THE REDS CANNOT HIT THE LONG BALL
The Cincinnati Reds need a power bat. They finished 21st in the league with just 167 total home runs. When you are playing in the hitter friendly Great American Ballpark this simply cannot happen. Elly De La Cruz led the team with just 22 home runs. Spencer Steer was the only other Red to hit over 20 long flies in 2025.
Use code “NATISPORTS” to save $20 off your tickets!
These numbers made it extremely difficult for Cincinnati to score runs in big situations or get big plays with runners in scoring position. For comparison only, the World Champion Dodgers hit 244 home runs last season. While it’s not realistic to expect similar production it is informative to see just what a team like the Reds would have to do in order to compete with the best of the best in Major League Baseball.
WHO COULD SOLVE THE REDS’ PROBLEMS?
There is one major move the Reds could make to address this glaring need. That is to make a real run at signing free agent Kyle Schwarber. This season he set career-highs in home runs (56) and RBIs (132) and was an NL MVP finalist.
But make no mistake it is a long shot. He’s expected to fetch a deal worth either three years for $115 million ($38.3 AAV), four years for $128 million ($32 AAV) or five years for $135 million ($27 AAV). That is an absolute king’s ransom. It’s a high price to pay for a 33-year-old hitter who is limited to a role as a designated hitter. He’s already received a qualifying offer from the Phillies for $22 million. He’s widely expected not to accept it but to seek a multi year big money deal on the free agent market. From the Reds perspective, it would be massively expensive but there is little doubt that if we could pull it off it would be money well spent. But just how likely is it?
HOW REALISTIC IS IT FOR THE REDS TO SIGN SCHWARBER?
It seems as though the Reds front office has already told the fans to pump the brakes on any big free agent aspirations next year. We’ve been told that the team’s “2026 payroll will be around the same as our payroll from 2025,” according to president of baseball operations Nick Krall. While that’s not necessarily a cause for a lot of optimism, it is still extremely early in the offseason.
If Schwarber were to express an interest in returning to his hometown, it would be extremely hard for the Reds to turn down. We all remember so fondly what it felt like to have a native son return when Ken Griffey Jr. did so in 2000 as part of a massive trade. Let’s remember that Schwarber hit 34 more home runs than the Reds’ best power bat. That kind of pop could instantly revitalize our lineup and give us the solution to a huge missing piece to make a playoff push.
But as always with the Reds it will come down to just how much money they even have to spend on top tier talent. They would likely have to break the bank and go all in to sign a player of Schwarber’s caliber. But they do have a good chunk of their pitching locked down for a window of time. So if a realistic opportunity to get Schwarber on board presents itself, it could be the piece this team needs to get to the next level.
