The market is also based on more than just the player's on-field value. But sure. Machado and Harper both wound up settling for less than originally predicted when it turned out there just weren't enough well-heeled buyers (with a few others offering a lot of $ but much shorter guaranteed term). The Phillies were also able to snap up Arrieta when he ran out of options. But sometimes the players - and Boras - get what they want. And sometimes owners overpay as much to make a splash as because of what the guy is worth. Right now MIddleton seems more interested in not paying the luxury tax than splashing, but you never know.
Either way you could pretty much move this topic to the Phillies hot stove thread now, because Middleton's history with Boras and Boras's tendency to leak rumors regardless of how serious they are (i.e. "Scott Boras has talked to the Phillies about Correa can be true w/o the team having any interest) means the Phillies will be linked to Correa more often than they previously were.
