Red Sox Free Agency: The Case Against Signing Kyle Schwarber

[Alex Mayes]

The Boston Red Sox don’t need to sign Kyle Schwarber. I hate saying that—I wrote back in early October that the Red Sox needed to add a middle-of-the-order slugger this offseason and I highlighted Schwarber specifically, but that was more of a knee-jerk reaction to the situation than anything else. Schwarber means a lot to Boston even though he only spent half a season with the organization in 2021. He took on the ‘Kyle from Waltham’ persona with grace and embraced the city in a way that few other trade additions have in recent memory. Had the Red Sox made him a competitive offer after the '21 season, we likely wouldn’t be having this conversation and he would be well on his way to establishing himself as another impact DH like David Ortiz and J.D. Martinez before him.

That didn’t happen though, and Schwarber has been hitting dingers for the Phillies since 2022. His power would be welcome in Boston, but his lack of positional adaptability makes him an even more imperfect option than Masataka Yoshida, and that’s saying something. Schwarber doesn’t fix the first base problem, even though he’s logged some innings there in the past. Playing him in the outfield further complicates things in an already extremely crowded player group that, for some reason, just added Kristian Campbell as a potential option as well. To put it frankly, he’s a terrible defender and would only be signed as a power-hitting DH.

The are a couple of offensive knocks against Schwarber too, despite his prodigious pop. First, his strikeout percentage is awful. In 2025, he registered a 27.2% strikeout rate, which ranked in the 11th percentile. The Red Sox are a strikeout-heavy team as it is; they registered a 22.9% strikeout rate as a team, the tenth-most in all of baseball. Adding Schwarber, who strikes out almost 5% more than the team as a whole, puts even more swing and miss in the batter’s box. This team can ill-afford to have that when they struggle to score runs for multiple games. Streakiness can be survived during the regular season, but a cold stretch in October means an early vacation.

To go along with his high strikeout rate, Schwarber’s whiff percentage came in at 33.1% in 2025, good for the fifth percentile league-wide. He’s taking hacks, but he’s missing a ton. Yes, when he makes contact it often goes quite far, but he’s got holes in his swing that will be exploited by the AL East’s top pitchers next season. He's averaged more than 200 strikeouts per year over the past four seasons, leading the NL in that category in both 2022 and 2023.

Finally, Schwarber is left-handed. I’m not saying this is the reason the Red Sox won’t be in on him, but a lot was made out of the fact that this team was dominated by left-handed hitters over the last couple of seasons. They already have Triston Casas coming back into the fold and they could bring Nathaniel Lowe back to platoon at first base as well. It’s entirely possible that Schwarber could be the type of left-handed hitter capable of taking aim at the Green Monster in the opposite field like so many other great lefties that have played for this team. Even then, that money is better spent elsewhere, like on someone who could take over first base on a full-time basis (or, ideally, play second or third base).

This team is so close to being a powerhouse in the American League. With just a couple of additions, the Red Sox can serve as a serious challenger in the AL East. Adding Schwarber provides pop, no doubt. But his red flags are too similar to that of the current core's; adding someone who can balance the scales would be a better bet from the front office this offseason.

View full article

[moonslav59]

I never have an issue with high K rates, if the guy gets on base. This guy does that, and oh yea, he hits a few bombs, too.

2024-2025

.365 OBP (12th in MLB)

.525 SLG (6th- just behind another target: K Marte)

.890 OPS (7th) 7th in wRC+ as well

.281 ISO (4th)

He's also had 669 or more PAs for 4 straight years.

I'm okay playing him at 1B for a big chunk of games, since Casas is the worst defensive 1Bman in MLB.

We need a big bat badly. To me, I rank the big bats that are or might be available as such:

1. Schwarber

2. K Marte

3. Alosno

4. Suarez (higher ISO than Alonso & K Marte '24-25)

Gap....

B Lowe, Polanco, Bregman 

Gap.... (some w/o much HR power)

W Contreras, Bichette, Hoskins, O'Hearn, Y Diaz

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I never have an issue with high K rates, if the guy gets on base. This guy does that, and oh yea, he hits a few bombs, too.

2024-2025

.365 OBP (12th in MLB)

.525 SLG (6th- just behind another target: K Marte)

.890 OPS (7th) 7th in wRC+ as well

.281 ISO (4th)

He's also had 669 or more PAs for 4 straight years.

I'm okay playing him at 1B for a big chunk of games, since Casas is the worst defensive 1Bman in MLB.

We need a big bat badly. To me, I rank the big bats that are or might be available as such:

1. Schwarber

2. K Marte

3. Alosno

4. Suarez (higher ISO than Alonso & K Marte '24-25)

Gap....

B Lowe, Polanco, Bregman 

Gap.... (some w/o much HR power)

W Contreras, Bichette, Hoskins, O'Hearn, Y Diaz

We need a big bat badly.? You mean like the guy you touted over, and over, and over again Devers Forevers. The guy who could have, and most likely would have helped  against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in the postseason. A BIG no on Flintstone at 1B also.

