Ten floors of the 27-story Ten Penn Center at 1801 Market St. will be converted from office space to 273 apartments, according to a zoning permit issued Tuesday.
The building was purchased by PMC Property Group last summer for $30 million, less than half the price it was the last time it changed hands in 2006. At that time, it sold for $75 million, or roughly $144 million in today’s dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Standards’ inflation calculator.
PMC is one of Philadelphia’s largest apartment developers and has distinguished itself in the post-pandemic push to convert underused office space into apartments. PMC previously converted half of the 20-story Three Parkway building at 1601 Cherry St. In that case, the lower levels were turned into 143 apartments.
According to Ten Penn Center’s sales listing last summer, 65% of the offices in the building wereoccupied with much of the vacancy being concentrated in the upper levels. The building is effectively divided in half by the 16th floor, which is largely mechanical.
The downtown residential market has remained robust during the societal and economic turmoil over the last six years, with 3,500 new apartments opening between Pine and Vine Streets and the rivers since 2023 alone, according to Center City District.
“The apartment market remains really healthy, across the entire city, but in Center City specifically,” said Clint Randall, vice president of economic development at Center City District.
Despite fears of an apartment glut, especially along the Delaware River and in Northern Liberties, demand for multifamily living has remained resilient in much of Philadelphia. (Occupancy rates in Center City are at 92%.)
The pipeline of office-to-residential conversions has been relatively robust as well, despite the fact that so many of Philadelphia’s older industrial and commercial buildings had already been turned to multifamily use pre-pandemic.
In Center City, 673 apartments have been created in former office space since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Center City District.
“There was an assumption that it would take longer to to eat up all of the supply, but it’s not taking as long as anybody thought,” Randall said. “Because of that, you’re able to move forward and get financing for new deals because you can prove that when there are good products available, it leases.”
PMC Property Group did not respond to a request for comment.
There were the usual favorites on both sides of the ball — as well as a few new faces — and a grizzled veteran that fans can’t seem to agree on.
Eagles fans want pending free agent linebacker Jaelan Phillips back next season, but they're split over veteran Brandon Graham, who came out of retirement last year.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
The Eagles have long-since been eliminated from Super Bowl contention, after their wild-card round loss to the San Francisco 49ers. But the conversations around what went wrong with the Birds last year are ongoing, as the team continues to search for a new offensive coordinator and prepares for what’s sure to be a busy offseason.
We asked you, our readers, which Eagles you want to see stay or leave the team for next season. Here’s what we found — and how some of those results compared to what beat writer Jeff McLane expects the team to do …
The Eagles’ All-Pro cornerback duo, Quinyon Mitchell (96.4%) and Cooper DeJean (96.1%), graded out the best of any Birds players. But they weren’t alone. Jordan Davis (96.1%) tied DeJean after a breakout year.
The best defense
It’s not just those two. Overall, 19 Eagles earned over 90% stay votes in this year’s poll, despite the early playoff exit — 12 of those players were on defense or special teams, including Zack Baun (95.8%), Jalyx Hunt (95.3%), and more.
On the offensive
There were fewer on offense — seven in total — who received at least 90% stay, including four offensive linemen: Lane Johnson (91.8%), Jordan Mailata (95.9%), Landon Dickerson (93.6%), and Cam Jurgens (91.2%).
Hurts remains popular
Quarterback Jalen Hurts (85.7%), however, was not one of them. That doesn’t mean he’s unpopular — he finished just a few percentage points shy of his Super Bowl MVP season (89.5%), and is not going anywhere.
Brown takes a hit
That’s nothing compared to the dip A.J. Brown (62.3%) saw. The wide receiver came in at 88.8% stay following last year’s Super Bowl run. But after a season wrought with controversy, where Brown looked like he may have taken a step back, fans have soured a bit on Brown.
Tight ends on the move?
Backup tight end Grant Calcaterra (36.8%) fell over 55 points from last season — down from 92.3% stay after 2024 — but fans still love Dallas Goedert (79.4%). However, Jeff McLane thinks both pending free agents will be wearing different colors next year.
Love ’em or hate ’em
Overall, the results on the offensive side paint an interesting picture, with no one player landing in the middle 20%, between 40-60% stay. Fans know what they want.
Special requests
That includes the team’s specialists. An overwhelming majority want punter Braden Mann (94.2%) back next season. The same can’t be said for veteran kicker Jake Elliott (23.2%), who saw the biggest year-over-year drop. McLane thinks the team will agree.
A difference of opinion
Franchise legend Brandon Graham (40.6%) un-retired midway through the 2025 season, and he said after the season that he felt he still had more in the tank. He was one of the most polarizing players in the poll, with a slight majority voting for him to go.
The kids are all right
Howie Roseman also had a good year, according to fans. The Eagles’ rookie class, headlined by Jihaad Campbell (95.6%) and Drew Mukuba (90.3%), graded out well after its first NFL season.
The new guys
The Birds traded for Jaelan Phillips (81.4%) at the trade deadline. While the move didn’t ultimately lead the Eagles to the Super Bowl, the pending free agent quickly became a fan favorite. Running back Tank Bigsby (94.7%) graded even better — and higher than Barkley.
Check out the full results
We’re done breaking it down for you. Let’s put the numbers directly at your fingertips — simply hover over or click on a player on the chart to see not only what percentage of stay votes they received, but also what McLane thinks will happen.
So what does the future hold for these players? The NFL’s new league year begins on March 11 — that’s when teams are permitted to execute trades and begin signing new players. Stay tuned.
There’s a lot of anxiety in the ether these days about the Eagles, particularly about the fact that they haven’t hired an offensive coordinator yet to replace Kevin Patullo.
Just look at some of the candidates who have been scooped up elsewhere or who decided to stay where they were: Mike McDaniel, Brian Daboll, Joe Brady, Mike Kafka, and Charlie Weis Jr.
