The executive who has the most influence over how much money the Phillies can spend on players recently commented on the 2025 payroll.
In an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, managing partner John Middleton said he expects the payroll to go up. That’s no surprise considering the 2025 team is already above the $261 million luxury tax payroll they finished with in 2024. FanGraphs Roster Resource estimates the Phillies’ 2025 luxury tax payroll to be at $288 million, seven million above the third luxury tax tier. No other team has more guaranteed money committed in 2025 than the Phillies.
The question becomes just how far Middleton is willing to push the payroll. For the right player, Middleton says, the Phillies are willing to go for it.
“For the right player,” Middleton told Lauber, “I have a high degree of confidence that Dave and I would go over the third limit.”
The Phillies can shed a small amount of salary before free agency. Austin Hays, who MLB Trade Rumors projects to make $6.4 million in his third year of arbitration, is a non-tender candidate. So are Kolby Allard ($1.2 million) and Garrett Stubbs ($1.2 million), though either could return on some type of split contract. Other than that, the Phillies have few easy avenues to cut payroll to gear up in pursuit of more free agents.
What does that mean for a possible Juan Soto pursuit? If the Phillies are willing to be true players in the 26-year-old superstar’s market, they are going to have to significantly raise payroll beyond what they had in 2023 and 2024 for 2025 and probably through 2027, with Zack Wheeler under contract for $42 million per season for the next three years. Assuming the Phillies sign Soto and his price tag is $50 million per season, the 2025 luxury tax payroll would be at around $340 million.
Even if the Phillies miss out on Soto, other free agent additions are likely to push the luxury tax payroll beyond the $300 million mark. Re-signing Jeff Hoffman or adding a different reliever of a similar caliber could add around $10 million to the payroll.
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