CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Phillies owner John Middleton cheered as hard as anybody as the Eagles trounced the Chiefs on Sunday in the Super Bowl.
He had a perfect view from Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie’s suite inside the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. After the green confetti fell and Lurie hoisted the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Middleton walked more than a mile back to his hotel.
“Dozens and dozens, somewhere well over 100 people came up to me and stopped me,” he said Wednesday, following Phillies’ pitchers and catchers first workout at Carpenter Complex. “Everybody said, ‘It’s your turn.’ And that’s exciting. I’m old enough to remember 1980. Every single team [in Philadelphia] went to the championship finals. And the Phillies actually won. You know what? The excitement built.”
He said his excitement about the Phillies’ 2025 season built with every high five on Sunday.
“If you can’t sit and watch that game, particularly in person, and walk around after the game and get excited by the fans who were electric, there’s something wrong with you,” Middleton said. “You’re not alive. And by the way, you have no business being in the sports business. You need to go find something else to do with your life.”
The Phillies won 95 games last season, the second most in baseball. They won the NL East for the first time since 2011. They have a star-studded roster and the third-highest payroll in the Majors in 2025.
There are reasons to be excited. Many were visible on Wednesday at Carpenter Complex.
There was perennial Cy Young Award candidate Zack Wheeler, chatting with All-Star relievers Matt Strahm and Jordan Romano. There was workhorse Aaron Nola, sporting a short haircut that made him look like a rookie again. There was hard-throwing lefty José Alvarado, who is noticeably trimmer than last year. There was Ranger Suárez, smiling and laughing as always. There was top offseason acquisition Jesús Luzardo tossing a football to top prospect Andrew Painter (ranked No. 8 overall, according to MLB Pipeline), who could join the rotation this summer.
“We have a good team,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “I mean, that’s the reality of it.”
Dombrowski mentioned the starting pitching, of course. It could be the best rotation in baseball. He likes the lineup, which finished in the top five in the Majors in runs, batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage last season.
“I don’t think we have a glaring weakness out there,” he said.
He mentioned the bullpen.
“I think it’s deep,” he said.
But the Phillies read and hear things that people say. They have taken steps backward in each of the past two postseasons. Then the Dodgers won the World Series and kept adding superstars to the roster.
“I mean, I don’t hear anybody say, 'Hey, the Phillies beat the Dodgers five out of six last year during the regular season,'” Dombrowski said. “We did. They’ve got a tremendous club, as do others in our league. But I think we match up against anybody.”
Maybe this team is good enough to win as constructed. Maybe it will need to add a big piece before the Trade Deadline.
Middleton said they can, if needed.
“We can push [the payroll],” he said. “We can do whatever we want to do. The question is really whether the return on what you’re having to spend is really worth it. I mean, if you’re going to move the needle a lot, that’s one calculation. If you’re going to move the need a little, that’s a different calculation. You have to look at that very differently.”
Perhaps nobody understands Phillies fans better than Middleton, who often spends home games talking to Phillies fans in the stands and on the concourse. He shares their frustrations.
“I remember November 2011,” he said, referring to the 102-win Phillies’ NLDS loss to St. Louis. “I’m talking to one of my friends who’s a huge sports fan. Unfortunately, he’s a Yankees fan. He’s very knowledgeable. He looks at me and says, ‘Do you have any idea how close to immortality you just came to? And the answer is, ‘Yeah.’ I feel like Moses. I was shown the Promised Land, but I never got there.
“My point is, even if you win, like the Eagles did, it doesn’t entirely make up for losing.”
But on the first day of Spring Training, the Phillies expressed optimism. They think they can win.
Middleton imagined what it would be like.
“My guess is, if we’re lucky enough to win the World Series, and Jeff’s walking down the street, they’ll be doing the same thing,” Middleton said, referring to his post-Super Bowl stroll. “Let’s do it again.”