[moonslav59]

32 minutes ago, Old Red said:

We need a big bat badly.? You mean like the guy you touted over, and over, and over again Devers Forevers. The guy who could have, and most likely would have helped  against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium in the postseason. A BIG no on Flintstone at 1B also.

Yes! I wish we still had Devers. I'd be ranting about needing a SP2 and a decent bat at 3B, but not for a big bat badly.

I'd prefer to not have Schwarber at 1B. I'd prefer we trade Masa rather than play him in LF, so Schwarber can DH.

[mvp 78]

I like Schwarber. I wish they would have added him before '22. The move just doesn't work with how the roster is currently created and the payroll issues they have.

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I like Schwarber. I wish they would have added him before '22. The move just doesn't work with how the roster is currently created and the payroll issues they have.

If Alonso is not much better on defense as Schwarber, would you say the same of him?

[moonslav59]

As for Schwarber's high K rate, who cares when he is also top 7 in BB%.

He's got pop (4th in ISO and SLG) and 7th in Walks. (3rd in BB% '24-'25.)

We could certainly use his bat, but trading Masa is near impossible, and playing him in LF is scary as hell, and probably means trading 2 of our 4 OF'ers.

[mvp 78]

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If Alonso is not much better on defense as Schwarber, would you say the same of him?

Alonso IS much better than Schwarber at defense. 

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Alonso IS much better than Schwarber at defense. 

He's horrible, so is Casas. Worse than horrible is possible, but is it a big deal breaker?

[mvp 78]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

He's horrible, so is Casas. Worse than horrible is possible, but is it a big deal breaker?

Yes, the Red Sox have been at the bottom of MLB in errors every year. They can't go backwards with their defense if they are serious about contending going forward.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Yes, the Red Sox have been at the bottom of MLB in errors every year. They can't go backwards with their defense if they are serious about contending going forward.

If we got forward on offense by a major leep, going backwards from horrible at 1B to slightly more horrible is not going to hurt our chances.

Schwarber would still DH some and eventually would move there FT, once Masa is gone.

[notin]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If we got forward on offense by a major leep, going backwards from horrible at 1B to slightly more horrible is not going to hurt our chances.

Schwarber would still DH some and eventually would move there FT, once Masa is gone.

Whats the advantage of Schwarber over Alonso?

Both players come with impeccable durability.  Schwarber played 150 games in 2024, which is the lowest total either played in the last 3 seasons. 
 

Schwarber’s OPS+ over the last 3 years is 135.  Alonso’s  is right there at 130.

Alonso bats right-handed, which the Sox could use, actually plays 1b, and is a year younger.  
 

So is Schwarber’s slight offensive advantage enough to offset that Alonso actually fills more voids (right-handed power, plays 1b)?

[mvp 78]

20 minutes ago, notin said:

Whats the advantage of Schwarber over Alonso?

Both players come with impeccable durability.  Schwarber played 150 games in 2024, which is the lowest total either played in the last 3 seasons. 
 

Schwarber’s OPS+ over the last 3 years is 135.  Alonso’s  is right there at 130.

Alonso bats right-handed, which the Sox could use, actually plays 1b, and is a year younger.  
 

So is Schwarber’s slight offensive advantage enough to offset that Alonso actually fills more voids (right-handed power, plays 1b)?

Schwarber's swing is also tailor made for Citizens Bank Park (31.1% pull AIR, 128 LHB HR park factor). It wouldn't work as well at Fenway (87 park factor). 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Whats the advantage of Schwarber over Alonso?

Both players come with impeccable durability.  Schwarber played 150 games in 2024, which is the lowest total either played in the last 3 seasons. 
 

Schwarber’s OPS+ over the last 3 years is 135.  Alonso’s  is right there at 130.

Alonso bats right-handed, which the Sox could use, actually plays 1b, and is a year younger.  
 

So is Schwarber’s slight offensive advantage enough to offset that Alonso actually fills more voids (right-handed power, plays 1b)?

I like Alonso, Schwarber and K Marte about the same. Getting two would be mind-blowing (and near impossible.)

Alonso's "ability" to play 1B is not all that big of a plus. He might be as bad as Casas on D, so that aspect is not really a plus, especially if Casas returns to form. One would need to DH, anyway, as Schwarber will likely do, if we added him.

The RHB is a big plus, but KMarte is a switch hitter and would check that box, too. I don't see Bregman or Bichette as the big RHBs we need, so Schwarber plus one of them does not really check of the big RHB box on our winter wish list. I get that.

Schwarber's age (will be 33) is also a bigger concern over KMarte (32) and Alonso (31) but he might take 4 years over the 5 KMarte has or 5+ Alonso might get. I'm not sure the age issue goes away, if KS takes 4 years.

To me, we really need one of these 3. Getting Alonso plus KMarte would be amazing, especially if we can also add a solid #2 SP'er.