The Phillies are likely to trade or release Nick Castellanos this offseason, reports Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The veteran outfielder is owed $20MM for the final season of a five-year, $100MM free agent deal.
It has been apparent for the past few months that Castellanos’ time with the organization would probably come to an end this winter. He hasn’t performed up to expectations for most of his time in Philly. He’s coming off a career-worst .250/.294/.400 batting line and lost playing time in the second half.
Castellanos has also had a couple public spats with manager Rob Thomson. The skipper benched Castellanos for a game in June after the player made what Thomson considered “an inappropriate comment” when being lifted for a defensive replacement (ESPN link). Late in the season, Castellanos publicly criticized Thomson for what he called “questionable” communication on players’ roles.
The Phillies have not announced any decisions. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was asked about the situation at this morning’s end-of-season press conference. “I don’t know. I’m not going to get into specific players that are on our roster under contract. The [incidents] that you talked about are accurate, but we’ll see what happens,” he replied (link via Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Obviously, the Phillies would prefer to find a trade partner than to simply release Castellanos. That won’t be easy. Other teams will be aware of the soured relationship. Even if things hadn’t gone south off the field, he’s coming off a season in which both FanGraphs and Baseball Reference felt he was below replacement level. Castellanos ranked among the bottom 20 hitters (minimum 500 plate appearances) in on-base percentage. He tied with Jo Adell and Juan Soto for an MLB-worst 12 outs below average among outfielders. He probably would have been a primary designated hitter if he weren’t teammates with Kyle Schwarber.
Castellanos did connect on 17 homers while driving in 72 runs. He’d topped 20 homers in each of the previous two seasons. He has not gone on the injured list in three seasons and has hit .282/.329/.463 against left-handed pitching over the past four years. He’d still be an offensive upgrade for some teams as a part-time outfielder/DH.
Teams aren’t going to assume a notable portion of a $20MM salary for that kind of role. The Phils will hope to find a club willing to take $3-5MM off their hands for a nominal return. Failing that, it seems they’d simply eat the contract and release him. Castellanos could then sign anywhere for the league minimum with the Phillies on the hook for the rest of the money. The Guardians, Royals, Rangers and Padres are among the teams that need more production out of the outfield and/or designated hitter.
Moving on from Castellanos will be one of multiple changes to the Phils’ outfield. Harrison Bader and Max Kepler are headed to free agency. (Bader will decline his end of a mutual option and sign a multi-year deal.) That leaves Brandon Marsh as the only returning regular. Kepler had a poor season after signing a $10MM free agent deal. Dombrowski acknowledged that he’s unlikely to be re-signed.
The Phils will presumably make an effort to bring Bader back, but they’re also facing the impending free agencies of Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Ranger Suárez. While Dombrowski said the Phillies have interest in re-signing each of those players individually, he called it “probably impractical” to get all four of them done. Schwarber and Realmuto feel like the bigger priorities.
That points to a potential Opening Day roster spot for former first-round pick Justin Crawford. The Phillies were mulling a midseason call-up for the 21-year-old outfielder. Crawford probably would’ve debuted had they not managed to acquire Bader from Minnesota at the deadline. He instead spent the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he hit .334/.411/.452 and stole 46 bases in 112 games.
Crawford remains a somewhat divisive prospect. He has excellent bat-to-ball skills, but his power is limited by a swing designed to hit the ball on the ground. While he has the pure speed for center field, his arm and defensive routes lead many evaluators to project him as a left fielder. That could push Marsh back to center field, perhaps in another platoon with righty-swinging Johan Rojas.
Shocking!
Harper & Castellanos for Yoshida, Hicks, & Casas. Win-win?
Harper at 1st base (he will address one of the Red Sox’s poorest performing positions in 2025) and Castellanos at DH (another poor performing position in 2025, but not as bad as 1st base).
Or you could read above and see that nick will likely just get released
That’s the way I read it. Castellanos figured he would screw the Phillies royally by being very defiant to Thomson and play out the season with little to show so the Phillies can’t trade him and get stuck releasing him and eating his contract.
