about his defense; when 37% of outcomes are one of the three outcomes, why waste money on defensive guys?
Let’s play some run and shoot!!!
(But if I’m one of the three big Nats starter, I’m looking at that OF and thinking, “HOLY KRAP!!!!!!”)
$10 million seems like an overpay for a guy who doesn’t do much than hit a mistake pitch out every once in a while. He’s not what I would consider a “winning player” because he’s limited in so many ways. He doesn’t hit for avg, he can’t hit LHP, he doesn’t run the bases well, and his outfield range isn’t good. So, basically, they paid for a guy who will hit 25-30 HR, with a low bavg, who possesses a solid arm. But he will basically not do anything else to help win ballgames. The White Sox paid $7 million for Adam Eaton. Eaton is a much more “complete” player with a wider skill set. So, the ceiling for Schwarber should have been $7 million, but hats off to his agent for getting him that deal.
No only EATON ,Yasmany Thomas and Hernandez ( both Cubans ) are much better than Kyle
For me Tomas is the third best hitter in this team after Soto and Rondon
If Yasmany Tomas is you’re third best hitter its going to be a long season…
Remember Tomas 31 hr and 87RBI IN HIS LAST FULL SEASON with 267 average and 25 years old then ,don’t forgets
Don’t “forgets” (sic) that was in 2016 and it still wasn’t as impressive as Schwarbers last full season in 2019.
Also, Tomas makes Schwarber look like a Gold Glover in the outfield. Tomas is horrible… absolutely horrible defensively.
Here is some food for thought, in 2016, Tomas drove in 87 RBI’s, he was charged with -20 DRS in the outfield. In three seasons, and only 2000 innings he was charged with -34 DRS. That is pathetic.
Solid numbers 234 average hitter lifetime ?????
10 millons ??????
.336 OBP, 113 OPS+ -that’s pretty solid
a 113 ops+ really isn’t that great for a guy who contribute likes 99% of his value through hitting.
Not that great but definitely “solid”.
69th in wRC+ over the last 3 years. I’d imagine his ops+ is pretty similar. If you think that’s solid, agree to disagree, i guess.
I mean, accepting he’s been a top 70 offensive player as true, out of 270 starting offensive players on any given night, he’s roughly a top 25% offensive player. I’d say he’s a solid bat to have.
Better career OPS vs RHP than Brantley or Peterson.
Brantley has played a loooong career. His .857 OPS vs RHP in 2017 was his lowest since 2013. Outside of a 2016 season where he was injured for nearly the entire year, the only other time in the last 7 years that he has been below .900 was in 2018, with an OPS of .889.
Brantley plays at a whole different level of consistency vs the other 2.
Talk about an overpay, ouch
So what does nationals lineup look like now?
Wow he really tricked them good. Haven’t they ever seen him play defense? He’s horrible.
The fact that the salary is more than what he would have got in arbitration is better evidence that that CBA is deeply flawed.
Well technically it’s not because his “salary” is $7M it’s the “guarantee” is $10M because of the option buyout.
So if he rakes this year and then they pick up the 2022 option, he’s only going to make $7M in 2021 which is about what he would have gotten in arbitration, and then $11M in 2022.
I feel like the 1Y/$10M is a little misleading, that’s only one possible outcome.
A mutual option is almost never exercised, so it’s effectively $10M for 1 season. If Schwarber rakes he’ll decline the option. If he doesn’t the Nats will decline.
Washington frequently uses mutual options with buyouts as a way to defer money to the end of the season. Weirdly though the mutual options really hurt the Nationals last year. They ended up paying the full buyout on several players — whereas that money would have been prorated if it had been part of the 2020 salary.
The Mutual option will make Schwarbs more attractive at the deadline since the acquiring team would have a chance to keep Kyle next year as well.
The mutual option has no effect on value. If Schwarber is hitting well enough for the Nationals to pick up his option, then Schwarber will decline it (especially if he is traded). If Schwarber is playing poor enough to pick up his end of the option, the Nationals or receiving team will decline it.
Odds of both sides agreeing to the option is slim. In Schwarbers case also, it’s only an 8 million option since it’s 11 million but he wouldn’t get the 3 million buy out money.
There are no bad 1 year contracts, if they dislike him at mid season trade him as a pinch hitter or just release him.
10 mill for a defensive liability who’s highest output has been a 2.6 oWar season and continuously strikes out about 150 times per season. Yea that’s gonna have to be a hard pass for me. What is Washington thinking having schwarber and Soto handle both corner outfield spots. Yikes that is probably gonna be one of the worst defensive outfields in all of baseball, gonna have to produce that much more on offense.
Not just outfield, Bell is a butcher and Kieboom is a pretty terrible fielder as well. Man, I wish the Nationals would sign Lackey just for one game, his head would explode pitching in front of that defense!
Good pickup, lots of power.
The Nationals will still have to find a RH Outfielder that could preferably play all three positions (Pillar?, Maybin?, Marisnick?). Lots of strikeouts to sandwich between Soto in the lineup
What a total waste of money! Why would this guy remain in the National League, it makes no good baseball sense! Congrats Nats you just paid $10 mil to sabotage your defense.
