Red Sox outfielder Kyle Schwarber declined his half of an $11.5MM mutual option and is now a free agent, per the Associated Press. Schwarber signed a one-year, $10MM contract with the Nationals last winter — a deal that guaranteed him a $7MM salary in 2021 plus a $3MM buyout on the option he’s now declined. The Red Sox will not be able to issue a qualifying offer, as he’s ineligible to receive one after being traded from Washington to Boston midseason.
It was a season to remember for the 28-year-old Schwarber, who opened the year with a rather pedestrian two-month stretch in D.C. before embarking on one of the great hot streaks in the history of Major League Baseball. The former No. 4 overall draft pick carried a .218/.312/.404 batting line through his first 215 plate appearances in Washington, making the Cubs’ decision to non-tender him the prior winter look at least somewhat justified. From that point forth, however, Schwarber found another gear and delivered the best production of his career.
On June 12, Schwarber went 1-for-3 with a solo homer in the first game of a doubleheader. An inauspicious game in and of itself, that kicked off a prodigious stretch that saw Schwarber blast a near-unfathomable 16 home runs in a span of 18 games — a total of just 77 plate appearances. From June 12 through July 2, Schwarber posted a Herculean .338/.409/.974 batting line. It looked as though no pitcher could stop Schwarber at that point, but unfortunately for both him and the Nats, an injury could. A hamstring strain landed Schwarber on the injured list on July 3, and during his absence, a free-falling Nats club engineered a rare (for them) fire sale that saw an injured Schwarber traded to the Red Sox.
The Sox knew full well that Schwarber wouldn’t be ready for a bit at the time of his acquisition, but his activation on Aug. 13 was rather surprising. The Sox, facing some dire needs in the lineup, reinstated Schwarber from the injured list after a six-week layoff without even sending him out on a minor league rehab assignment. And yet, despite being dropped cold into the throes of the AL East, Schwarber immediately resumed his juggernaut status at the plate.
In 168 plate appearances down the stretch with the Sox, Schwarber mashed at a .291/.435/.522 clip with seven home runs and 10 doubles. The hot streak carried on into the postseason, where Schwarber opened with a 9-for-32 showing with three home runs — including an epic Game 3 ALCS grand slam. That proved to finally be the stopping point for Schwarber, however, as he was held hitless in his next 16 plate appearances as the Astros came back to topple the Sox and end their season.
Schwarber played in just 113 regular season games but nevertheless belted 32 home runs while slashing a stout .266/.374/.554 with a 13.6% walk rate and a 27.0% strikeout rate. He won’t win any awards for his glovework in the outfield, and his brief foray at first base wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. However, the the likely advent of the designated hitter in the National League and a mammoth showing at the plate, Schwarber should see a robust market for his services this winter.
Teams may still have some questions about Schwarber’s ability to handle lefties. He hit .268/.389/.398 against them in 2021, albeit with a .377 average on balls in play and in only 149 plate appearances. In 435 prior plate appearances against southpaws, from 2015-20, Schwarber managed only a .197/.301/.348 output. He did cut his strikeout rate and improve his walk rate against southpaws in 2021, however, so the gains weren’t solely BABIP-driven. The extent to which he can sustain (or build upon) those improvements against lefties will be pivotal to Schwarber’s market, but regardless, he’s positioned himself as one of the top bats of the offseason.
No surprise. What will JD Martinez do?
I don’t see the Red Sox trying to resign him unless JD opts out or if the contract is in the 20 – 25 million range. He really is a DH.
The Red Sox’s top priority is to add stable, top of the rotation starter. Sale and Eovaldi are health issues.
The two teams Schwarber would be a perfect fit for and may have the money are the White Sox or Mariners. Put Schwarber in between an Abreu and Jimenez and that is a slow but POWER trio.
I agree. I think pitcher is where we need the investment. If JD opts out, maybe use his savings for a SS.
Absolutely.
-XB
Xander is the short stop.
Xander is the SS, but he might be better off at 3B.
