Phillies' ownership makes decisions to win, not to save

WITH JIMMY ROLLINS in town again and Cole Hamels finally out of it, it seems a good time to reflect upon something the shortstop said shortly after he was traded to the Dodgers last December.

The topic was John S. Middleton, the man who owns 48 percent of the Phillies, someone Rollins had gotten to know but who was months away from assuming a more public profile.

"He wants to be in control, don't get it wrong . . . " Rollins said in a sitdown with CSN's Jim Salisbury. "He wants to put a winner out there very badly. I know he would like to have more influence . . . If he had it his way he'd be majority owner and be doing a lot of different things with the team I think."

Such as: Paying the Texas Rangers the remaining $9.5 million of Cole Hamels' contract for this season to assure a maximum return of prospects in return. Or paying the Washington Nationals the remaining $4.5 million of Jonathan Papelbon's contract for this season to assure a return of a player with at least the hint of an upside.

Or the reported willingness to finish off the remainder of the $15 million owed to Chase Utley if the Phillies can get something, anything, upon his return from injury.

And of course the willingness to eat much of the $60 million-plus still owed on Ryan Howard's contract if someone will give them something, anything, for him too.

The Phillies haven't been your mom and pop's purse-string pinching organization for quite awhile now. It seems eons ago that they were slotted among the major leagues' middle- or small-market teams. But this is uncharted territory for them and for this city as well. Connie Mack, Norman Braman, Leonard Tose: We are infamous for our list of self-destructive and team-destructive owners and ownership groups.

Now? These are halcyon days when it comes to financially able and willing local ownership of our teams. Josh Harris is estimated to be worth over $2 billion. Ed Snider's net worth is said to be $2.5 billion. Middleton's net worth is just under $3 billion. Jeffrey Lurie is worth just over a billion.

Here's the best part: All seem more desperate to win a championship than to pad their net worth.

Yes, the Phillies did not procure the Rangers' two best prospects or the Dodgers' best prospects or the Cubs' best prospects. But Middleton's willingness to fully pay off those salaries for the rest of the season allowed the Phillies to maximize their return just the same - to place a bunch of bets rather than a couple. At the end of the day that's what all prospects are anyway, and it's not that unusual for some of the more sure things out there to fizzle out, and some of those shrouded in doubt to deliver.

Anyone know what happened to Kyle Drabek? Michael Taylor? Remember when Domonic Brown was an untouchable? At the end of the day, the Phillies only gave up Carlos Carrasco to acquire Cliff Lee from the Indians and received even less when they traded him away to the Mariners.

It's the same philosophy embraced by Sam Hinkie: that the more betting slips you have, the better chance you have of cashing some in.

Just a year ago, you looked down at the Phillies farm teams and just one - their Gulf Coast League team - owned anything even close to a winning record. The big club stunk, the little ones, too. The organization appeared so mired in mud that Pat Gillick, after shocking folks with a dire prediction of a three-year rebuild, pushed it back even further.

Now, suddenly, it doesn't feel so bleak. Maikel Franco is dropping hints that he, like Rollins now, will someday be called a red-light player. Cesar Hernandez looks as if he will be more than just an average contributor. Ken Giles can still hit 100.

And the early returns on Aaron Nola indicate that the Phillies got this draft pick right.

Almost every one of their minor league teams sports a winning record, has prospects to watch and monitor. And that was before their trade deadline haul of more prospects.

Sure, they are still years away from even hinting at the same kind of competitive magic that ruled this place for the latter part of the last decade. But they do seem to finally be bouncing upward, ever so slightly, from rock bottom. And the owner who pledged upon emerging from the shadows that he will provide whatever resources necessary to facilitate and perhaps even accelerate that bounce, put his money where his mouth is.

philly.com/SamDonnellon