By Tim Kelly, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Despite the fact that he's the closest to a majority sports owner in Philadelphia to have won a major pro sports championship, relatively little is known about Philadelphia Phillies part-owner John S. Middleton, who owns just under 50 percent of the team.
However, in recent years, Middleton, who Forbes says is one of the 1,000 richest people in the world, has become more publicly involved with the team. He presided over the hiring of president Andy MacPhail, who eventually hand picked general manager Matt Klentak. He has allowed the front-office to expand their analytics department under Klentak, and even allowed the club to develop PHIL, which is their "proprietary computer system." At the 2016 MLB Winter Meetings, he officially became the team's control person.
In the limited times Middleton has spoken publicly about the team, he's come off as extremely impressive, which makes you wonder why he stayed in the background, at least publicly, for so many years. It also makes the rare interviews that he does, such as the one with Philly Magazine last year where he told the story of telling Ryan Howard that he wanted "the ******* trophy back" after the 2009 World Series, must reads (or listens).
The Phillies, of course, never got the World Series trophy back with Howard. However, in an extended interview with Angelo Cataldi on 94 WIP, Middleton says that his goal remains to make sure the Phillies win their third World Series title:
"The only reason professional sports teams exist — I shouldn't say the only reason, but the most important reason — is to win. And if you're not aiming to win then you really don't belong owning a sports team in my opinion.
"I'm intent on winning. We're going to get that trophy back somehow or I'm going to die trying."
[Transcript via Corey Seidman of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia]
There's a school of thought that the best way for the Phillies to accelerate that process will be to either sign Bryce Harper or Manny Machado after 2018 or attempt to trade for Mike Trout. Though Middleton didn't address any of the names specifically, he reiterated that the team will spend what money it takes to assure that they return to contention over the course of the next few seasons:
"The way we budget in our organization isn't that we create a financial budget and say to Matt and Andy and say, 'Here's your number, do the best you can.' We look at them and say, 'Your job is to tell us what's the best team that you can put on the field at this particular time given where we are in our cycle and where you want us to be a year or two or three from now. And then you tell us how much that's going to cost us."
[Transcript via Corey Seidman of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia]
Though early struggles from Maikel Franco and Vince Velasquez haven't encouraged fans about the future, the Phillies continue to possess a deep farm system, one that not only has prospects like J.P. Crawford at the top of it but also seems to have a second wave of talent, led by 2016 No. 1 overall pick Mickey Moniak. When you couple that with the fact that the Phillies do have some young pieces already on their major league roster and an ownership group that's both capable and willing to spend, the future for the team still feels bright.
As Philadelphia sports fans have learned in recent years, rebuilding is an inexact science. While it's hard to predict exactly when young talent will develop, Middleton estimated in the interview that the Phillies are in the third year of what will likely be a four or five year plan to return to contention. Middleton hopes that what has turned into an extended rebuilding plan will eventually result in the team finally getting "their" trophy back.