The Nationals have just downgraded their offense and defense. Schwarber is a bum.
It’s official. The Marlins aren’t finishing last next season.
yes, the Marlins will finish last in 2021.
Okay, this has got to be a sign that the NL is having a DH, right?
Hopefully there’s a DH because Stevenson is a stud! You heard it hear. Mark it dude.
A bit pricey but there are no bad one year contracts. Must have been some amount of competition for them to agree to a full $10M.
Where will he be in the field?
Left Field. Soto moves to Right Field
The bedwetters fretting over the Nats OF defense in 2021 can give it a rest. Soto’s minor league position was ***RF***. He was promoted to the majors as a teenager and had to learn LF on the fly. Was he awful when he started in LF ? Yes. Has he improved since then? Yes. And when he played RF (his natural position) last season he was very, very good — Robles & Soto will be fine out there in 2021. If Schwarber is a DH in 100 or so games than that’s fine too. Doubt Rizzo is done. He traditionally pulls rabbits out of his hat in Jan & Feb. And if they let Kieboom marinade in 2021, that’s another FA add on Rizzo’s list.
Learn on the fly? He played RF. How much learning is needed to play the exact same position on the other side of the field? If anything RF is a bit harder cuz you need a better arm.
Yes. Learn on the fly. The kid was 19 years old when he broke into the Bigs. All he had to do was help put the offense on his shoulders and deal with a new position at Age 19. No big deal. Right?
Nats go out and sign Pillar to face LHP replacing Schwarber your D is fine late in games. Problem is, what to do with Stevenson.
Your missing my point. LF isn’t really a different position than RF. Do you really think being asked to play the exact same position but on the other side of the field was so mind blowingly difficult for him?
There are lots of differences, some that players actually do have difficulty with. Reading balls off the bat, ball-spin, arm strength (as mentioned), even boredom (usually pitcher-dependent) to name a few, but you, being a Gold Glover, probably don’t notice
Cosmo6 — read Kodlon’s comments. These guys are not robots. They develop comfort zones, and most importantly, if you’ve ever played the game than you know that moving from LF to RF is not the equivalent of getting out of one car and easily hopping into another.
They’re the same position just reversed. And you need a better arm for RF. Comfort zone is one thing but a learning curve for two basically identical positions? C’mon.
Learning curve. Yes.
Eaton for Schwarber plus a couple mil doesn’t make good business sense.
It makes perfect business sense if you’re in love with a guy who’s facing the age of 33 that’s missed significant chunks of 3 of the 4 seasons he was in DC due to injury. But you go ahead and pay Eaton. Just stay away from The Lerners’ checkbook if you dont mind.
Ok move. If the price is about the same I would go Pederson. Or pillar for half as much.
The Nats could use a top of the order players. I was hoping they take a long look at Andrew Stevenson. I think the Nats are making a mistake. And more bullpen arms.
Low risk move. If he sucks then he can be gone no big deal but if he balls out and decides to leave the Nats could tag him and maybe get something for him.
Soto has suspect D and now has to play RF…. not a good move. Jays, Astros or Indians could have used him.
“Soto has suspect D and now has to play RF…”
@Hoff38
Soto only ended up in left because he had Harper and then Eaton in Right already. I n the minors he WAS a RF.
As for the first part of your statement:
Career fielding % .993
Career Errors [300 games]
No his UZR is not good but what this tells you is when he gets to the ball he makes the play.
While UZR is not as bad a stat as WAR, it is a stat that is relied upon a bit too heavily by Sabre metric fans. Catchall stats like this can often obscure elements of a players game that are an asset to his team.
Jays had no room for Schwarber. They have enough corner OF, 1B and DH options.
Was hoping that the Cubs could bring him back on a smaller, ST invite-type of deal. But @ 7M guaranteed? Hard pass. And I love the guy. But he is not worth that amount of money.
I would think that Joc Pederson is the better player, he’s a better fielder and base runner however Pederson’s and Schwarber’s lefty righty splits are virtually identical and Schwarber has always had way more pressure to be “The Star”, so maybe Schwarber will thrive by getting out of Chicago.
of the peeps reported in the Nats of interest file I would have preferred Joc as well.. But it looked like from the start, the Dodgers and Peterson wanted a reunion which may have limited the amount of interest in the Joc camp.
It may be that Shwarbs was the best player willing to sign with the Nats at point in FA when there were still choices.
I don’t think Rizzo is done yet either, but moves will come slow.
I would have preferred Pederson as well if I was a Nationals fans.
Rizzo has quickly put together one of the worst defensive teams in all of baseball. Josh Bell, Juan Soto, Kyle Schwarber, Carter Kieboom, Starlin Castro… Turner and Robles were bad last year as well, hopefully with the latter two it won’t be a trend.
The pitching staff is going to have their work cut out for them next season.
Fear not for D @Drascoo36
As the inevitable injuries strike the starters, the players in reserve will upgrade the defense. Byt the end of the year it is entirely possible Castro will be a bench player and Garcia will take over at 2nd. Stevenson is an upgrade in the OF when he plays (except CF) and the minor league talent brought up can be tilted towards defense.
