Kyle Schwarber is staying with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreeing on Tuesday to a US$150 million, five-year contract, while closer Edwin Diaz has agreed to a US$69 million, three-year contract with World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers, a person familiar with the negotiations said.
Schwarber set career bests this year with a National League-leading 56 homers and a major league-high 132 RBIs along with a .240 batting average and .928 OPS. He scored a career-high 111 runs as he led the club to its second straight National League East title.
Schwarber’s 23 homers against left-handed pitching set a major league record for a lefty batter, surpassing 22 by Stan Musial in 1949 and Matt Olson in 2021.
Photo: AP
“The body’s gotten better over time,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier on Tuesday. “He’s in the best shape of his life right now, and I don’t think that that’s going to change. He’s so intelligent. He sees the game a little bit different than a lot of other guys, and he works at it, watches a lot of film.”
Schwarber won this year’s All-Star Game for the National League with three homers in a tiebreaking swing-off, and he finished second in National League Most Valuable Player voting behind Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani.
The 32-year-old Schwarber last month rejected a US$22,025,000 qualifying offer from Philadelphia.
Photo: AP
The Phillies are also focused on retaining others among their players who became free agents, a group that includes catcher J.T. Realmuto, left-hander Ranger Suarez and outfielder Harrison Bader.
Meanwhile, New York Mets fans vented their anger after learning that All-Star closer Diaz had agreed to a deal with the Dodgers, who already owe US$1.051 billion in deferred pay to eight players from 2028-2046.
The deal, which would take the 31-year-old right-hander from Queens to the two-time defending World Series champions in Los Angeles, was widely seen by fans as a case of the big-spending Dodgers further consolidating their advantage.
Mets president of baseball operations “David Stearns should be fired over this, that’s how bad this is,” said Justin Morelli, a native New Yorker and host of the ShotClock Show.
He called the decision especially damaging given the Mets’ stated “win-now” posture after last year’s record 15-year, US$765-million contract for slugger Juan Soto and a narrow miss of the post-season.
“You collapse at the end of last year,” Morelli said. “You’re trying to bring hope to this franchise and their fans and make them think this year is going to be different, and you don’t re-sign the best closer in baseball for this contract? You let him walk out the door to the team that just won the World Series? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
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