👋 Good morning! We needed some good news in Philadelphia.
I filled in on Cuz’s show yesterday (flex) and we talked mostly about that bummer of an Eagles loss. The ever-upbeat Brandon Graham’s appearance made me feel a little better, but for the most part, that was not an enjoyable one to discuss. We needed some good news.
And then at the end, lo and behold, we got our good news. Thank you, John Middleton.
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Let’s talk about that good news. As always, you can reach me at [email protected]
Suck it, Cincy!
Kyle Schwarber is coming back to Philadelphia for five years and $150 million. And most importantly, he gets to keep his Wawa and auto insurance sponsorships. He probably does not even need to film new commercials, either. You just cannot put a price on that.
For a guy who just signed for $30 million per year on the open market in an uncapped sport, this really was a stress-free free agency from the Phillies fan’s perspective. Following most of the reporting, we more or less heard two things:
Schwarber was going to be among the first major free agents to sign, among the first dominoes to fall.
Schwarber was very likely headed back to the Phillies.
Outside of Toronto and Dylan Cease getting their deal done before anyone else, that is exactly what happened! #AsExpected as #AsExpected gets, at least for these types of major transactions.
The slop that was coming of the NL Central was so halfhearted that it was hard to think it even registered on Dave Dombrowski and John Middleton’s radar. Pittsburgh offered four years and $120 million. Cincinnati offered five years and $125 million, but they were only gonna pursue Schwarber because, according to Ken Rosenthal, their offer “was tied to their belief that his addition would help drive ticket sales.” That is some mom-and-pop type of thinking, which made me immediately think back to Greg Schwarber throwing out the first pitch there in August. Sign any good players and you will get people to the ballpark!
Rosenthal also reported that it was the Baltimore Orioles who came to Schwarber with five years and $150 million. It sounds like the Phillies might have told Schwarber’s representation to find the best offer on the open market and bring it back to them, with this whole process essentially functioning like restricted free agency because Schwarber wanted to stay. Well, he is staying because the Phillies matched that Orioles offer. As everyone thought.
Here is your Schwarber #content from PHLY, Tyler and Jamie with the emergency pod and Jimmy Steaks with the written word.
What an awesome story. This is a guy who got non-tendered by the Cubs after the 2020 season, when he had a .701 OPS. I always write about how the pandemic was quietly beneficial for the Sixers, because they were able to draft Tyrese Maxey 21st in a year that he very well might have been one of the stars of March Madness. But maybe it was good to the Phillies, too? Schwarber had a terrible 2020 during that weird Covid season, signed a one-year-deal, bounced back in a big way in 2021 and then signed with the Phillies.
And then Schwarber bet on himself and had one of better walk years you will see. In fact, put that baby in The Walk Year Hall of Fame. The Phillies might have had the right to match, but he was not coming cheap.
I kind of look at this in three ways…
(1) The leadership component: By all accounts, Schwarber is the unquestioned leader in that clubhouse. Unlike myself, who will be pressing The Panic Button if the Phillies have a .500 record on April 15th, he is a very even-keeled personality. That is an important quality in that sport, and both his and Rob Thomson’s steadiness feel like a net positive for this franchise.
There are stories about Schwarber meeting a variety of teammates where they are, perhaps because he was not always the superstar. But Schwarber is also front-and-center with the fellas crushing beers and screaming inside jokes in those locker-room celebrations. A great teammate, by all accounts.
In that sense, a guy you do not want to lose. But more importantly, a bat that you simply do not want to lose…
(2) The baseball component: So, five years and $150 million, eh? That is an unprecedented sum for a designated hitter, but then again, the Phillies were not the only team in this ballpark for Schwarber. I liked how Tyler put it here: DH might not be a premium position, but the Phillies have a premium player at that position.
For this year’s team, $30 million puts the Phillies at $289 million when adding in the luxury tax payments according to FanGraphs. If we factor in two-years and $30 million for J.T. Realmuto — MLB Trade Rumors’ projected salary for Realmuto, combined with Dombrowski’s optimism about re-signing the catcher — you are already getting pretty darn close to where you were last season.
Are these just gonna be The Run It Back Phillies?
Tyler and Jamie want a right-handed power bat, Cuz is dying for a right-handed power bat. I agree with them in theory, because Alec Bohm hitting cleanup is not a great place to be. That said, I am a little skeptical that the Phillies are gonna acquire the righty power bat that everyone wants. Their best answer last season was to sign Max Kepler, who is not even a righty! But we will see.
That is just the present. It’s a no-brainer to keep Schwarber for 2026. But what about 2030 (that is, if MLB and the MLBPA are still not locked out in 2030)?
Well, I am not gonna pretend like there is not risk handing out five years to a player who turns 33 during spring training. That said, three quick reasons why I am reasonably optimistic about Schwarber aging decently…
Designated hitters often buck the aging curve. And that makes sense, they do not have to play the field! David Ortiz and Edgar Martinez were monsters until they were 40, with some truly crazy seasons in their mid-30s. Those are two all-timers, sure, but I do not think Schwarber is that far off.