We can call this group the “Guys We’ve Heard Of” group, and they’re the biggest drivers of this collective worry that the Eagles will end up hiring some nincompoop who can’t call plays or, worse, calls the same kinds of plays Patullo did. I don’t know much about McDaniel other than he digs capri pants and tinted sunglasses. But I recognize his name, which means he must be smart, and the Eagles must be stupid for not hiring him.
Mike McDaniel (left) was a player high on the list of potential replacements for Kevin Patullo as offensive coordinator. Until he accepted the role with the Chargers.
Then there’s the “Guys I’m Googling” group. They’re the up-and-coming coordinators and quarterback coaches who aren’t as well known to the casual NFL follower but who aspire to become branches on the Sean McVay tree or the Kyle Shanahan tree or whatever metaphorical foliage the Eagles happen to prefer. The way the Eagles’ search is shaping up — the time they’re taking, the three still-vacant head coaching jobs around the league — they’re likely to settle on someone from this group.
Hiring such a candidate, one with relatively little experience and no discernible track record, could turn out to be a problem for the Eagles, who might end up with another play-caller who isn’t quite ready for the role. But it would be a boon for the team’s fans and media, who could start second-guessing and complaining about the guy as early as Week 1.
No matter who the Eagles bring on board, they would do well to take a big-picture factor into consideration when they make their choice. In the short term, sure, the new coordinator’s primary concerns will be centered on improving an offense that may or may not have A.J. Brown, may or may not have Lane Johnson, may or may not have a decent tight end or two, and could use a bounce-back season from Jalen Hurts. But in the longer term, they should be mindful that they’ve been part of a strategic shift across the NFL, and they should be prepared in case Roger Goodell and the league’s owners try to shift things back.
Here’s what I mean: During this regular season, the average NFL team passed for 209.7 yards a game. That figure represents the lowest such average since 2006. It has been two decades, in other words, since NFL passing offenses were as anemic (or as conservative, depending on how you want to look at it) as they were this season.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts was among an NFL passing collective that accounted for an average of just 209.7 yards per game, the lowest since 2006.
Why? You don’t have to be Bill Walsh to figure it out. After years of franchises chasing franchise quarterbacks and brilliant scheme designers and elite wide receivers — and tight ends who could catch and run like wideouts — a funny thing started happening: Certain teams geared up to counteract their opponents’ dynamic passing games and to exploit smaller, faster defenses. That is, certain teams won championships because of their defenses and/or their run games.
The 2023 Kansas City Chiefs had Patrick Mahomes, yes, but they ranked 15th in scoring offense and second in scoring defense. The story of the 2024 Eagles is practically gospel around here: the dominance of Saquon Barkley and the offensive line, a stout defense overseen by Vic Fangio and built from the secondary in, the reality that the team didn’t want to and didn’t have to rely on Hurts’ arm to win.
Now we have the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. Drake Maye had a great second season, and Sam Darnold is a great story. But both the Patriots’ and Seahawks’ defenses finished among the league’s top four in fewest points allowed and among the top eight in fewest yards allowed.
Simply put, the passing game — the aspect of football that leads to high scores, general excitement, and the rise of the sport’s biggest celebrities and product-movers (i.e., star quarterbacks) — ain’t what it used to be. Hell, we were three points away from having a Super Bowl with Darnold and Jarrett Stidham as the starting QBs … not exactly an electrifying matchup of two all-time greats/household names.
Broncos backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham leaves the field after the team’s loss in the AFC championship against the New England Patriots.
For all the moaning that Sunday’s Patriots-Broncos game was boring and unwatchable because of the snow at Empower Stadium, for all the silly calls for holding conference-title games in domes from now on, the weather wasn’t what made it dull. What made it dull was that Maye played as if he was trying not to lose the game (sound familiar, Eagles fans?), and Stidham wasn’t capable of winning it.
The last time the NFL went through a stretch similar to this one was a quarter-century ago, when four consecutive Super Bowls were won by teams primarily defense-oriented: the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2001 and 2003 Patriots, and the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Consider some of the quarterbacks, too, who were reaching those Super Bowls back then: Trent Dilfer, Kerry Collins, Brad Johnson, Rich Gannon, Jake Delhomme, and a rookie named Tom Brady.
Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick might have had Tom Brady for the Super Bowls he racked up, but he also boasted some good defenses as well.
In the aftermath of that ’03 Patriots run — Bill Belichick’s defensive backs manhandled the Indianapolis Colts’ receivers in the AFC title game — the NFL decided to crack down on illegal contact, defensive holding, and pass interference infractions. In 2003, NFL teams averaged 200.4 passing yards. In 2004, that average jumped by more than 10 yards, to 210.5, and it kept rising for years thereafter.
That surge has stopped. The game has slowed down, and it’s a safe bet that the NFL won’t allow it to stay this way for too much longer. The Eagles were among those applying the brakes, but the sport is poised to open up again, and they and their new man at the wheel, whoever he might be, need to be ready.
Sunday is the first day of February, which means March is right around the corner, which means it is officially no longer too early to think about the NCAA Tournament.
Villanova is 20 games through its 31-game schedule, and nine games through its 20-game Big East slate. The Wildcats, who host Providence on campus Friday night, are 15-5 overall and 6-3 in their conference matchups in the first season of the Kevin Willard era.
School administration moved on from Kyle Neptune last March after a third consecutive season ended without an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. Villanova officials believe the school should field a basketball team that perennially is in the at-large bid conversation, and three consecutive seasons without meaningful basketball was not acceptable.
Right now, it’s hard to believe the drought could stretch to four.
Villanova coach Kevin Willard is on pace to get the Wildcats back to the tourney.
