ORLANDO \u2014 The Reds know that they can\u2019t make the highest monetary offer to free-agent Kyle Schwarber, but that\u2019s not to say that there aren\u2019t things they can offer that have value beyond money, like the opportunity to play for your hometown team or under a legendary manager.<\/p>\n
Sitting in his club\u2019s suite at MLB\u2019s Winter Meetings, Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall simply pointed to his left when asked what that might be. Next to him was manager Terry Francona, a man who has won two World Series championships and will almost certainly be enshrined in baseball\u2019s Hall of Fame.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh boy,\u201d said the famously self-deprecating Francona, \u201cwho can we go after next?\u201d<\/p>\n
Francona is a draw, so much so, that earlier this off-season, veteran Justin Turner said he\u2019d love to play under the skipper. But that\u2019s not the entire sales pitch to Schwarber, who grew up as a Reds fan in nearby Middletown.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I think Cincinnati\u2019s a great place and it\u2019s a great fan base,\u201d Krall said. \u201cYou start with Opening Day and we\u2019ve got a really good, young nucleus of players. We\u2019ve got a really good pitching staff. We made the playoffs last year, (and are) hoping to build off of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schwarber is exactly what the Reds need \u2014 a middle-of-the-order bat to slide in behind shortstop Elly De La Cruz. It\u2019s easy to imagine how careful a pitcher would have to be in order to not let his focus slip while dealing with Schwarber at the plate and De La Cruz on the bases.<\/p>\n
De La Cruz batted third in the team\u2019s order for 148 of the team\u2019s 162 games. Austin Hays started the most games in the cleanup spot (82), but of the seven other players Francona put in that spot, none started more than Gavin Lux\u2019s 21 games. In all, Reds cleanup hitters hit 22 home runs in 2025, the eight-worst mark in baseball.<\/p>\n
Last season, Schwarber hit his 22nd home run in the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 69th game of the year. He doubled that figure by the 126th game en route to an NL-best 56 homers on the year.\u00a0George Foster is the only Red to ever hit 50 home runs in a season with 52 in 1977.<\/p>\n
Heading into 2026, the Reds\u2019 budget, Krall has said, is approximately the same as it was last season<\/a>, somewhere in the range of $115-to-$120 million. Those numbers would give the Reds with roughly $20 million to spend this offseason, with last week\u2019s re-signing of closer Emilio Pag\u00e1n<\/a> taking up half of that already.<\/p>\n