The Philadelphia Phillies have World Series expectations in 2023.
With most teams that are competing, their payrolls are going to be larger than others.
The more good players you have the better your chances, but those players cost a lot of money.
Over the past two offseasons, the Phillies have shown a willingness to spend big.
Now the money spent needs to turn into a World Series.
Despite not signing Carlos Correa, the Mets still have the highest projected payroll for 2023.
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The Phillies have the third-highest payroll in baseball heading into next season.
That is still with a full offseason to make more moves if necessary.
Looking at the teams on this list, everyone is expected to contend for a World Series.
All of these teams have made moves over the offseason, so the massive payrolls should not be a surprise.
Also, there are four National League teams.
All of which the Phillies will have to beat to return to the World Series.
Last season, the Phillies beat the Braves and Padres in the playoffs.
But, playing in a tough NL East makes things difficult to win the division each year.
The Phillies will have seven players making over $18 million for next season.
But, the ones who need to step up the most are Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker.
Castellanos was bad last season for the Phillies, he did not hit the ball with any power (13 home runs), also his OPS was a mere .694.
His resurgence back into the player we saw in Cincinnati will be huge for the Phillies.
For Walker, many fans think the Phillies overpaid.
He is a fourth starter that is getting paid $18 million per season.
Walker must produce like a solid middle-of-the-rotation starter to be worth the hefty price.
The payroll might be large this year for the Phillies, but it will be worth it if they can return to the World Series.
NEXT: Phillies Have A Top Rotation Duo In MLB