The Wildcats aren’t yet a lock, but it’s looking pretty safe for their fans to preemptively look into taking a PTO day or two for the third week of March.
What are the numbers saying? We went to ESPN’s bracket guru himself, Joe Lunardi, for some help.
‘A very long leash’
Saturday’s loss to No. 2 UConn in Hartford, Conn., was an “insurance policy” kind of game, Lunardi said. Villanova declined coverage. The Wildcats let an upset opportunity slip away in an overtime loss, but the result, Lunardi said, was a “wash.” Villanova was a double-digit underdog and lost by eight.
“It didn’t hurt, and it didn’t help,” said Lunardi, who had the Wildcats as a No. 7 seed in his latest bracket projection released Tuesday morning.
The metrics support that notion. Villanova barely budged in the NCAA’s NET rankings, where it was ranked 34th as of Wednesday afternoon, and at KenPom (27).
What has to happen to stay on the right path?
“All they really need to do is win games they’re favored, and they can even afford to lose [a few] of those,” Lunardi said. “If they go 6-5, they’re going to make it.”
That’s some leeway.
“That’s a very long leash given the fact that, frankly, the league is good but not great,” Lunardi said.
Guard Acaden Lewis is among those who could land the Wildcats back in the dance.
As things stand right now, Villanova likely would be favored in at least eight of its final 11 contests. Take care of six or seven of those, and there’s no need for a marquee win over UConn or St. John’s.
While 6-5 the rest of the way probably would be a disappointment, Lunardi projects that a final record of 21-10 gets Villanova “at worst” a No. 10 seed. The Wildcats’ ceiling, meanwhile, is “probably a five,” Lunardi said.
So, don’t count on the NCAA rewarding the Wildcats with a “home” game at Xfinity Mobile Arena to start the tournament.
Asked to put the resumé in perspective, Lunardi said: “I would describe it as a resumé of a regular good Jay Wright team, meaning a mid-single-digit seed, not a Final Four team. Everything has to go right to make the second weekend.”
That’s probably a result any rational person in ’Nova Nation would have signed up for nine months ago.
It also seems pretty accurate. Villanova is 15-5 because it mostly has taken care of business against teams it is supposed to beat. The nonconference schedule started with a loss to nationally ranked BYU, but then came seven consecutive games against teams well outside the KenPom top 100, including three dominant Big 5 wins.
The Wildcats were then blown out by Michigan before traveling to Wisconsin to beat the Badgers in overtime, which was followed up with a road victory over Seton Hall to begin conference play. At the time, those were pretty good wins. Only the Wisconsin game has aged well.
As of Tuesday morning, Seton Hall was Lunardi’s first team outside the field of 68 after a four-game losing streak.
Forward Matt Hodge and guard Tyler Perkins have Villanova in good shape despite a near-miss against UConn on Saturday.
It is a Villanova resumé without a signature win, and it might not need one. Why?
“They don’t have the dreaded bad loss,” Lunardi said.
Last year’s resumé had losses to Columbia, St. Joseph’s, and a down Virginia team. The year before featured losses to St. Joe’s, Penn, and Drexel. This year’s biggest blip currently is against a Creighton team that still is on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
Show me the math
Lunardi says his projections are pretty conservative and include some emphasis on past similar resumés. Right now, Villanova has more than an 80% chance of making the NCAA Tournament, according to Lunardi’s projections.
On the more extreme side, the TourneyCast projections at Bart Torvik’s analytics site have Villanova at 96% to make the dance. Torvik’s numbers are based on thousands of simulations playing out the rest of the season.
“It’s too early to make anybody a lock,” Lunardi said.
But it’s getting closer to that time.
If there was anything to worry about right now for Villanova fans, it should be health. The Wildcats are a key injury or two — even minor ailments — from scrambling a bit. They don’t have a reliable backup center, for example. Their depth has taken a hit elsewhere, too.
But those worries are hypothetical. Then again, all of this is.
What about the rest of the Big 5?
Villanova is the only one of the six Big 5 schools with an at-large path to the men’s NCAA Tournament. The others would need to win their respective conference tournaments. Of the bunch, only Temple (5-2) and St. Joe’s (5-3) entered Wednesday with a winning conference record.
Villanova celebrates after a win over Xavier on Jan. 8.
On the women’s side
Similar story. Villanova (16-5, 9-3) was projected as a No. 10 seed on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble with an at-large bid in the latest ESPN women’s bracketology. No other team has an at-large path, and only Drexel (4-3) had a winning conference record entering Wednesday.
I’ve long been aware that there are other Philadelphias in the world. There’s one in Mississippi, one in South Africa, and one right here in Pennsylvania — New Philadelphia, a rural Schuylkill County borough with a bustling population of 1,008.
Philadelphia is a cool name and it comes with an inherent nickname that’s equally as cool. Who wouldn’t want that for their town? I get it and I’m not even salty about it because when you say Philly, folks know what city you’re referring to, just like when you say “Go Birds,” everybody knows you aren’t talking about the Seahawks.
I always assumed there were places that shared our suburban counties’ names as well, but never in a million Wawa Hoagiefests did I expect there to be another Delco, especially not one that also has its own merch. That’s our weird thing.
But after following up on a tip from my editor — who saw a reference to “Delco, N.Y.” — I found a website for DELCO, “a lifestyle brand celebrating rural culture through fashion, design & authentic content in Upstate NY.”
The company sells shirts and hoodies that read “DELCO NEW YORK,” flags in “John Deer Green” that read the same, and a trucker hat with Calvin (the comic strip character) urinating on the word DELCO.
It’s not clear how this lifestyle brand can produce “authentic content” while soaking in a hot tub full of boiling lies, for there is only one true Delco and it’s here, in Southeastern Pa.
