The Phillies’ latest early exit has already sparked a familiar kind of offseason noise, and this time the names floating into the conversation are two of the biggest bats in the sport: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
Philadelphia was bounced again, this time by the Atlanta Braves in a 2-1 Wild Card Series. That came after a run of recent playoff frustration that has kept piling up.
The Phillies have not won a postseason series since 2023, when they got past Atlanta in the National League Division Series before falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series. Arizona then lost the World Series to the Texas Rangers.
Philadelphia was also knocked out by the New York Mets in the 2024 NLDS and by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2025 NLDS.
Now the question is whether the Phillies are headed toward bigger changes. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal wrote that president Dave Dombrowski has “some massive decisions to make,” and “even Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber should be on the table.”
If that really becomes the case, the Rangers ought to be paying attention.
Texas needs offense, and it needs a lot of it. The club finished 25th in runs with 673, 20th in OPS at .713, and 21st in strikeouts with 1,389. A hitter like Schwarber or Harper would immediately change the look of that lineup.
Of course, the money makes this complicated. The Rangers have cut payroll sharply since winning the World Series in 2023, and adding another expensive veteran does not exactly fit the way they’ve been operating. Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young also said he wants Texas to get “ younger and more athletic.”
Even so, there’s a case for at least exploring the idea if Philadelphia truly makes either player available. Joc Pederson is set to become a free agent, which would create a path to fit Schwarber or Harper into the roster.
The contracts are hefty. Schwarber is owed $33 million per year through 2030, while Harper is owed $27,538,462 per year through 2031. There’s another hurdle too: both players have full no-trade clauses, so either one would have to approve a move to Texas.
Schwarber, 33, hit .232/.354/.503 with 45 home runs and 97 RBI. He served primarily as a DH, though he also saw time at first base.
Harper, also 33, finished at .269/.380/.485 with 29 home runs and 87 RBI in 162 games. He can handle first base and the corner outfield, and he remains a two-time MVP and likely future Hall of Famer.
Ultimately, this comes down to what the Rangers want to be. The AL West is wide open, and the big contracts already on the books for Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom, and Nathan Eovaldi make it hard to see Texas clearing enough space to reinvent itself.
That leaves contending as the most logical path, and chasing one of Philadelphia’s sluggers would be the kind of aggressive move that fits that approach. The real question is whether Ray Davis would be willing to spend at that level.
That may be the thing that shuts the whole idea down.
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