The Philadelphia Phillies have had a strong season this year. They are five games up on the New York Mets in the NL East entering play on Friday and are 69-52. That's good for the second-best record in the National League, and they are tied for that mark with the San Diego Padres. They have a few questions to answer this offseason though.
Designated hitter and slugger Kyle Schwarber is going to be a free agent, and he will come at a high price. That shouldn't be a major issue for the Phillies, who are a big-market team.
Other teams that could potentially be in the mix might include the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees. But the Phillies might have the advantage in the sweepstakes for one major reason.
Phillies may have huge advantage in Kyle Schwarber sweepstakes
The reason Philadelphia might have a huge advantage over other big-market teams is that those three teams already have guys entrenched at the designated hitter spot. The Dodgers aren't going to move Shohei Ohtani out of that spot, the Yankees have Giancarlo Stanton, whose money they're saddled with, and the Cubs have Seiya Suzuki.
Of course, it's always possible a player could move to a different spot, including Schwarber. But because of this reason, Philadelphia would appear to have a major advantage. Dave Dombrowski is a big spender a lot of the time, and he shouldn't have any trouble at least making a competitive offer to the three-time All-Star.
The only real issue that might present itself is that they are stuck with the money owed to Nick Castellanos.
Schwarber is a former Silver Slugger, 2016 World Series champion and All-Star Game MVP. He'll certainly cost a lot of money, but the 32-year-old slugger would be worth every penny.
He is hitting .249/.371/.577 with 42 home runs, 98 RBI, a 3.9 WAR, a .948 OPS and a 155 OPS+. He brings power from the left side of the plate and can even be used in the outfield if need be. But he has done well in Philadelphia, and it would be safe to assume that the Phillies want him back in town for the foreseeable future.
It will certainly be interesting to see how his free agency plays out, but expect the Phillies to be major players for the veteran slugger as they try to remain competitive in 2026.