Kyle Schwarber, the National League home run leader, has caught mutual interest with the Cincinnati Reds, even surpassing Shohei Ohtani in home runs.

Kyle Schwarber, the National League home run leader from the Philadelphia Phillies, entered free agency during the offseason, and his next team is highly anticipated. On the 6th, media reported mutual interest between him and the Cincinnati Reds, with both parties evaluating the possibility of a deal.

Before the 2022 season, Schwarber agreed to a four-year, $79 million deal with the Phillies. Throughout the contract, he remained healthy and played at least 150 games each year, hitting a total of 187 homers and driving in 434 RBIs over four seasons. In the current contract year, he delivered an outstanding performance with 56 home runs and 132 RBIs in a single season, earning both the National League home run and RBI titles, surpassing even the two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers in home run numbers.

After this season, Schwarber’s contract expires, making him a free agent once again, with the potential to secure the most lucrative deal of his career.

Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic shared on a show today that Schwarber appears to have mutual interest with the Reds; the player is interested in joining, and the team is eager to acquire him. However, he emphasized: “Although Schwarber greatly enjoys playing for the Phillies, he would likely be interested in the Reds as well. Still, in free agency, emotions rarely determine the outcome—money is the key factor, and it’s hard to imagine the Reds offering a sufficiently competitive contract.”

The Reds finished this season with 83 wins and made the playoffs but were eliminated by the Dodgers in the Wild Card series. As a small-market team, their overall payroll ranks near the bottom of the league, with only Brady Singer earning over $10 million annually on the roster.