The Phillies had a new franchise owner for the 2019 season. John Middleton was promising to spend “stupid” money on free agents after years of rebuilding. I remember that caused angst for some Braves backers because their favorite team is owned by Liberty Media.
That company’s chairman, John C. Malone, once infamously called the Braves a “fairly major real estate business” and not only a baseball club. That was when they were on their way to losing 93 games in 2016. The Braves made a surprisingly quick turnaround and won the National League East in 2018. Liberty was making a lot of money from its publicly financed ballpark, but team payroll was reduced significantly for 2019.
You know what happened next. The Braves won three more East titles in a row and the 2021 World Series with mid-pack payrolls. The Phillies finished 81-81 in 2019, 28-32 in 2020 and 82-80 in 2021. The 2022 Phillies lost their fourth consecutive game Monday night, their 12th defeat in the past 16 games, to fall to 11 ½ games behind the Mets in the East.
