At this point, you have to say that the Phillies have improved this off season. Their two main free agents are back, they’ve added bullpen help and they have a very respected new president of baseball operations, who got a ton in less than two months on the job.
The Phillies opened the week by signing a $ 115.5 million five-year contract with JT Realmuto. They followed through on the deal on Friday to start pitcher Matt Moore, then reached a $ 28 million two-year deal on Saturday with Didi Gregorius.
The Phillies committed $ 152.5 million this season to Realmuto, Gregorius, Archie Bradley and Moore. They added about $ 1 million more when negotiating leftist appeaser Jose Alvarado.
The only team that has spent more money on free agents this off-season than the Phillies is the Toronto Blue Jays, whose expensive item was George Springer for $ 150 million in six years. The team that hires Trevor Bauer can jump ahead of both of them in out-of-season spending.
The Phillies postponed a small part of the money in negotiations for Realmuto and Gregorius, sources told NBC Sports Philadelphia. This will help cash flow in 2021, given the uncertainty of approximate service in the midst of the pandemic.
The numbers that matter for the luxury tax limit, however, are the average annual values of these businesses. For Realmuto, the value is US $ 23.1 million. For Gregorius, it’s $ 14 million. From a luxury tax perspective, this puts the Phillies players’ payroll in 2021 at just over $ 195 million. The tax limit for 2021 is $ 210 million. A primitive offender, what the Phillies would be if they exceeded it, is taxed at 20 percent on every dollar above the $ 210 million that is calculated at the end of the season.
It’s a lot of money to spend on a team outside of the playoffs, which is what the Phillies have been every year since 2012. And with those plays, they need to end the drought in 2021. Signed and at their peak, the Phillies have Bryce Harper , Realmuto, Gregorius, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler, along with rising players like Alec Bohm and Zach Eflin.
They have spent more than $ 850 million on players over the past four seasons.
They also already have about $ 134.5 million committed to the 2022 payroll. Probably Andrew McCutchen, Odubel Herrera and Vince Velasquez will come out of the books, along with others with smaller contracts.
Leaving the context aside, you would say that the Phillies will have a better winning percentage this season than the last time. But a lot has happened this winter in the demanding NL East.
The Mets, under new owner Steve Cohen, have become big spenders. They added Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco, James McCann and Trevor May in this off-season. They can end Bauer too.
Nacional made solid one-year additions, like Brad Hand, Jon Lester and Kyle Schwarber. Without the hangover from the World Series this season, they should be better off.
And the Braves are the division’s class. They have MVP, Freddie Freeman, and dynamic talents like Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies. They have exciting young pitchers with Max Fried, Ian Anderson and Mike Soroka. Adding Charlie Morton and Drew Smyly to the rotation will help. The Braves’ big question mark is Marcell Ozuna, who remained at the free agency after almost winning the Triple Crown in the short season of 2020. If they lose, they may lose some victories.
The Phillies are better, but so is the division. The schedule will also not do them any favors, as explained here.
We were not sure if the Phillies were in victory mode now when the off season started. There is no doubt at this point. The goal will be to reach the playoffs, be it the field with a total of 10 teams or more.
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