The indicators are pretty good. When you are an older player, two of the things you worry about decreasing are your bat speed and how hard you hit the ball. Does Schwarber look like a guy who is gonna lose those two things easily? That dude is built to swing the bat hard. And if you want some actual data to back all of this up, Schwarber ranked in the 98th percentile of all MLB hitters in both bat speed and average exit velocity at 32. Those things can fall off a little bit and he will still be fine.
Schwarber actually got better at baseball over these last four years. Remember how frustrating he used to be in April and May? Remember him hitting .197 a few years ago, when The Kyle Schwarber Leadoff Wars were at their fiercest? Schwarber is such a better hitter than when he first signed here in 2022. The stuff he did against lefties this year was incredible.
Handing out five years to a 38-year-old comes with risk, no question. But I am more worried about, say, Bryce Harper aging than Kyle Schwarber aging.
(3) The legacy part: Combine the two contracts and Schwarber has signed for nine years and $229 million. And if he plays nine years in Philly, well, that would be incredible for a free-agent signing. Schwarber could go to Cooperstown one day, and it would be as a Phillie. Dare to dream, right?
There are milestones to reach. Schwarber has 340 career homers, and he could hit No. 500 in Philly. Schwarber also has 187 homers as a Phillie. Keep up that pace, and he could threaten Ryan Howard for second all-time as a Phillie.
But more than anything? I watch 100-something Phillies games per year and go to 10-15 Phillies games per year. And that is a much, much more enjoyable experience with Kyle Schwarber at the top of the lineup. Just because it was expected does not mean it was not important.
The Eagles links: We will keep it short and sweet with the Birds today, but a I did want to touch on a few things.
Two takeaways from Fran’s in-person grabbies, which feature the best telestrator work that we have seen since Mike Fratello…
I was happy to see that there were some more modern, deep passing concepts in the game plan. It felt that way on first watch, but Fran confirmed so on the All-22. If that is what Nick Sirianni cooked up this week, then by all means, stay involved Nick.
Man, Jalen Hurts was dreadful. The turn-down to DeVonta Smith in the red zone here, which he was looking right at, might have been the most upsetting Jalen play of the night… which is wild, because he threw four picks.
The elephant in the room: It was not much more than a murmur from the Eagles fan base, but no, you cannot turn to an unproven Tanner McKee. The world’s biggest Tanner McKee fan even said so last night.
Would I be interested in watching an alternate universe where Tanner McKee is coordinating this Eagles offense? Sure, but here on Earth, Jalen Hurts won the Super Bowl last season and is one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the sport. If you bench him, like the Eagles benched Carson Wentz for him in 2020, you are signaling that you are done with Hurts as the starting quarterback of this franchise. And we are not even close to that point.
As Bo said, you gotta ride the wave. 🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
Nice pieces from EJ and Les for your reading pleasure…
Flyers 4, San Jose 1: The Sharks are one of those teams that have taken the opposite tack from the Flyers in terms of their rebuild. They have acquired MCW Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and some other blue-chip young talent through their multiple tanks, and who knows, they very well might be better off in the long run because of it.
But the Sharks stink right now. The Flyers were outshooting them 10-0 at the beginning of this game, and the Sharks then scored on their first shot attempt. Deflating? Perhaps, but not enough for the Orange and Black to turn around and bury them the rest of the game.
Good night for the Zegras-Dvorak-Konecny line. Two points each for the latter two, as Travis Konecny got his 500th point. I thought Charlie made some really good points here about Christian Dvorak, who has been good and maybe even worth that $5.4 million balloon contract… but also is someone the Flyers probably should not re-sign if they ever want to see these forwards in the pipeline.
Shoutout to Dan Vladar, who did make some really good saves in the first period. Every one of the few early Sharks shots felt like it was randomly a high-quality chance, and he turned all but one of them away.
Rob Thomson, extended: Very funny graphic.
Teams and managers/coaches usually like to avoid lame-duck status in all sports. So, I would not read into this all that much.
It does sound like Don Mattingly will be The All-Important Bench Coach. And speaking of The Mattinglys…
“A change of scenery”: That is how Preston Mattingly put it, when asked about Nick Castellanos. Now, will the Phillies be all that successful in doing so? Probably not.
Up in Queens: Remember when I said that Kyle Schwarber was in The Walk Year Hall of Fame? Well, Devin Williams was not. Williams, who was an incredible reliever in Milwaukee for five straight seasons, was a disaster for the Yankees last year. But “The Periphs” were still pretty good, so his old boss David Stearns decided to pay Williams three years and $51 million.
But now Edwin Diaz is in Los Angeles for three years and $69 million, which apparently includes about $4.5 million in deferred money each season. It’s nice to be the Dodgers. And it seems like there were some hard feelings on the way out. Stearns is hearing it from New York radio right now!
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Nothing game-wise today. Maybe we get a J.T. signing?
Your tentative Wednesday schedule at PHLY:
🎙️ The Anthony Gargano Show: 9:00 a.m.
⚾ Phillies: 12:00 p.m.
🦅 Eagles: 2:00 p.m.
🏒 Flyers: 4:00 p.m.
🦅 Cheap Seats: 7:00 p.m.
Let’s make it a good one.
Rich Hofmann
Daily Newsletter Editor
PHLY SPORTS