Try to keep up Dalbac is going back to third his natural position. Devers will move to first base. Move Keke to second put Verdugo in CF and have Schwarber play LF….Or don’t sign Schwarber let Duran play CF keep Verdugo in LF and get a top end starter or a couple high leverage relievers SP has lost value with pitchers only going through a lineup twice….
JD isn’t opting out.
Not so sure about that anymore. Keep hearing he is. Either way I’m good.
I’m thinking he will get 1 or 2 years added to his contract for about same money per year
dennyd – If JD opts out he could receive a QO from Boston which will limit his attractiveness to other teams. However, if he accepts the QO which is for roughly $1M less than he’s scheduled to make with BOS if he doesn’t opt out then next year when he’s a free agent the Red Sox won’t be able to QO him again and his value on the free agent market is optimized and the Universal DH might be real by then. So, it makes sense for him to opt out then take the QO. If BOSTON doesn’t offer him the QO then JD has multiple prospects for competitive teams that need him including TOR, CWS and SEA.
Why do you think he stays and exercises his option rather than opting out?
But he did stay so life is good…..
This man needs to get paid! Worth every penny
Works hard, great attitude, great teammate and is a game changer. Can’t wait to see what deal he gets
Mets new left fielder.
They need pitching and infield help.
Interested to see what JD does, I would prefer the Sox sign/acquire a player who’s natural position is 1B, but if JD opts out not against Schwarber moving to OF/DH for us.
You mean like Dalbec? Cassas? Shwarber?
Good stick. His market doubles if the National League adopts the DH. Doesn’t really have a position that he plays well enough that you would trust him there for 140 games.
Might be able to DH 100 games and play first/left for 49 times and pinch hit in the rest. It will be really interesting to say where he lands.
I say let him go and sign Correa move bogie to second cuz he is going to opt out next year
Opt out doesn’t mean he’s leaving. Opt out means he knows he’s worth more than 20 mil a year. Doesn’t mean he won’t sign something with same team for higher annual value.
We shall see
Bogaerts will be worth 30 million on the open market after correia, seager, baez, story etc set the market this season. That is about 10 million more annually than if he opts in. He has been the de facto captain for years. He means so much more to boston than he does to any other team. I believe they were willing to allow Mookie to go BECAUSE they wanted to prioritize Bogaerts when the time came. With that being said, don’t be shocked if they extend him before the end of next season. I believe they haven’t extended him yet because he wants to see what Correia, story, seager etc get since they set the market
123redsox – So in your mind the Red Sox thought Bogey was better than Mookie despite the stats saying differently? That’s illogical but hey the front office and owners have done more bizarre things so you may be right.
With Bloom as the GM and their top prospect being a Shortstop and their need to move Devers to DH, it would make sense if Boston contracted Story this off season to give them leverage with Bogey from a financial viewpoint and to buy time until Mayers makes the bigs. Bogey’s future at SS is not long term. He’ll be a 3B or 2B by 2025.
The market was set by Lindor and Tatis. These next four will have a hard time getting 30 million plus a year. We’ll see.
Correa is injury prone and whichever team not named Houston is going to regret giving him a mega deal, same with Seager. The Sox have an elite SS, signing another big free agent and asking Bogaerts to move is basically giving him the finger.
The Sox need at least one solid starter (keep ERod and they can bargain hunt for a backend option to compete with Houck) and at least a couple of bullpen arms. If J.D. stays the offense will basically be the one they finished last season with. Maybe keep Iglesias or Shaw for the bench. See how Duran does in spring training and rotate him around with Kike in CF. If J.D. leaves then re-signing Schwarber should become a top priority
Please forgive the Cubs for dumping you and come back.
Right? What a bad decision–I thought so at the time. One bad “year”, during covid, and just let him go?
1 bad year?
Kyle needed a change of scenery. Going to a new team/teams did him some good.
He was awful for the last two years and there was nothing to indicate a rebound. He was a butcher in LF and striking out at an unsustainable rate. It was the right call. Glad he did rebound – he’s a good guy and I wish him the best.
Yanks, Bucks or Bj’s?
No opening on the Yankees, unless they want to experiment with him at 1B for the season. I don’t think that will be a good idea. The Jays could use the LH’d bat, but they also don’t have an obvious position for him.
