PHILADELPHIA — John Middleton runs the show in Philadelphia.

The Phillies’ managing partner made that clear Friday, a day after Manager Gabe Kapler was fired despite resistance from the team president, Andy MacPhail, and General Manager Matt Klentak.

“A CEO’s responsibility is to ensure an organization achieves its strategic objectives, and everything I do every day is working toward that end,” Middleton said.

Philadelphia’s front office spent weeks deliberating Kapler’s fate before Middleton decided to remove him. Kapler went 161-163 in two seasons.

It’s not the first time Middleton has overruled his front office. After promising last fall to spend “stupid” money, he was the driving force behind the decision to give Bryce Harper a $330 million, 13-year contract. He also made the move to fire hitting coach John Mallee in August and replace him with a former manager, Charlie Manuel.

“The decision about a manager is much more directly connected to achieving the strategic objective of winning a World Series, just like signing Bryce Harper, (acquiring) J.T. Realmuto have a stronger impact on them,” Middleton said. “So when you get to an impasse on those types of decisions, a CEO not only has the authority to step in, the CEO has the responsibility and obligation to step in.”

Middleton conceded public opinion was a factor in his decision but pointed several times to the team’s September collapses the past two seasons.

“You have to know where your customers are and take their views into account,” he said. “When I walked around the stadium and walked around the streets of Philadelphia, and people come up to me, there were almost, if not as many people, in favor of keeping Gabe as there were telling me to make the decision I ultimately made. It wasn’t as clear-cut as some people think it was.”

THE PRICE of qualifying offers for free agents dropped for the first time, falling by $100,000 to $17.8 million.

Determined by the average of the top 125 major league contracts this year, the figure reflects a flat market last offseason.

A free agent can be made a qualifying offer only if he’s been with the same team continuously since opening day and never has received a qualifying offer before.