Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber finished second to superstar Shohei Ohtani in the National League MVP voting this year. On the strength of his league-leading 56 home runs and 132 RBIs and leading the Phillies to their second straight division title, he would have captured his first MVP Award if not for Ohtani. Instead, the Japanese two-way player was the unanimous first-place vote-getter.

Schwarber is entering free agency this winter, after finishing his fourth year of his Phillies contract. He’s no spring chicken, at age 32 this season. Yet a team that needs a dependable slugger to fill out their starting lineup would do well to consider Schwarber.

Although he was not a prototypical leadoff batter, Schwarber was put in that role by the Phillies for most of 2022 through 2024. But he was really a slugger posing as a leadoff hitter, a role traditionally filled by players who can get on base with a single or a walk and steal a base to get into scoring position for a follow-up batter. Schwarber was no Rickey Henderson. He was more likely to hit a home run or strike out. His only saving grace was that he walked a lot, too.

In 2025, the lumbering left-handed hitter was moved to the No. 2 spot in the Phillies lineup and his production increased even more. Throughout Schwarber’s four years, the Phillies had the luxury of putting him at or near the top of the batting order. Bryce Harper and others filled middle-of-the-order spots.

So, whether a team is looking for a productive leadoff hitter, a No. 2 hole hitter, or a cleanup guy, Schwarber could fill any of those, and the team would get an MVP-caliber player. It is not certain the Phillies are out of consideration for being one of those teams. The main question will be how long of a contract Schwarber is seeking. If he is content with another four-year term, I think the Phillies will compete hard to retain him. If he is looking for a contract to take him to age 40, then that would likely eliminate some of the contenders for his services, including the Phillies.

I think the other teams that can use Schwarber’s bat include San Francisco, Texas, Boston, and the Chicago Cubs, Schwarber’s first major-league club.

He would be a solid replacement for Cubs all-star Kyle Tucker, who is likely taking his services elsewhere as a free agent. Schwarber remains a hero within Cubs Nation. He missed all but two games of the regular season in 2016 due to injury. However, he returned for the World Series to help the Cubs win their first world championship since 1908. Schwarber was the World Series MVP.