Kyle Schwarber Details Short-Lived Interest From Struggling AL Team
Philadelphia Philliesdesignated hitterKyle Schwarber is putting together an impressive 2026 MLB season. In 157 at-bats, the slugger has accumulated 36 hits, 17 home runs, 28 RBIs and 29 runs scored. Going into the Phillies Wednesday matchup against the Boston Red Sox, he is slashing .229/.356/.611 with a .967 OPS.
He's proving to be a worthy investment for Philadelphia, which signed him to a five-year, $150 million contract this past offseason. While he ultimately returned to the same team he'd spent the past four seasons, the free agent was weighing other options.
In fact, when speaking to Alex Speier of The Boston Globe, Schwarber revealed the Red Sox had shown a small amount of interest during free agency.
"We had the phone call, the Zoom, whatever it is," the three-time All-Star told Speier. "There was a conversation. [The Sox' pursuit] kind of just started and ended with the conversation."
After going 89-73 during 2025 and making the postseason for just the third time under manager Alex Cora, Boston was hoping to replicate their success. However, they've struggled in 2026, sitting at 17-24 and in fifth place in the American League East.
They even fired Cora following their 10-17 start. While Schwarber may not have fixed all of their issues, the Red Sox would have benefited from his offensive success. Through 41 games, Boston is tied for 23rd in hits (322), ranks 29th in home runs (29), 27th in RBIs (150), 27th in runs scored (157) and 28th in OPS (.664)
It's not as though Schwarber isn't familiar with the Red Sox either. He played 41 games for Boston during the 2021 season after being acquired from the Washington Nationals. Despite that, though, the Red Sox's interest never progressed beyond that conversation.
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This story was originally published May 13, 2026 at 11:11 AM.