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Ex-Red Sox slugger Kyle Schwarber

Boston Red Sox fans fell in love with Kyle Schwarber during his brief stint with the Sox back in the 2021 season when he helped them advance to the ALCS. Now, four years later, a potential reunion is possible between Schwarber and Boston.

MLB insider Jon Morosi joined MLB Network’s “Hot Stove” program, where he confirmed that the Red Sox have indeed checked in on Schwarber and are pursuing a reunion with the slugger.

“Pursuit is the word that I will use right now, as opposed to hot pursuit… I can confirm that yes, the Red Sox have checked in on Kyle Schwarber,” Morosi said.

Although he will be entering his 33-year-old season, Schwarber hasn’t shown signs of slowing down; in fact, like a good bottle of whiskey, the Ohio native seems to be getting better with age. Schwarber set career highs in his age 32 season in Philadelphia in 2025, hitting a whopping 56 home runs and driving in 132 runs. In the three seasons since he turned 30, he has hit 141 home runs and isn’t showing signs of slowing down.

The Red Sox acquired Schwarber in the 2021 season from Washington. In 41 regular season games with Boston, he hit seven home runs with 18 RBI while sporting a .291 batting average. He hit three home runs in the Sox magical ALCS run that season.

Schwarber vs. Alonso: Who Is More Likely To Sign With Boston?

It’s been heavily reported that the Red Sox will be major players for another slugger by the name of Pete Alonso this winter. In all likelihood, Boston won’t sign both Alonso and Schwarber, in order to conserve money to upgrade their pitching rotation.

The Red Sox absolutely need a power bat in the middle of the lineup after power proved to be a area of weakness down the stretch, so the likelihood of them signing one of these two is incredibly high.

So who is a better fit for Boston? Alonso and Schwarber are almost identical, in that they fit the exact same archetype of being power hitting first basemen who hit a ton of home runs but also strikeout a lot. You can live with the strikeouts with either of these guys if they make up for it with their power.

Both will likely command anywhere between $25-30 million annually and will both be looking for long term deals. Alonso has an advantage as he is only 30 to Schwarber’s 32, but his power numbers have regressed in recent years, where Schwarber’s have improved.

Alonso would be a better fit in the field as he is an everyday first baseman while Schwarber is more of an everyday DH at this point in his career.

If you asked Red Sox fans who they would rather have, I’d wager that more would say Schwarber because of his history in Boston and the fact that he was open about loving his time here. If you ask Sox GM Craig Breslow who they’re more likely to get, it’s probably Alonso.

Either would be a slam dunk for the organization.

Matt Skillings Matt Skillings is a Boston based sports journalist and a graduate of UMass Amherst, where he majored in journalism and communication. Matt covered the UMass men’s ice hockey team for three years for the Massachusetts Daily Collegian. He was also a media intern for the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League for two summers. Matt has additional bylines with the New England Hockey Journal, the Boston Globe and MassLive. More about Matt Skillings

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