Could be but that doesn’t do nick all that much. I can’t think of any trade where a team says to someone we will pay 80% of the money just to get rid of this guy. Usually they just release the player. The market for RH DH only is minuscule
More like win/lose. The Sox get a useful player in Harper for taking on Castellanos, while dumping 3 underperformers they’d like to move. Don’t see why Philly would trade Harper just to get rid of Castellanos.
Harper has full no trade and said he has no plans on allowing it. He said he wants to make philly his final family home and make philly family.
DD isn’t giving away Harper for that horrible trade.
Don’t be foolish. The Phillies front office leaked the story about not being happy with Harper to see if there is trade interest.
So what your proposal is utter garbage one of the worst trade proposals I’ve seen. Thinking you’ll get Harper for that pile of nonsense for taking a whole 1 year of NC LOL
Lol. I don’t see Philly winning a WS with an overpriced and underperforming primadonna like Harper. Dombrowski Knows that too.
Regardless, Turner is the cornerstone of the Phillies and Schwarber should also be considered another cornerstone. They must resign him.
Harper’s stats over the past 4 years:
22: 63 Rs, 18 HRs, 65 RBIs
23: 84 Rs, 21 HRs, 72 RBIs
24: 85 Rs, 30 HRs, 87 RBIs
25: 72 Rs, 27 HRs, 75 RBIs
Schwarber’s stats over the past 4 years:
22: 100 Rs, 46 HRs, 94 RBIs
23: 108 Rs, 47 HRs, 104 RBIs
24: 110 Rs, 38 HRs, 104 RBIs
25: 111 Rs, 56 HRs, 132 RBIs
Trade Harper and sign Schwarber.
Lol. Wait, scrap that trade because Yoshida would put up better numbers than Harper at 1st base. And because of the tremendous upside of Casas.
What sort of fantasy makes you think Yoshida would outhit Harper? Look at their stats and games played last season:
Harper 3.2 bWAR, 129 OPS+ in 132 games.
Yoshida 0.2 bWAR, 93 OPS+ in 55 games.
Or those same stats over the last 3 seasons:
Harper 11.6 bWAR, 140 OPS+ averaging over 134 games per.
Yoshida 3.0 bWAR, 109 OPS+ averaging 101 games per.
And Harper is all of one year older. The idea that Yoshida is anywhere close to Harper in value is delusional. I’m guessing you’re making absurd trade proposals, and outlandish claims, just to jerk some chains.
Jean – Why would the Red Sox take on Castellanos’ salary if they did not include Harper.
Regardless, I don’t see Philly winning a WS with an overpriced and underperforming primadonna like Harper. DD knows that too.
“Why would the Red Sox take on Castellanos’ salary if they did not include Harper.”
It isn’t a question of if the Sox would (or wouldn’t) take on Castellanos w/o Harper. The Sox would accept your proposed trade in a heart beat. But, there’s just no way Philly is trading Harper just to rid themselves of Castellanos.
Your proposal basically comes down to Harper for Casas, since Philly would like to move on from Castellanos, and the Sox would love to rid themselves of Hicks and Yoshida. There’s just no way the Phillies would trade Harper for Casas straight up.
Plus, 11.6 bWAR and a 140 OPS+ over the last 3 seasons is not “unperforming”. It’s your opinion that he’s a prima donna, and maybe he is, I don’t know that, but that doesn’t mean they’d give him away for a guy like Casas.
Cub
Dumpster – Who’s your favorite team?
My fantasy team, which consisted of 7 Yankees oddly even though 2 other owners are from NY and 2 from Boston , not sure how they let that happen. Normally I get stuck with White Sox, As and Twins
What? You don’t have a home team?
Go Cub Go
And Red Sock before. But now that I work for MLB have to be neutral
Good riddance!
A Dh that doesn’t hit much? No thank you!
What’s the cat name
Paul
2026 SD Padre
*2026 Los Angeles angel*
could see that easily
A la Soler
Preller loves trading for big name players and having the other team pay down the salary so I can see this for the Padres. Not the worst dice roll for them at DH.
He does, though he has been getting teams to pay all of their salary. Padres absorbing 5m sounds like a lot.
The issue is if he isn’t hitting and only a right side platoon guy he likely won’t be happy. When he isn’t happy he causes issues.
