Anyone who has tried to put together a 2022 Phillies roster that is at least somewhat grounded in reality has done so with the knowledge owner John Middleton is unlikely to surpass the luxury tax this off-season.
Oh sure, we’d like for it to not be so, not with New York Mets owner Steve Cohen becoming the first NL East owner to blast past the tax with the signings of Max Scherzer, Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Matt Canha, but the Phils going over the tax is something one should only believe will happen once it actually does.