John Middleton doesn't expect the Phillies to end up with Juan Soto, but they'll certainly try.
Speaking Friday at the Wharton Sports Business Summit at Penn, the Phillies' principal owner discussed Soto and the Phillies' willingness to spend.
"I'm afraid Juan Soto wants to be in New York, and I don't mind being a stalking horse," Middleton said, according to the Daily Pennsylvanian.
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"… But I get the feeling, we'll probably say, you know what, we'll probably not win this."
The Phillies obviously have financial might, with two players on $300 million contracts and six with nine-figure deals. They expect their franchise-record payroll to rise again. They can offer Soto a ton of money on a per-year and total basis, but so can his incumbent Yankees, so can the Mets, so can a secondary team like the Blue Jays who missed out on Shohei Ohtani a year ago.
And it's a possibility, perhaps even a probability, that the Phillies will be used to drive up the price.
Soto's a transformative player. He can turn a good lineup into a championship-caliber team as he did this season with the Yankees.
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Unless Soto prefers to leave New York, it's difficult to see him leaving. Why would the Yankees allow it to happen after seeing first-hand for eight months how impactful his bat and presence are? It's not like this is a mid-market organization trying to sign a superstar in his prime, it's the Yankees, the franchise notorious for signing away superstars from the teams where they break in.
Losing Soto would be a crushing blow to the Yankees, to their ownership and GM Brian Cashman's resume. They need to re-sign him every bit as much as they needed to re-sign Aaron Judge two Decembers ago.
Some in the industry think Soto's contract could reach $600 million. The Phillies are going to spend to improve this winter, but would they actually be able to top the Yankees' best offer? Or Steve Cohen's best offer?
"We made a substantially greater offer than the Dodgers did for (Yoshinobu) Yamamoto last year," Middleton said. "He took their offer, turned away from us, gave up tens of tens of millions of dollars."
It takes two to tango. But even if it's unlikely, it's worth a try for the Phillies. Plop Juan Soto into the lineup and they'd fix a host of issues with one move and likely become the World Series favorite. A team can dream …