I think Preller would rather target someone like Hoskins. Though I wouldn’t totally rule this out.
Hoskins would be a good fit too but he’s likely going to cost more than that. Spotrac is projecting 2 years 14 mil.
Going to be interesting to see how they fill the need for a RH bat with some slug because they really need to spend most of the available money on SP.
I missed when he caused “issues”. He did calmly answer a reporters question. Would you want him to be happy with the reduced playing time?
$3-$4 mill. outfielder who used to be somebody sounds like KC Royals.
Or the Detroit Tigers ?
Castellanos said previously Detroit’s ballpark is too big and unfair to him.
He’d probably prefer it to the unemployment line…..
Or Japan.
If he is released I would almost guarantee that he is in SD. Only issue is if he just wants to play somewhere else.
Pirates would or should put in a claim if he is released and he can serve as the right hand hitting DH and play right field occasionally.
He may not like it but he would be getting paid $20M a year to be a part time player.
If he resumes hitting right handed pitchers well he can earn more playing time to play for another contract.
Why they can just Exercise Ramons $6,5 million option and he can actually play defense
Why, because Ramon is LF. SD needs a 1B / DH / bench bat.
For league minimum on a release why not NC?
Terrible idea. Battery sales will tank in the greater Philly area if this happens.
Here’s some advice. Try not to be such an ahhsole.
Met him when he played for the Lakeland Tigers. He clearly hasn’t changed much.
You met SweetBabyRayKings?
Great joke from 30 years ago
J D Drew, and the 1999 St Louis Cardinals, have respectfully requested that you get yourself a new joke. That one is 25-years old.
He could go as Santa for Halloween
There are Yankee fans in the greater Philly area?
Castellanos was the only Phillie to consistently show up against the Dodgers in the postseason
Yoshida and a prospect for Castellanos
Red Sox say no.
Crochet, Duran, Rafaela, plus cash for Castellanos.
What if they throw in a player to be named later?
Nah, that’s a bit of an overpay. Maybe Crochet, Rafael and a couple of young prospects
Harper & Castellanos for Yoshida, Hicks, & Casas. Win-win?
… as there’s a drive into deep left field by Castellanos.
I was looking for this.
It will be a home run. And so that will make it a 4-0 ballgame. I don’t know if I’m going to be putting on this headset again.
Perhaps he likes gladiator movies
Future Hall of Pretty Good inner circle member
Nah, more like Hall of Good Timing to $100+ million.
Hall of Mediocrity, the most name-brand player with under 15 career WAR.
I think folks forget how long it took him to get going. Also, he only actually had one season where he broke meaningfully past 2 WAR.
It was a bad signing from day one, though I do see it as decent process. Between Casty and Schwarber, you had to feel pretty good about getting one quality player.
15 career WAR is mediocre in your humble opinion? Of the 25,000 players who have played in a big league game over the past 100+ years do you have any idea how many of them have accumulated 15 career WAR? Less than 10% of players who ever debut can hope for that kind of career.
Mediocre is a rude way of saying “average.” You could say it implies slightly worse than average.
Castellanos has 14 WAR in 12 seasons. A league average player produces 2 WAR a season. Casty’s chipping in just over 1 WAR. The math maths.
Mrkinsm I’d say you are probably accurate but a more comparable example would be eliminating all of those in the group that played say, less than 200 games so you can compare a multi year vet to other multi year vets unread of 1000’s of cup of coffee guys.
There are 1,063 hitters with at least 5,000 PA. I figure any Hall of Anything candidate should get to 5,000 PA over their 10+ years.
Nick Castellanos ranks 140th…worst. Basically, he’s in the 10th percentile of players with a lengthy career. Same neighborhood as some guys you might remember fondly–David Bell, Jermaine Dye, Brandon Inge. There are very few “hitters” in this group. There are a bunch of guys like Alcides Escobar, Rey Sanchez, and other glovely infielders.
Castellanos is on the short list for “best hitter” in this grouping (Hideki Matsui or Matt Stairs would get my vote). He fits right in with guys like Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer, David Segui, and Adam LaRoche aka famously mediocre players.