Delco residents haven’t spent years putting the word Delco on everything, receiving national attention for some of the most bizarre crimes imaginable, and staking their giant Delco flags at the Jersey Shore like it was the moon to have some ersatz “Delco” capitalize off their questionably good name.
The Hurley family of Springfield, Pa., flies their Delco flag on the beach in Ventnor in 2024.
“We’ve defined what it means to be Delco,” Rob MacPherson, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for Visit Delco, told me.
Fran McElwee, marketing strategist for the county tourism agency, agreed.
“We are who we are and we know it,” she said. “We’re the OG.”
Requests for interviews with a representative of DELCO, the New York lifestyle brand, and with the president of the board of supervisors for Delaware County, N.Y., were not returned. Isn’t that interesting.
Rural vs. suburban
There are at least six Delaware Counties in the United States, one each in Indiana, Iowa, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania. But ours was the first, having been established in 1789.
While many of those counties also use some form of Delco (DelCo, Del-Co, etc.) for municipal government website URLs or public utilities names, Delaware County, N.Y., appears to be the only one trying to co-opt Delco as a culture.
Our Delco and the one in New York were both named after the Delaware River, which forms the border between the Empire State’s Delaware County in its southern tier and Pennsylvania’s Wayne County, in the far northeast.
Both counties also have municipalities named Middletown, we don’t like New York City folks coming in and mucking stuff up, and we have an affinity for mullets, as evidenced by the models on the DELCO lifestyle brand’s website. But that’s where the similarities end.
Delaware County, N.Y., is rural (which, if you’re from real Delco, would be pronounced so it rhymes with “gurrrl” for emphasis). It’s 1,467 square miles with 29 municipalities and 44,191 residents, so it’s safe to assume there are more deer there than people.
According to the county website, top activities include fishing, snowmobiling, and hiking. Historically, the region was known for its sawmills, dairy farms, and the Western Catskills.
Delco, Pa., on the other hand, is more suburban than a Chevy or a cul-de-sac. It shoves 49 municipalities and 584,882 people into 184 square miles. This county is like a damn clown car. We don’t even know how we all fit in here, we’re just along for the ride.
Eagles fans wave team flags from the top of their van while tailgating near Lincoln Financial Field.
But our greatest asset, what makes us the real Delco, is our culture.
People here are so passionate they’ve made a Delco movie, Delco beer, and Delco-set TV shows. Residents get Delco tattoos, there’s a state-recognized Delco Day, and I once interviewed a guy who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro with the sole purpose of waving a Delco flag at the top.
Roddie Cooper’s driving force to climb Mount Kilimanjaro was to get this photograph of the Delco flag at the top.
So whenever “Delco,” N.Y. wants to wave one of its flags in truce, we’ll gladly come take it.
‘A way of life’
“Delco is different, it’s a personality, it’s a way of life, there’s an authenticity about Delco you don’t find in other counties,” McElwee told me.
Zac Beaver, programming and libraries manager for the Delaware County Historical Society, said Delco’s hyperlocal culture sets it apart. It has its own accent, history, and even its own love language.
“A hoagie tray is a meaningful unit of generosity,” Beaver said.
Dave Avicolli (left) and Steve Yancey, co-owners of Ro-Lynn Deli in Brookhaven hold a “meaningful unit of generosity,” a Delco hoagie tray.
There are even unspoken rules for Delco neighborhood bars.
“They don’t have a website, only a Facebook page at most,” MacPherson said. “And no more than two IPAs on tap.”
He theorized that part of the county’s strong identity comes from the fact that there are so many municipalities and many folks attended Catholic schools or school districts like Interboro, which cover several townships.
“So your commonality was your county and not your hometown,” MacPherson said. “I think that’s led to the notion of Delco.”
Delco residents “don’t have very lofty ideas about what it means to be from Delco, like [they would] if they were from New York City or California,” Beaver told me, and they may come across to some as brusque, but that’s just because they’re engaged and “as likely to say something negative as positive to you, whereas in the rest of the country they just won’t talk to you,” Beaver said.
Such hyperlocal culture isn’t true of everywhere, Beaver posited.
Actor Brian Anthony Wilson during the red carpet premiere of “Delco: The Movie” at the Media Theatre last year. Yes, “premier” is spelled wrong on the marquee. Yes, that is very Delco.
“If you live in suburban Iowa you might as well live in suburban Nebraska,” he said. “I think it has to do with the flattening of the American experience. I think everyone else has changed more than we have.”
Philly’s other burbs also have their own culture but don’t exhibit the level of outward pride I see in Delco. I asked Beaver if he had any theories.
“Because they’re rich,” he said. “They’ve been desirable places for a long time. Delco was looked down on for a long time … and that makes people proud of it.”
MacPherson agreed.
“The pride comes from having a little bit of a chip on the shoulder,” he said.
‘By sheer force’
It’s unclear when Delco was first used as a nickname for Delaware County, Pa., but embarrassingly, the first Delco reference I can find in The Inquirer’s archives was for a guest from Delco, N.Y. who checked into a Philadelphia hotel in 1860. (I don’t know why newspapers used to print hotel registries, aside from the act we’ve always been nosy little buggers.)
In 1861, The Inquirer referenced a Del.co that appears to be the one in Pennsylvania, and I found subsequent Del.co references in our archives throughout the late 1800s. It’s only shortly after the turn of the 20th century that Delco seems to have come into regular use when referring to things and people from the suburban county.
“There is the Delco Baseball League founded in 1908 and they still exist,” Beaver said.
Delco is also a brand name. There’s ACDelco automotive parts (a remnant of Delco Electronics), Delco flatware, and Delco Foods, an Italian food distributor in Indiana. So there’s a minute possibility “Delco,” N.Y., could have been inspired to take its name from one of them.
A “Smile You’re in Delco” sign greets the thirsty shoppers at 320 Market Cafe in Swarthmore.
