From one of the Kimbrel articles. The fascinating question now is, will the return of Harper and the internal pitching options mean the Phillies won't exceed the second threshold at the deadline or is it a foregone conclusion? Even managing injuries/call-ups and possible extra 60-day DL guys (like last year) would be tricky now. As would signing a minor league deal guy (since they usually get $2-4 million if they make it).
I gotta assume it's a foregone conclusion which also means the Kimbrel $ isn't as big a deal as it seems. And also, that they indeed know they are chasing the Mets, to a point. As constituted and given its ultimate goal this is no longer a team that can look to reset before '25 or '26 with the current core.
Once Kimbrel’s contract is finalized, the Phillies’ payroll will stand at approximately $249.8 million as calculated for competitive-balance tax purposes, or roughly $3 million shy of the second luxury-tax threshold.