Here’s the list: fangraphs.com/leaders/major-league?pos=all&st…
Thanks for list. I wasn’t trying to argue that he is more than average but rather that he was about average instead of less than on a scale of guys that have played more than small amount.
I also wasn’t buying the 14 WAR means he is above average because so many 1000’s of guys that have made the show don’t have 14 WAR argument made above.
15 WAR, over 1700 hits, 250 home runs, 110 OPS+. I think that’s pretty good. Easy 90%+ whenever he gets selected to be voted on by the HOPG.
Longevity allowing for accumulation of a pile of stats by itself isn’t confirming that he is much more than average.
Those stats over say, 5/6 years and he gets more than average to the “pretty good” status.
A guy averaging 1 WAR + over a career is just average hair over average.
And I do mean in relation to major league talent not as compared to me or that average fan that couldn’t remotely perform to that level.
Forget all the saber stats. Nick has had a long career because teams found him useful. He got paid because teams found him useful. At some point, every player gets to the point of no longer being useful. If he accepts moving to dh, his career may continue.
It has nothing to do with longevity, he’s literally outperformed 90% of those who have debuted.
So you are now comparing him to HOF worthy candidates instead of all players to ever make the majors.
STL
Free player for the Rockies…
Actually, I think there’s a few teams that would take a chance on a nearly free player for one season, even with the limitations. Dude will be in a contract year and might be a little more motivated to produce, so he can get a decent deal for 2027…
Hearing the tone of the Dombrowski interview, Castellanos has probably demanded a trade already. He’s a foot soldier on a team with too many generals. His poor performance near the end of the season was probably due to working conditions. And yet, he still had a few important RBIs down the stretch. The Phils won’t release him and pay $20 million with nothing in return. They’ll probably try to trade him, and that’s unfortunate. If the Phils started showing him some love and respect, he might be able to help them out in 2026 as a DH, a position that would probably suit him well at this stage in his career. If all he had to do was hit, and take batting practice between innings like Schwarber has been doing for the past few years, he might come up with some good numbers and really help the team. Right-handed hitters with Castellanos’ history are hard to come by. The Phils better consider carefully what they plan to do before they give a valuable player away to another team. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. I have always thought of Nick Castellanos as a treasure, and if the Phils act too hastily, another team might also in 2026.
Nick, is that you?
Nick should be happy about this news. He’s going to get the opportunity to play for someone else next year and still make 20M$.
“Valuable player” ??? Seriously ?
So you went and bought a Casty jersey and don’t want to be stuck.
Thanks mom!
-your little Nicky
As ridiculous as this message is, I do think rumors of his demise are overblown. They still have to re-sign Schwarber before it makes sense to discard Castellanos (they’re not going to find a trade) because he does make for a pretty decent Plan E at DH.
Of course, Plan D is to grab Hoskins or Bell for $5MM, and those feel pretty achievable so I could also see aggressively rejecting Plan E knowing that if things got that bad, then it probably doesn’t matter.
Wait, a little love and respect? How about the 5/100M..?? All the opposing teams had to do was throw an outside and low breaking ball and he was toast. Time to eat the contract and move on. Move Trea to right field and bring Miller up!
I keep forgetting NC is the only player who gets fooled on low and outside breaking pitches. Do you watch baseball much?
Where you at Reds? Sign this guy, stick him in left field and let him rip. He was good when he was here before. He’s the middle of the order bopper the team needs
Middle of the order bopper? Him?
Yeah, Castellanos was at his most productive in Cincy, and the Reds are losing two of their right-handed bats to free agency (Austin Hays and Miguel Andujar). Definitely worth taking a chance on Castellanos if it’s only for a few million of his remaining money.
I don’t understand anything anymore.
This dude hits .250.and it is implied he stinks = “below replacement level”….
Some other dude hits .237 and it is, “solid”.
You should be actively seeking to replace a guy hitting much under .270. Ike and Gates get a pass at .266/.267.
Hit.more.HRs than.Bregman.
Maybe because evaluating players overall value just on the basis of their batting average is ridiculous. He didn’t get on base, didn’t hit for power and his defense is awful.