I even found an 1879 reference to a man named Delco in a crime blurb in The Inquirer:
“ … In Cincinnati yesterday two men Jim Dermont, the cook, and Isadore Delco, a server in a Sixth Street restaurant, quarreled over the dignity of their respective positions, and Delco was badly stabbed.”
I didn’t find a follow-up story but I have no doubt Delco survived the fight, because it always does — at least in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
So to this phony flimflam “Delco” — bring it on. We’ve been around longer and we have more people, more pride, and more culture. Plus, as Philly sports fans and Delco residents, we have a chip on our shoulder bigger than a family bag of Herr’s.
“Just by sheer force, we’re winning,” McElwee said.
The fun part of the baseball offseason is the illusion of control.
Unless you are Dave Dombrowski.
In which case, you’re a sitting duck. Or, even worse, you’re a floating duck, whose legs are tied, except they are tied beneath the surface, and so everybody thinks you’re a dumb little ducky because you don’t know how to swim.
The Phillies president has earned some of the criticism being lobbed his way. As ridiculous as it may seem for the Mets to pay Bo Bichette $42 million in annual average value, is it any more ridiculous than paying Taijuan Walker and Nick Castellanos a combined $38 million in AAV?
The substitution costs are always what get you. Thirty-eight million dollars would have been enough to have Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez in your bullpen last season. It would have been enough to have Edwin Díaz in your bullpen this season. General managing is all about the tradeoffs you make.
The irony is that the Castellanos and Walker contracts are easy ones to stumble into for the same reason that everyone thinks Dombrowski has done a lousy job this offseason. If you happened to be someone who pointed out the overinflated and potentially ill-advised nature of those deals at the time they were signed, you were met with a shrug of the shoulders.
Phillies president David Dombrowski has been the brunt of a few jokes this offseason as the team looks to retool for this upcoming year.
Who cares? It’s not our money.
Well, it’s nobody’s money now.
But let’s get back to our original point. Whatever nickel-and-diming we do in hindsight, it wouldn’t erase the only conclusion we can draw from this offseason. No amount of fiscal prudence would have given the Phillies the means to catch up to, let alone keep pace with, the Dodgers. Over the last three offseasons, they have signed Shohei Ohtani, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and now Kyle Tucker and Díaz to contracts ranging from $22 million to $57 million in average annual value.
John Middleton might be a billionaire, but the Dodgers’ annual payroll is pushing half a billion once you factor in the luxury tax. How many billions? That’s the question you need to answer to compete at this level of spending.
The Phillies know this. Could Middleton and his minority owners rub their pennies together a little harder? Sure. Their attempt to sign Bichette was a sign that they aren’t operating by any hard spending limits. What they lack — what everybody lacks, except for the Dodgers and Mets — is the ability to sign such contracts with the knowledge that they can outspend any mistakes. The Dodgers have plenty of seemingly dead money on their books after last year’s bullpen spending spree. But it doesn’t seem to matter.
Chasing Bo Bichette, who signed with the Mets, was admirable of the Phillies. But what would the cost have been if they landed him?
The ability to sign Bichette for what would have been a reasonable seven-year, $200 million deal is a lot different from the ability to spend that money on whoever happens to be available. That’s how you end up hamstringing yourself by overpaying for players like Walker and Castellanos.
Those contracts only make sense if you can outspend the mistakes. The Phillies aren’t there, nor have they ever pretended to be. It’s plenty fair to criticize Dombrowski and Middleton for offering those deals to begin with. But you can’t fault them for their inability and/or unwillingness to offer another batch of them.
Which brings us to the illusory aspect of the baseball offseason. Regardless of how the last few months would have played out, the Phillies were always going to enter spring training needing to look inward in order to catch up to the Dodgers. In more ways than one. They are going to need to get some sort of impact from their minor league system. And they are going to need to get the intestinal fortitude to create opportunities for it to happen.
The best news of the offseason might have come over the last week, when all of the national outlets released their Top 100 prospects lists. Aidan Miller showed up in the Top 10 of two of those lists: No. 6 on The Athletic’s and No. 10 on ESPN’s.
News? Perhaps not. But confirmation that the national scouting industry agrees with what all of us local yokels have seen with our own two eyes for the last two years. Miller is the kind of prospect who can alter a team’s long-term trajectory while massively boosting its present-day World Series odds.
Many believe Phillies minor league infielder Aidan Miller is the kind of prospect who can alter a team’s long-term trajectory.
Years ago, the Dodgers had one of those prospects in Corey Seager. He broke into the big leagues at 21 on a team managed by Don Mattingly. Mattingly happens to be the new Phillies bench coach and the father of the team’s general manager. The Dodgers went to the NLCS the following season, when Seager was 22, and the World Series the year after, when he was 23. Miller will be 22 in June.
Prospects are largely responsible for writing their own future. Miller needs to start the season the way he ended the last one. If he does, the Phillies need to do their part and find him a spot in the lineup. It could involve difficult conversations, but they will be necessary ones.
Same goes elsewhere. With Andrew Painter. With Gage Wood. With lesser-heralded prospects like Gabriel Rincones and Jean Cabrera. The Phillies need to be willing and flexible to bring guys up and find out what they have.
The Dodgers have set the bar high. The Phillies have no choice but to reach for it.
Since becoming Temple’s women’s basketball coach in 2022, Diane Richardson has introduced her team to WNBA players and had them participate in community events.
From Philly’s Kahleah Copper attending nearly every practice during Richardson’s first two seasons to having the Owls hold a camp for girls, Richardson has been an ongoing advocate for women’s basketball in the city.
With an WNBA franchise set to come to Philadelphia in 2030, she hopes the fandom will continue to grow. In the meantime, Unrivaled will make its first trip out of Miami and play at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday — in front of a sold-out crowd.
