NBC Sports Philly’s Jim Salisbury, known MVP vote grifter, detailed John Middleton’s decision to go over the luxury tax to get Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.

This story has a great quote from Middleton, who explains that more Phillies fans come up to him in the city and tell him they like what he’s doing vs. spending “stupid money” –

LIAR!

Do you think we’re stupid John? How many people in Philadelphia could point out John Middleton in a police lineup? Four, maybe? The Phillies have plummeted in popularity in this city over the last 10 years. Unless John Middleton is counting his doorman, his driver, and the server at Capital Grille who just dropped his check off hoping for a tip over 20%, there is no chance people are coming up to him in the four block radius he probably walks from City Hall to Walnut St. Half the people in Philadelphia wouldn’t even recognize Mike Trout and you want me to believe you’re getting stopped in the street without your security detail reaching for the taser? You know how many old dudes walk around the Union League with toupees daily, John? Hundreds.

You know, John Middleton almost had me. I thought he was becoming likable again for a second. The right opportunity finally came for him to spend and he did it. The Phillies are stealing back the headlines. A hungover Nick Castellanos is telling Johnny Airports that the owners that invest are the ones who care about winning:

But now he wants me to believe he’s Jerry Buss walking through downtown LA in the 70s. I’ve seen John Middleton at more Eagles games than Phillies games.

P.S. – Just take your shirts off and mud wrestle in the middle of the clubhouse already:

“No,” Middleton said. “I mean, Bryce wants to win. He may want to win as much as I do but he may not. But I’ll concede that he probably wants to win as much as I do because he’s just built that way and so am I.