Phillies managing partner John Middleton spoke at the Wharton Sports Business Summit Friday, and gave a pretty candid answer about how he and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski view a potential pursuit of Juan Soto.
"I'm afraid Juan Soto wants to be in New York, and I don't mind being a stalking horse, " Middleton said, according to Conor Smith of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
"At some point, if Dave and I get that feeling, we'll probably say 'You know what, we're not going to win this' because we've both been the stalking horse before. And if I were an agent, I would do it too. It's perfectly good strategy. I mean, it's smart. But at the end of the day, I just think he likes New York."
Phillies fans have made clear that they want the team to pursue Soto, a 26-year-old superstar hitter that seems to homer every time he plays in Philadelphia. And Middleton didn't entirely rule it out, but the Phillies seem to believe that it's a longshot.
While Soto may love hitting coach Kevin Long, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber — all of whom spent time with him when he played for the Washington Nationals — it's unclear what the Phillies can offer Soto that one of the two New York teams can't.
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Middleton's ownership group does have deep pockets, as evidenced by the Phillies having the fourth-highest payroll in baseball this past season. But the Mets and Yankees — the two clubs perceived as the favorites for his services — were first and second.
The Phillies won the NL East and reached the playoffs for the third year in a row this past season. But they lost to the Mets in the NLDS. Soto and the Yankees won the AL pennant before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Unless Soto hated his year in New York — and pretty much all evidence is to the contrary — the Phillies may not be able to lure the four-time All-Star. That doesn't mean they shouldn't try, but fans should have realistic expectations.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post has reported that Soto and his agent Scott Boras will meet in the coming weeks with Steve Cohen and Hal Steinbrenner, the owners of the Mets and Yankees, respectively. It feels overwhelmingly likely that one of those two teams ultimately signs him.