“To get Unrivaled sold out in a matter of days, that tells you we are ready for the WNBA,” Richardson said. “I think we’ll have sold-out stadiums when the WNBA gets here.”
Richardson has been at the forefront of the push to grow women’s basketball in Philly. Unrivaled is another event to get the city ready — and the support has been encouraging.
General manager Howie Roseman (left) and head coach Nick Sirianni have much to consider that goes beyond the offensive coordinator search.
Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Nick Sirianni are tasked with making a variety of staffing and personnel decisions over the next several months to return the Eagles to Super Bowl contention next season. With the coaching carousel spinning and free agency and the draft looming, here’s where the Birds could start with their decision-making.
And there’s a lot of anxiety surrounding the Eagles, particularly about the fact that they haven’t hired an offensive coordinator yet.
Maybe that’s because the NFL’s passing game isn’t necessarily what it used to be. But that doesn’t mean it can’t evolve with the right strategy, and in the Eagles’ case, the right coordinator, writes Mike Sielski.
What we’re…
🤔 Wondering: This year’s Super Bowl will feature the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. Are there any local connections?
📺 Watching: A hometown favorite will appear on your television screens during a Budweiser Super Bowl ad: Lincoln the bald eagle.
🏈 Debating: Who were your favorite NFL color analysts this season? Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes ranks his.
Jared McCain (20) celebrates a three-pointer that was part of his 17-point night in a win against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.
The one big takeaway from the Sixers’ 139-122 comeback win against Milwaukee last night is that despite the on-again, off-again nights from Joel Embiid and Paul George, it’s still electric when those two are on the floor — together. The duo accounted for 61 of the team’s total, with George finishing with a game-high 32 points.
It allowed other important pieces not to be relied on as heavily in what was as close to a team performance as we’ve seen from the Sixers this season. Inquirer writer Keith Pompey has more on the pair and what appeared to also be a revival of Jared McCain.
Next up, the Sixers will look to run it back against Sacramento in the second of a three-game homestand at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Thursday (7 p.m., NBCSP).
Flyers’ Christian Dvorak, Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras gather during stoppage on Jan. 17.
The Flyers have been scuffling of late, having lost eight of their last 10, and a big reason why has been the dropoff from their No. 1 line of Trevor Zegras, Travis Konecny, and Christian Dvorak.
The Flyers need more from the high-scoring trio and Rick Tocchet believes it starts with them playing a more honest 200-foot game.
“I hate to use the word cheating; they’re cheating for offense,” Tocchet said of his top line’s game recently.
“You’ve got to play the right way. You’ll get the same amount of chances in the long run, and that’s the way you’re supposed to play the game anyway.”
Speaking of the Flyers’ struggles, here’s what the players had to say after Monday’s disappointing 4-0 loss.
Sports snapshot
Villanova’s Devin Askew goes for a loose ball during a win over Georgetown at Finneran Pavilion on Jan. 21.
What do Phillies prospect Aidan Miller and the Dodgers have in common when it comes to World Series chances? A whole lot of upside.
The Phillies were always going to enter spring training needing to look inward in order to catch up to the Dodgers. In more ways than one. They are going to need to get some sort of impact from their minor league system.
Aidan Miller is the kind of prospect who can alter a team’s long-term trajectory. It’s the type of production the Dodgers are shelling out billions for, and what the Phillies are aspiring to, writes columnist David Murphy.
Al Luecke, 77, of Fishtown, a regular at J.R’s Saloon for 25 years, playing pool on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025.
Sure, the Super Bowl is basically just another football game when the Eagles aren’t playing, but it is the perfect excuse to scope out a new dive bar to become a regular before next season. Last month, our colleagues on the food team asked for recommendations for Philly’s best and most unsung dive bars.
After combing through more than 400 responses, the final list includes dives of all stripes, from bars that only air the Mike & Merrill broadcast to ones with juicy roast beef sandwiches, pre- and post-game karaoke, and the occasional sub $5 Citywide.
🧠 Trivia time answer
Which athlete has won the most MVP awards while playing with Philadelphia’s professional teams?
A) Wilt Chamberlain, who won four MVP awards — Michael P. was first with the correct answer.
We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Keith Pompey, Colin Schofield, Olivia Reiner, David Murphy, Marcus Hayes, Mike Sielski, Ryan Mack, Jeff Neiburg, Jonathan Tannenwald, Jackie Spiegel, Jenn Ladd, Beatrice Forman, and Ariel Simpson.
By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.
As always, thanks for reading. Stay warm this week. Kerith will be in your inbox with Thursday’s newsletter. — Bella
“When I did the tour I was just wowed by it,” recalled DiMeo, an attorney at Rosen, Schafer, & DiMeo.
Their corner unit faces southeast, flooding the apartment with natural light through windows that stretch from the floor nearly to the ceiling. The 1,200-square-foot unit features an open-concept floor plan with two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
“We love the city feel, seeing the skyline,” said Levari, a court stenographer. She opens the windows each morning, letting in the fresh air and sounds of the city. “I will follow the light around the apartment throughout the day, finding the sunniest spot to enjoy a good book.”
The kitchen, dining area, and living room, where light pours in from the nearly floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Replacing the old office windows with floor-to-ceiling glass was a complex work sequence but necessary in order to transform the interiors, bringing in natural light and city views that define the new apartments,” said property manager Jennifer Oyola.
The design pays quiet tribute to its origins, honoring the strength and scale of a classic Center City high-rise while reshaping it for the way people live now, she added.
The couple enjoy dining in front of the wall of windows, watching the activity down below. In the evening, they admire the sights of City Hall, Liberty Place, and other buildings lighting up.
The guest bedroom, with views of the street below.DiMeo says dining in the apartment feels like dinner at a fancy restaurant.
“Frank says he feels like he’s at a fancy restaurant with the view, especially at night,” Levari said.
