Phillies willing to be “a little bit stupid” in free agency

Phillies owner John Middleton doubled down on spending big money this offseason, stating the team may even go a little overboard.

The Phillies have been expected to go big in free agency this offseason for several years now. The argument can be made that they conducted their entire rebuild around this class, only recently becoming somewhat competitive.

Considering that, most in baseball are wondering just how much the team is willing to spend in free agency. There is a general consensus that they will be big players this offseason, but just how big of a player they will be has been largely conjecture. Well, at least until now.

As the owner’s meetings ended, team owner John Middleton made it clear to Bob Nightengale of USA Today that the team is ready to spend:

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We’re going into this expecting to spend money,’’ Middleton told USA TODAY Sports. “And maybe even be a little bit stupid about it.’’Middleton laughed, then said without smiling: “We just prefer not to be completely stupid.”…“It makes it fun,’’ Middleton said, “but there’s a lot of pressure, too. … We’re looking at it like if things break the right way, we could be a really good team next year.’’

Middleton’s final quote in the article said that general manager Matt Klentak will be quite busy this offseason. That is music to fans’ ears.

Now that Middleton is on record stating the team is ready to go big, what does that mean for this offseason? Which players are they ready to hand out hundreds of millions to?

The two obvious answers are outfielder Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. Both have been linked to the team by various outlets, with Nightengale even previously writing that Harper to Philly is a near-lock. Machado is a familiar face to the front office as Klentak and president Andy MacPhail were part of the Orioles front office that brought in Machado.

Spending “stupid” money may just mean signing both players. Harper could command a contract upwards of $400 million; Machado won’t be too far behind. Sinking nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars into two players would be quite a tall order.

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Another option would be to sign one of these big two names then picking up a few other big-name free agents. The team has expressed interest in starter Patrick Corbin, reliever Craig Kimbrel, outfielder Michael Brantley, and potentially any other players.

The ability to make all these big moves stems from a large amount of salary flexibility over the coming seasons. Even with arbitration salaries factored in, the team only has around $110 million in committed salary next year per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia. They should still be able to bring in another $75 million of salary or so next year without worrying about the luxury tax, and that doesn’t even factor in ways the team could shed other costs.

One concern Seidman does bring up is when you have to start paying guys like Rhys Hoskins and Aaron Nola, but even then he says there should still be enough room. For all we know, the rules around luxury taxes and salaries could be completely changed by the time the club needs to pay these guys.

If you want the Phillies to start spending big in free agency (which almost everyone does), hearing straight from the guy signing the checks that he is ready to spend is welcome news.