Cincinnati's pursuit of the slugger shows they were serious, but Schwarber's heart was set on Philadelphia.
When the Cincinnati Reds went after Kyle Schwarber this offseason, they didn't just dip their toes in the water, as they were ready to do whatever it took to bring the Middletown, Ohio native back home.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Reds were willing to go above and beyond to land the powerful designated hitter, but Schwarber wasn't having any of it.
"Cincinnati Reds were in serious pursuit, with the Reds even willing to offer more until Schwarber told them it wasn't necessary," Nightengale wrote.
The Reds' Reported Offer
Nightengale reported that the Reds were prepared to match Baltimore and Philadelphia's five-year, $150 million offer, and they even told Schwarber they would up the ante if needed.
The Pirates had offered a four-year, $120 million package, but Cincinnati was willing to beat that number by a wide margin.
In the end, it didn't matter how much money the Reds threw at him because Schwarber simply wanted to stay in Philadelphia, where he signed a five-year, $150 million deal to remain with the Phillies.
The Phillies went 96-66 in 2025 and won the NL East title before falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS.
Schwarber was a huge part of that success, as he led the National League with 56 home runs and drove in 132 runs while posting a .240/.365/.563 slash line with an OPS of .928, which put him in the top ten in baseball.
The 32-year-old finished as the runner-up in NL MVP voting behind Shohei Ohtani, and he has now hit at least 46 home runs in three of his four seasons with Philadelphia.
How the Reds' Offseason Is Going
The Reds finished 83-79 in 2025, which was good enough for third place in the NL Central and a Wild Card berth, though they were quickly swept by the Dodgers in the first round.
Missing out on Schwarber stung, especially since he grew up about 30 minutes outside of Cincinnati and was a childhood Reds fan.
ESPN's Jeff Passan and Jesse Rogers both called the Reds the biggest losers of the 2025 Winter Meetings because of the failed Schwarber pursuit.
Since then, Cincinnati has made some smaller moves to try and improve their roster heading into 2026.
They re-signed closer Emilio Pagan to a two-year, $20 million deal after he saved 32 games in 2025, and they added lefty reliever Caleb Ferguson on a one-year contract to shore up the bullpen.
The Reds also signed outfielder JJ Bleday, but they still haven't found the big power bat they were hoping Schwarber would provide.
With young stars like Elly De La Cruz, Hunter Greene, and Sal Stewart under control for the foreseeable future, the Reds have pieces to build around, but their inability to land a marquee free agent like Schwarber shows the challenges of being a small-market team trying to compete with bigger spenders.
For now, Cincinnati will have to get creative through trades and hope their young core can take another step forward in 2026.