– Soto
OF defense for Soto is not nearly as poor as most would have us believe on this board. Pushed to left field to create a place for him when called up, Soto was not a + defender in left. anyone who tells you the ball braking the opposite way is not an issue isn’t an OFer. But Soto worked hard and became a competent LF. Judge him after this year in right and we can talk, but he has improved his defense as any young player should.
Schwarber.
Spending most of his time between C and 1B during his minor league stints, Kyle was also relegated to LF with the big boys. Like Soto he was learning it on the fly and the results showed. But also like Soto Schwarbs has also spent the last 4 years working on his defense. Both Soto & Schwarbs lack range but at this point if they can get to a ball they make the best play they can at this point in their careers… and both are still pretty young
Schwarber is a better fit than Eaton on this club in 2021 for another key reason: you cant lose Harper & Rendon’s power #’s and not feel the effects from that — Washington was 21st in HR’s last season DESPITE getting monster HR numbers from Soto & Turner. Good move by Rizzo to say G’bye to Eaton and say hello to Schwarber.. Agree with Adc6r that JocP and LA are probably looking to reunite.
They didn’t really miss Harper’s power (won it all without him), but your point is well taken, especially with regard to Rendon. If Kieboom and Robles ever live up to their minor league hype that would fix a lot of their problems. The jury is definitely still out, but the early returns are fairly mediocre.
Amusing comments in this section — that The Nats wouldve been better off keeping Eaton.
Wrong.
A few months ago, Rizzo declined a $10 million option on Eaton. And gave that $10 million to Schwarber. You think Rizzo’s an idiot? Did you all notice Eaton missed considerable time with injuries in 3 of the 4 years he was in Washington ? An ACL tear 23 games into his first season hampered him for all of 2017 and part of 2018. If Rizzo instead gave that $10 million (hell, $ 7 million) to Eaton, than you Einsteins would be complaining that Rizzo was wasting money on an oft-injured player who’s staring down Age 33 and has had 2 disappointing seasons in a row at the plate.
All that said, Eaton was arguably Washington’s 2nd best hitter in the World Series and a huge presence in turning around that clubhouse, Well done, Adam.
So basically $10M guaranteed for 1 year….and the Cubs didn’t want to pay him $7-=8M? Seems like an overpay for a guy that has poor D
Admittedly, Shwarb’s D was poor when he first came up. Originally slated for first, Kyle was blocked by Rizzo so OF was the next likely spot for him. Despite starting out of position, Shwarbs Defense has improved and his overall numbers are not horrible as many maintain.
Career Fielding % 979 [Baseball Reference]
Career Errors 4 (3 Errors at Catcher, 1 in the OF)
Clearly the Nats valued him more than the Cubs. What I wanna know is why they didn’t just work out a trade. The Cubs were about to non-tender him so it’s not like they would have refused to trade him if Nats wouldn’t offer up someone with some upside.
Getting into the habit of trading minor league assets to acquire guys with 1 year deals is a sure way to destroy your farm system. If 3b was the only void they have that would be a different matter. They also need bullpen help, and I don’t think anyone believes they have a reliable #4 or #5 starter on this team.
Tigers paid 5.5 for gross man so good deal for someone with a proven background and potential
There are an alarming amount of Andrew Stevenson fans in this thread which begs the question…is the actual Andrew Stevenson commenting on this? I say it’s most likely.
This absurdity on Schwarber’s potential made me finally register to comment.
Schwarber in his retirment years will be the folk hero coming back to Chicago for Cubs conventions and reunions of the ’16 team. He might even get a few car commercials once he’s retired.
The reality of Schwarber is that this overpay by Washington and expected potential that isn’t happening. Schwarber will always be a low average, high power and below average defensive player. I would argue that Washington fans aren’t going to give him the leeway that Cubs fans would because of 2016. If he hits one of those 1 for 22 skids with 9 K’s look out.
You look at the comps to players like Schwarber and the names Duvall, Pederson, Renfroe, Gallo and Sano come up. Gallo at least can play CF. Then look at the career comps and the names of Rob Deer, Ron Kittle and Dave Kingman come up. This is who he is nothing more nothing less.
Once he hits his age 30 season I fully expect him to either be a starting DH on a bad AL team on the cheap or a platoon LF.
Oh the drama. No one said Schwarber was Ken Griffey Jr. He’s 27. Rizzo didnt sign him long term — he’s on a mere 1 year deal. Could care less what he’s doing at Age 30. Worry about that then.
stop with the smoke screen. he signed for $3MM UNDER his arb projection, and then he locked him self into a TEAM friendly deal if he performs well in 2021. this was yet another MAJOR win for the front offices.
Why didn’t the Cubs trade him to the Nats? You’d think that that would have made sense for both sides. Cubs get SOMETHING for him. Nats save some $.
Kyle’s probably gone after 1 season. Dont trade an asset.
Pretty unfortunate photo they used for the story. Seems to be saying, “I wonder what this thing on my hand does”
I’m back baby!
Huge overpay for one of the most overrated players in baseball.