They even did the work in the article and he was still caught up in batting average. Many people will take that metric to their grave…
Why is this hard to understand? I know we’ve told you to use OBP/SLG and disregard AVG. And we told you this in 2008. If you’re still using AVG for anything outside of fantasy baseball in the year two thousand and twenty-five, that’s on you.
Brad Johnson
Batting average is still relevant beyond fantasy baseball as a clear measure of hitting consistency with deep historical and cultural significance in the sport. Batting titles are won based on AVG, not OBP or SLG, ensuring its ongoing importance. Dismissing AVG entirely ignores this context and its correlation with offensive production, even if it’s an imperfect metric. Your stance is overly dogmatic—while AVG alone may be less informative than a combination of metrics, the flaw lies in your absolutism, not in questioning its primacy.
My stance seems dogmatic because there’s only one right answer. You lay out a cogent case for not simply deleting AVG from the history books, but there’s simply no use case for it in modern baseball analysis. You cannot leverage the information in any way that OBP or SLG doesn’t better capture. And that’s assuming you’re only willing to work with entry-level stats you can get from tallying a scorebook.
AVG can only mislead you. It cannot guide the analyst to a good decision.
A variation on the classic example, which is the better hitter?
AVG/OBP/SLG
A. .300/.330/.400
B. 220/.330/.400
There is a correct answer, and it’s exactly the one you think I’m baiting you to select. If OBP and SLG are equal, the lower AVG hitter is the better hitter.
(or more accurately stated, the lower AVG hitter had the better performance, we can’t actually be certain he’s better)
Brad,the fallacy there is that walks are equivalent to hits,which they are certainly not.
Yes,your example means that the 220 hitter is a better power hitter than the 300 hitter,and thus may have more rbis,which to many are another useless stat.
But an extreme example would be who is the better hitter,two with an on base % the same,but the one hitter with 150 hits and no walks or the other with 100 hits and 50 walks?
I hope that you know the answer to that question which is just as viable as your comparison.
I have found in nine years on this site that many posters are in love with some of the new stats while saying that the old ones are useless,and they denigrate them and the people who think that they are still important.
The old stats were there because they were simple,and strong ones generally led to winning baseball.
I believe that that still is the goal which is to win games.
The problem becomes when the old time and new time posters denigrate both the new and the old stats,and that they do not know that they can both be used in a more intelligent new way to portray the past and predict the future.
It is a combination of using both,along with the knowledge of the humans playing the game and the many nuances that cannot be modeled,that provides for the best decision makers who are running these teams.
Put the ball in play, and good things an happen. Sac fly, reach on an error, advance runner. The 300 hitter likely does that better then the 220 hitter. And not many players have an obp 50 percent higher than their avg. Sure there are lots of meaningful figures but avg is not meaningless.
People still rushing to defend batting average in the comments of a nearly month-old post. Yeesh.
Talk to anyone in a front office role. @ tom tango on Twitter. This is solved: batting average is out as an analytical stat. It’s trivia, a nice fantasy category, and nothing more.
@brad Johnson
If you are disregarding batting ave, you are one of many that thinks like this. As that trend gained strength, batting average has nose dived. It is now the scarcest of the offensive stats, and will likely be the next basis for a money ball team. Do we care if he walks? No, we care that he hits for average , because that can move the runner more than one base at a time!
Well,
1) I apologize to Bregman. I thought he only hit 11 home runs. He hit 19 home runs.
2) You assume I would only use BA. I guarantee, I can look at AB, AVE, RBI, R, SO/9, 2B, HR, SB with glance and have a better idea with base calculations in my head that will dash your OBP, WAR and BS stats. It not like I haven’t seen them before…like for all my life…… So I can guesstimate pretty well who they are. But I would want to make a whole decision by seeing the player’ spirit play.
Example: Mookie. OBP and WAR be D’d, I want Mookie on my team. Zach McKinstry has taught me and a lot of baseball fans to love him. Plays.
3) Never, ever, ever did or will do the fantasy baseball thing. Anybody who says I have is filled with shaddock. Never have, never will. The real thing for me, baby.
As far as I am concerned, baseball was always a great way to get kids interested in math.