Both love to cook, and Italian food is their specialty. The kitchen is equipped with Samsung appliances, including a smart oven with phone app features, which is especially helpful to ensure they turned the stove off, Levari said with a laugh. There is plenty of counter space for meal prep and a lot of cabinet space.
The apartment’s construction — windows framed in black, light brown luxury vinyl tile plank floors, and plentiful glass — lends itself to a contemporary design.
Levari chose mostly neutral tones with pops of color to complement the look. She enjoys mixing classic pieces with vintage styles.
The Alanda glass coffee table, made by Italian designer Paolo Piva, complements the apartment’s contemporary style.
The living room features a lush velvet navy blue couch, a comfy spot to curl up on weekend nights and watch TV. The couple bought their Alanda glass coffee table, made by Italian designer Paolo Piva, at B&B Italia in New York.
“It’s one of those designs that never goes out of style,” Levari said.
The guest room/office includes the bedroom furniture she shipped over from Italy, where she lived for many years and taught English. It’s a comfortable reminder of the time she spent there. The only drawback is that the mattress is a European size that would be difficult to replace and it’s hard to find sheets that fit.
“I felt it was worth it for the memories, look, and quality,” Levari said. “It’s hard to find pieces of quality that you love. Therefore, the shipping cost made sense.”
The walnut Renaissance revival style cabinet in the primary bedroom came from a vintage shop outside of Como, Italy.
The kitchen provides ample counter space and cabinet storage, with stainless steel appliances and gold details.
Levari and DiMeo appreciate the building’s amenities, starting with the rooftop, which includes a saltwater pool, sauna, and cold plunge.
“You really get the city vibe there because it’s on the 19th floor and you have all the highest buildings in the city surrounding you,” Levari said.
Other amenities include the fitness center with a turfed area for cross training, pickleball and basketball courts, a yoga studio, and sport simulator. A club-style lounge includes a chef’s prep kitchen, private dining room, and billiards table. For furry friends, there’s a pet spa and park.
Decorations on the dining room table echo the gold details in the kitchen.The apartment is decorated in neutral tones with some pops of color, like this throw pillow on the guest bed.
The couple are embracing life in the city, where they can walk to great restaurants, shows, concerts, and the ballet. But they are also happy to come back home.
“Having our corner apartment with the huge windows makes it feel like I’m on vacation,” said DiMeo.
Is your house a Haven? Nominate your home by email (and send some digital photographs) at properties@inquirer.com.
Authoritarians try to rewrite history, fashioning a story that reflects well on them. That’s why the Trump regime ordered the removal of the President’s House exhibits that tell the story of the people George and Martha Washington enslaved. Donald Trump denounced any public interpretation of our history that “inappropriately disparages” the United States.
But it’s not the historians and community activists who insult the white founders. They did that themselves, fighting for their own freedom while enslaving, raping, and torturing others. Washington continually rotated the people he enslaved out of Philadelphia, so as to evade the city’s six-month limit on owning other people. He went so far as to try multiple times to kidnap and re-enslave Ona Judge after she liberated herself in 1796.
This is Black history, but it is also white history. It is American history. I myself am descended from Virginia enslavers. I know the knots my people tied themselves in, trying to soften and justify what they did. But there it is in my great-great-grandfather’s diary, after he describes the weather: “This day my overseer beats my negro Shadrick for sleeping in.” My ancestors and other enslavers committed a grave crime against humanity. Only by telling this truth and facing it can we hope to even begin to redress the consequences of their crimes.
Sarah Browning,Philadelphia
. . .
As longtime educators (35 years) in Philadelphia, we are outraged and saddened that references to slavery at Independence National Historical Park have been removed. We cannot change history, but we can learn from it. Can we come together as people in Philadelphia to find a private location close to Independence Park to display these panels with the help of grants from foundations, such as the William Penn Foundation? Can we show visitors that we are proud citizens of a city that values brotherly and sisterly love? America was and is great. Let’s celebrate our Semiquincentennial while addressing the reality of our treatment of enslaved people and Native Americans.
Joseph T. and Barbara R. Devlin,Telford
. . .
The Trump administration’s removal of educational slavery exhibits from the President’s House site at Independence National Historical Park was apparently done on the basis that they “inappropriately disparage Americans, past or living.” Generations of Americans have learned of our history through such exhibits at national parks all around the country. This move to censor our true history serves no “Americans, past or living.”
Mark Baum Baicker, Carversville
. . .
After the National Park Service dismantled all of the displays memorializing the enslaved people at the President’s House, a call went out to Philly artists to contribute creative work to the now dismantled memorial.
As I headed out to the site with some artwork, I learned that federal officers had killed a protester in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse.
Donald Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio, Russell Vought, et al. can’t find another country to invade that won’t bring down the condemnation of the international community. Instead, with the help of the U.S. Supreme Court, the GOP, and a handful of billionaires, they are waging war on the United States of America. We are on the receiving end of a deliberate form of cultural erasure, disappearing references about the brutality of slavery at the same time that the good people of this country are being abducted, beaten, incarcerated, and now, killed.
Cindy Maguire,Merion Station
. . .
I am outraged that the National Park Service removed the exhibits documenting slavery at the President’s House. Erasing those parts of our history that make us uncomfortable does not make “America Great Again.” What can make America great is the acknowledgment of its failures (past and present) with a firm commitment to righting those wrongs and making life better for everyone who lives here, regardless of where they come from, what color they are, whether they are rich or poor, or whether they are citizens or not. We seem to be drifting further and further away from any semblance of what makes a country great, from being an example for others to emulate. I wonder how future exhibits of this period in our nation’s history will be depicted — or if they will also be erased.
Kathleen Coyne,Wallingford
. . .
I am writing to urge that references to slavery not be removed from our national parks and historic sites. These places exist to tell the full American story, not a sanitized version of it.
