Had Schwarber taken the Reds' deal, the quickest way to shed salary would be to trade from their pool of arbitration-eligible players.

On Thursday, ESPN asked several of its insiders questions about the Winter Meetings. One question was, "Which team is under the most pressure to do something big after the meetings?" ESPN.com's Bradford Doolittle did not mince his words and said the Reds are under immense pressure to do something big before spring training arrives.

One such item would be where to bat Schwarber in the lineup in relation to Bryce Harper. Much has been made this offseason about Harper seeing the least amount of pitches in the zone of any qualified hitter in MLB.

Williams: The Cincinnati Reds legitimately tried to land Kyle Schwarber. Despite failing, it's a positive sign they're serious about winning.

On Wednesday, The Athletic named Cincinnati a potential suitor for both Brandon Lowe and Ketel Marte.

Schwarber's teammates and coaches appreciated his leadership, work ethic and character. He has embraced them in turn.

Kyle Schwarber talked to a lot of people the past couple months. The conversations started in Philadelphia. He had a good chat with Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski shortly after the Phils’ season ended in disappointment in October at Dodger Stadium.