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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Stephanie Apstein

Phillies Owner John Middleton Provides an Unsparing Blueprint for His Peers

Middleton owns a Phillies franchise that has ranked in the top five of player payroll in each of the last four seasons. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies were a first-class organization in every way when catcher J.T. Realmuto arrived in February 2019—except one.

“I wouldn’t say I asked for a new plane,” he says. “But I did say there were better planes out there.”

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