Slavery is a painful and shameful part of our history, but it is also central to understanding who we are and how far we have come. Erasing or softening that history does not honor the past; it diminishes it. When visitors encounter honest accounts of slavery, they also encounter the reality of progress — the long struggle toward freedom, equality, and justice, and the fact that our nation ultimately rejected slavery as incompatible with its ideals.
National parks are uniquely positioned to educate. They should present history in context, with care and accuracy, showing both the wrongs that were committed and the moral courage it took to overcome them. Facing difficult truths helps us appreciate the progress that was made and reminds us why it mattered.
Preserving these references is not about assigning guilt to the present, but about understanding the past. An honest history strengthens our national character and ensures that the lessons of slavery — and the achievement of overcoming it — are not forgotten.
Martha Weinar, Cherry Hill
. . .
President Donald Trump and his administration, including the National Park Service, are wrong and foolish to remove the true story of slavery from the President’s House at Independence National Historical Park.
The President’s House is historic because it shares with only the White House in Washington, D.C., the distinction of being the official residence of two or more presidents. The President’s House was also at the center of America’s original sin of slavery, as George Washington lived there with enslaved people, and John Adams, an abolitionist, lived there without captives.
Trump and his followers are wrong to try to whitewash our national history. We must acknowledge our past, warts and all, and resolve to do better. And Trump is foolish. His censorship only draws more attention to what he is trying to deny. Americans are smarter than he is.
As another president famously said, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
Joseph Hoeffel, current volunteer ranger, Independence National Historical Park
The writer is a former member of Congress.
. . .
My grandmother, Margaret Washington, descendant of George Washington, and my grandfather, George Robins, descendant of Bishop William White, are probably rolling in their graves in the Christ Church graveyard over the removal of the signage at the President’s House nearby.
As a retired public schoolteacher and a Washington and White family descendant, I’m appalled at the removal of the exhibit signs about the people Washington enslaved. Included was one sign with images of the Rev. Absalom Jones and the Rev. Richard Allen.
Bishop White ordained Absalom Jones as our first African American Episcopal minister of St. Thomas Church.
I supported the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition’s work to bring the exhibits to the President’s House 20 years ago, and we need to continue to do so today.
Teaching the truth and supporting ongoing public education have been long-held values in our democracy as it progresses through time. We cannot erase historic harms. My grandchildren are the seventh generation of their family’s Philly ancestry, and we need to work now to stand up for the truth and our democracy for our unborn citizens in seven generations to come. We the People need to demand the return of the signs now and stand in truth together, protecting the birthplace of our democracy in our nation’s 250th anniversary year.
Peggy Hartzell,Glenmoore
. . .
Regarding the removal of the slavery exhibits at the President’s House, could the displays be recreated by either the city of Philadelphia or even a private organization with a GoFundMe page? Surely somebody must have photographs of those panels that were taken down. Set them up on public, private, or city-owned property nearby so they can still be seen, and the information contained therein is not removed from the public domain.
Doug Smithman,Dresher
Join the conversation: Send letters to letters@inquirer.com. Limit length to 150 words and include home address and day and evening phone number. Letters run in The Inquirer six days a week on the editorial pages and online.
ARIES (March 21-April 19). You’ve been around hard people and known the cold pain of emotional indifference. Your capacity for kindness has been earned with firsthand experience of emotionally barren situations. Now your warmth changes everything for someone.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20). Questions arise. What’s the cost of attention, approval and affection? It’s different in different relationships. Sometimes it seems much more expensive than it’s worth. Often the currencies are subtle. Does the trade itself negate the presence of real love?
GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Don’t waste time where red flags are flying. There are so many people of stellar character you haven’t met yet. Keep moving. You deserve to be around people who support, uplift and inspire your trust on every front.
CANCER (June 22-July 22). There’s a common belief that focusing on personal goals leads to happiness, yet shared effort and contribution often produce deeper, longer-lasting joy. Helping or collaborating with others will uplift you in the moment, and the good feelings linger.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). You like someone. Your goal isn’t just to understand the piece of them you interact with. You already know their work role or public persona. You’re more interested in what motivates them. One thoughtful question can start that deeper connection.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). You’re doing well, but it’s OK to want to be doing even better. People who have your best interest at heart are fine with this. A transformation is happening now, albeit slowly. Keep focusing on what you want.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). The vague restlessness of the day has you up and out, looking for somewhere to apply your energy that will keep you engaged, responsible and involved. Meaningful tasks will quiet an uneasy feeling and put you back on course.
SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). Power and efficiency go hand-in-hand. Today sees you doing less but doing it well and creating a greater effect than overcomplicating or overextending yourself. Minimalism makes your world simply beautiful and keeps you from getting bogged down.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). Your internal weather produces states that come and go on their own. To argue with a feeling or force a mood only drains energy without changing much. You conserve energy just watching emotions drift like clouds across your sky inside.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). You don’t always stop when you feel tired, because you know you have reserves that will kick in after you’ve spent everything in the tank. When it’s important enough, you can push through, and you’ll be met on the other side.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). It clicks in. The plan comes together. You love the feeling of finally understanding a complex situation or making sense of the unknown. Your whole being lights up and you feel swept into the wholeness of life itself.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). The contrast between curiosity and conviction is sharp today. Self-righteousness signals psychological danger. Certainty can harden positions. The most reasonable and accurate arguments are aware of their own ignorance. Stay open.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Jan. 28). Welcome to your Year of Lasting Support. You assemble a network that strengthens every part of your life, giving you more practical help, emotional understanding and an enduring source of mutual encouragement. More highlights: thriving projects, special connections with people of different generations and lifestyle upgrades that favorably affect your day-to-day. Libra and Cancer adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 14, 21, 32, 6 and 41.
