By Jordan Long
The Boston Red Sox fell to the Houston Astros 5-0 in game 6 of the American League Championship Series ending their season. Once the last out was recorded, Boston was into the offseason. One key player they would like to keep is Kyle Schwarber.
Schwarber started the season with the Washington Nationals. In 72 games for Washington, Schwarber had a .253 batting average with 25 home runs and 53 RBI’s. Schwarber was an outfielder for Washington. He recorded 3 outfield assists and 3 errors. It seemed like this was a great fit for Schwarber. Washington’s record was 47-55, 8 games out of first place when they decided to deal Schwarber.
The Nationals traded Schwarber on July 29th to Boston. This was going to give Boston not only another bat in the lineup, but a veteran playoff player. He had appeared in 24 playoff games for the Chicago Cubs. Boston decided to use Schwarber at 1st base. He had never played the position at the MLB level before.
Schwarber finished the 2021 regular season hitting .291 for Boston in 134 appearances at the plate. He smacked 7 home runs while collecting 18 RBI’s. Boston used him as a designated hitter. On defense, Schwarber was placed at 1st base for 10 games. He got used to the position quickly, totaling 1 error. Boston managed to earn a playoff spot by finishing the season 92-70. They were the 1st Wild Card team in the American League.
In the postseason, Boston knocked off their arch rival, the New York Yankees, in the Wild Card Game 6-2. In the American League Divisional Series, they beat the team with the best record in the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays, in 4 games. Unfortunately, their season came to an end in game 6 of the American League Championship Series. In the playoff run, Schwarber’s batting average was .205 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI’s. On defense, Schwarber had an impressively low 1 error.
Schwarber would like to stay with the Boston Red Sox. According to nbcsports.com, Schwarber said, “This is definitely a clubhouse that I could see myself wanting to stay in. These guys are amazing. I said this, it’s two World Series teams going at it. This is a World Series clubhouse, and I would love to hopefully see if that opportunity comes back.”
With the year now over for Boston, they have to decide if they are willing to pay Schwarber the money. He was paid $10 million this past year but the market could demand $15 to $20 million for him. Boston is familiar with paying their players for their performance. Boston has plenty of time to decide the future of Schwarber. They could choose not to sign Schwarber and he will be in another uniform in 2022.
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