I wouldn’t rule out a return to the Red Sox if JD Martinez opts out.
White Sox or Mariners are perfect fits. Yanks have Stanton at DH. Blue Jays have so many options I can see them spending their money on pitching. Bucks are not going to pony up the price.
If the NL adopts the DH then Braves, Dodgers, Mets or Giants are all good fits and could probably afford the contract.
Dodgers would extend Seagwr instead of signing him if they sign a big free agent
You can’t extend Seager because he’s a free agent, he would need an entirely new contract. Word is Dodgers/teams are concerned with his injury history.
Brewers.
We need a first baseman or an outfielder.
Defensive liability. Had a nice year offensively, but has been inconsistent his whole career. Bad contract for someone incoming.
Hopefully Schwarber goes to the highest bidder. He’s 28 and might as well go for a multi-year big dollar deal. He can definitely help a team looking for a left handed bat
Rangers have a gaping hole at DH and they really need a few big bats this off-season. Schwarber could be one.
The rangers are rebuilding, not retooling. Schwarber isn’t going to a rebuilding team.
Could see Brewers signing him to play first base.
Blue Jays, this is our guy! Bring him on board!
I don’t understand why Cora put schwarber in at 1b in the playoffs when schwarber has little to no experience at 1b. He made an error. Not worth it over the bat. Bobby cox did the same with klesko in the ws, of at 1b position and made an error in a close game.
Some AL team with a DH need will sign schwarber to a multi year deal.
Because they needed his bat in the lineup and Kike was playing elite defense in CF so they didn’t move him back to 2B.
As for Klesko, he came through the minors as a First Baseman but was moved to LF because the Braves had Fred McGriff at 1B so it wasn’t completely foreign to him
Citizen – Simple. Cora is an idiot and the worst manager in baseball. But if you think about it, why did Bloom not get a big time hitter until he got Schwarber? He’s an idiot too. You don’t get a 3rd DH at the deadline. You get something the team actually needs!!
I agree that some AL team with a DH need will sign both Schwarber and JD if he opts out because there are several teams that could use an upgrade at DH. Toronto, Chicago White Sox and Seattle are the leading candidates.
No, Dave Roberts is the worst manager in baseball.
Highest payroll, 1 ws win (suspect questionable win in short season) burns out starters chasing the giants, injured and worn out starters in the playoffs. Even a healthy dodgers squad didn’t win the ws.
Robert’s micro managed his pitching staff, but the players still have to play the game. Dave Roberts is a Dodger for life. He bleeds blue just like Tommy Lasorda. And he’s a pretty good manager. He will learn from his mistakes during the playoffs.
citizen – I like how you think!! Let’s be fair. Roberts is the idol of Cora so that makes Cora not as qualified as Roberts so at best Roberts can only be #2 worst manager!! I actually believe it’s a triumvirate at the top of the bad manager rankings. Cora, Boone and Roberts. The irony is that the press all rave about them which is an indictment to the lack of knowledge in baseball reporting.
Also, Roberts will always be less bad than Cora because of the whole Millar hit Roberts SB Red Sox win thing.
This dude would be a great fit for the Mariners. Impact bat for LF or would solidify the DH spot.
I wanted him when the Cubs Non-Tendered him last year, and I still want him.
… don’t look now… this team is will desappear in 5…4…3…2….1 …….(again)!!!
Inside info has him going to the Phils sorry Muts fans you should be used to rejection by now.
Bob333 – What OF or IF position would Schwarber play in Philly? No DH as of now. If the universal DH happens then it makes sense. They have Harper in Right Field so that just leaves Schwarber to play LF instead of Herrera or maybe Herrera moves to CF and Jankowski sits. Also, wouldn’t Castellanos make more sense?
I have just read that Herrera’s option will not be picked up. So Schwarber in LF is what you must be hearing. That seems like an odd choice considering all the other options available. Universal DH makes the most sense otherwise Schwarber should be going to the AL. Anyone who has watched him play OF or 1B knows he’s a DH.