How can an organization that is made of money feel so cheap? To find out, all it takes is a quick subway ride to Citizens Bank Park - the once proud home of the Philadelphia Phillies - to watch the team play in person.
Once there, you'll be joined by a poor approximation of a crowd. Take them in, for among the few thousand scattered about the barren stadium are your fellow loyalists - those who still remain. Most fans would scoff at the thought of this venue being sold out once, much less for 257 consecutive games. But some still remember - some can still feel the passion these seats once held.
That fan-fueled fervor is gone, however, replaced by the eerie automation of Citizens Bank Park. The experience of watching a game in a stadium in which the empty blue seats far outnumber the fans is unsettling – you feel almost as if you're somewhere that you're not supposed to be. Walking through the concourse feels akin to visiting an amusement park that's going under - the ticket wasn't cheap, but it sure feels like it should have been.
The 5th highest paid team in baseball will take the field. The stadium's sound system will out cheer 4th smallest crowd in the National League.
What the Phillies have become, in practice, is house-rich. They have their mansion and pool and two-car garage but can't afford to pay off the Jeep sitting inside of it. Because for all the money that John Middleton has spent – around $184,800,910 in total payroll for 2021 - the Phillies still haven't convinced him that they are worthy of further investment. Never mind that his team is 3.5 games out of playoff contention. Or that the division is so uniquely bad that the Phillies actually have a shot at winning it. Disregard the fact that this flawed team is the franchises best hope at making the postseason for the first time in ten years. Ignore the record lows in ticket sales, even after a year in which the country wasn't allowed to attend games.
Forget just how much it would mean to this fan base for the Phillies to win the division, because last Friday, at MLB's trade deadline, John Middleton managed to do the impossible - He made his near $200 million team look cheap. While acquiring All-Star starter Kyle Gibson, Reliever Ian Kennedy, and prospect Hans Crouse from the Texas Rangers - in exchange for Spencer Howard and two prospects - ostensibly filled holes in the starting rotation and bullpen, it was what Middleton and president of baseball ops Dave Dombrowski didn't do that said it all.
They avoided eclipsing $210 million in total payroll, escaping the 20% luxury tax penalty - the cost of which was forfeiting the opportunity to land the best players available. They didn't sacrifice top prospects such as Alec Bohm or Bryson Stott in exchange for high -end rentals like Kris Bryant or Byron Buxton.
Even though Dombrowski has said that he was under no mandate to stay beneath the tax threshold, the Phillies have never exceeded it – paying the tax and sacrificing a premium prospect were tied into acquiring a star player. Middleton has a history of wanting to cut costs as well – after the 2019 season he stated that, "I'm not going over the luxury tax so that we have a better chance to be a second-wild card team." Prior to Dombrowski's arrival last fall, Middleton was leaning towards cutting roster payroll by $40-50 million – part of which included not re-signing J.T. Realmuto.
Perhaps Dombrowski's persuasion of Middleton to spend millions in free agency fed into their decision to approach this trade deadline with caution – maybe Middleton was tired of pumping money into a team that couldn't seem to contend with its current roster. Perhaps the Phillies just didn't play well enough to convince Middleton to allow Dombrowski to mortgage premium prospects for top end talent – some of which cost Middleton a pretty penny in free agency.
Regardless, Middleton and Dombrowski avoided going all on for a team, that as flawed as it is, needed just them to do just that.
While the front office's unwillingness to sacrifice more at the trade deadline – whether it'd been in luxury tax dollars, premium prospects, or both – is forward-thinking in nature, it's also the reason that fans aren't attending games. Middleton can afford to stand pat – it behooves him to not invest more into a team he doesn't expect to contend – but it comes at the cost of his organization's fanbase, the size of which decreases each year its team continues to mire in mediocrity. It's a corporate approach to ownership that's echoed throughout professional sports, but especially in Major League Baseball, where more money can be made by settling for mediocrity instead of striving for greatness.
Some fan bases, like in Philadelphia, are following suit – choosing not to give their loyalty – and more notably money – to organizations that are content with trotting out a losing team. Look at Seattle, who at the cusp of finally contending for a playoff berth, traded their closer Kendall Graves to the division rival Houston Astros. They rank 23rd in MLB attendance, averaging just 12,561 fans per home game. Although not suffering from a lack of attendance – perhaps just a result of not having much else to do in Denver - Colorado too has received criticism from its lack of activity at the trade deadline – soon to be free-agent shortstop Trevor Story removed himself from Friday night's lineup after not being traded earlier that day.
As for the Phillies' haul at the end of the deadline – Gibson, Kennedy, left-handed relief prospect Hans Crouse, and former Phillie, short-stop Freddy Galvis from the Orioles – should help. Gibson and Kennedy are both much needed additions to the starting rotation and bullpen respectively – the bar for both of which being so low that they need only to be average to impress. Galvis may very well see time at short or 3rd base as the left side of the infield must step up for Gibson to be effective – Gibson is a ground-ball pitcher who relies heavily on the left side of the infield. The Phillies have one of the worst defenses in MLB and struggle particularly with fielding balls hit to the left side of the infield.
Spencer Howard, the centerpiece of the trade for Gibson and Kennedy, epitomizes the issue with the front office's hesitancy to deal premier prospects at the deadline – in baseball, there's no such thing as a sure thing. An untouchable prospect just a year ago, Howard's struggles became such that the Phillies had to settle for Gibson and Kennedy as part of a three-man trade – instead of the Craig Kimbrel-level of talent Howard should have been able demand. While I can understand an unwillingness to trade 2020's 1st rounder Mick Abel, the strategy of dealing top prospects for the best players available – even if they may be rentals – shouldn't be seen as "mortgaging the future" in exchange for improving the team right away. All too often the "future" that belongs to Mick Abel, Bryson Stott, and Alec Bohm never materializes.
The Phillies, with their top prospects still intact, need only to look the team they are chasing for the division title, the New York Mets, to gauge how well they performed at the deadline. Among other players, the Mets took advantage of the Chicago Cub's fire sale and scored short-stop Javy Baez – a player whose defense and power would have been a welcome addition to the Phillies lineup. Baez is a rental – it's not a given that he'll resign with New York when he enters free agency this offseason – but that didn't matter to the Mets. They're all in. We'll see if Phillies decision not to be is what ends up costing them a shot at October.
Featured Image: Jose F. Moreno / Philadelphia Inquirer
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