The Cincinnati Reds have the chance to create quite a free agent homecoming.
Kyle Schwarber is available after a 56-homer season with the Phillies, and the Reds are expected to be in the picture.
MLB.com's Mark Feinsand lists the Reds as one of the three best fits for Schwarber, along with the Phillies and Rangers.
"Players entering their age-33 season don’t tend to find themselves this high on the list, but Schwarber is an exception," Feinsand writes. "His plus power helped him lead the National League with 56 home runs and 132 RBIs while playing in all 162 games, setting a career-high in bWAR (4.7) and fWAR (4.9). Schwarber can play left field on occasion, but he’s essentially a full-time DH who will make any lineup better immediately upon arrival."
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Schwarber is a local kid, having grown up less than an hour away from Great American Ballpark.
Earlier this season, Schwarber actually caught two ceremonial first pitches as a visiting player in Cincy as the Reds had his dad and his youth baseball coach throw them out at a Reds game against the Phillies.
Schwarber attended Middletown High School in southern Ohio before starring at Indiana University.
The Cubs took him No. 4 overall in 2014. He spent six seasons in Chicago, then a half-season each with Washington and Boston, before these last four seasons with the Phillies.
The Reds clearly want his next stop to be Cincinnati. And if they open their checkbooks, they might get some of those Schwarber home runs for themselves.
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