Mostly I rely on news articles from…..
MLBTR
Jack Strawb. troll
What did you tell “Jesus” in 1980.
Jesus, we told you this in 1980.
Batting average how quaint. Now do pitcher wins
“I don’t understand anything anymore.”
“When someone tells you who they are, believe them.”
Castellanos is an “okay” maybe slightly above average offensive player. The problem is, he is not a good fielder. And the offense he provides does not really offset the poor defense or if you slot him at DH to avoid bad defense, you could do far better than him for a bat only guy. Speaking only to offensive splits, he seems to really enjoy Cincy, Wrigley and Coors which isn’t really a surprise.
I really don’t like to beat on the Rockies but he seems like the type of guy they would just go after for the hell of it at least before the potential changes from recent developments. Though I will say the offense he would provide there would probably be substantial.
His underlying hit metrics all continue to trend down. I’m not as optimistic as you may be that he can rebound at any ballpark at age 34 next sseason. If he walked slightly more, the odds could increase to a league average bat performance. But that’s not what teams really want for a DH.
You’re definitely right though, if you’re grabbing a DH only guy, you want the whole package or an extreme in favor of power/walks with a little give in batting average. Presuming he becomes a free agent, I could see a team getting sneaky value out of him on a very short term deal, maybe dealing him away at the trade deadline.
I suppose another team that would just try to grab him on a short deal could be the Rays, they tend to get more mileage out of guys than most teams. The problem is that Castellanos just isn’t good enough to be a fielder, and on the offensive end you typically ask more than what he can provide if he is only a DH. He’ll find a home for sure this offseason (mlb loves its retreads) but will it be a place that can accentuate his limited talents?
As a Phillies fan, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here for Nick Castellanos. But, I think he’s cooked.
Thom Brennanan says hi, then interrupts this important message with a drive to left
As a Philly fan, who had a worst 48 hours last weekend: Philly or Detroit fans?
Nick is, and should be out of Philly. The narratives, however, are overblown. He is a good dude and well-liked in the clubhouse – but he is a bit different. No real filter, and like many top athletes he is struggling with the realities of his decline and what that entails.
Phils will have to eat most of the deal at this point, but he can help a 2nd division team or peripheral contender as an OF / DH. His bat is no longer what it should be, but if one looks around the league there are a ton of woeful hitters that are getting too much playing time. Even with his decline he is an improvement for a few teams and if the Phils pay down most of the deal someone should spring for it. Heck, he might even end up having a decent season somewhere else.
Philly.
Detroit has had over 15 years of crepes thrown at them.
We have no hope, no expectations ….
You have…”The Dom” and every reason to believe/expectations good things will happen.
The Phillies will not win with Thomson as the manager.
He is fine during the regular season.
But one of the main reasons is that he has a good team that is built for the regular season.
The Achilles heal in the playoffs has been the bullpen,specifically his use of Kerkering,and of course the hitting.
Small ball can win in the playoffs when the pitching is best.The home run hitters do not do as well against the very good pitchers who rarely make mistakes.
Teams need to have players who can consistently withstand the pressure during the playoffs.
And the best and most experienced managers can change the way that they manage during the playoffs.
It has not worked for Philadelphia the last several years,and may very well not change next year.
Especially when you add the Penn St loss to the Eggles and Phillies. Meantime how bout LA: Dodgers, USC, UCLA, and all 3 former and current NFL teams. Don’t think LA has ever had that happen all at once
He’d be a good fielder if his name was Cecil.
@scruff
Quite a few team got less production than NC out of their DH spot.
The problem with simply releasing him is paying him $20 million dollars to play against you while you also need to potentially replace Schwarber, Realmuto, Suarez, Kepler, Bader and whoever else is eligible for free agency. While Kepler and Bader are easy enough to replace the other three are more difficult and then you would add replacing Castellanos to the mix.
Try and trade him and see if there’s a bad contract elsewhere to swap. Maybe Arenado if the Cardinals eat some money?. Baltimore for Tyler O’Neill?
Castellanos has produced basically the same WAR in 4 years that Arenado produced last year. And Arenado was playing hurt for a while. Why would the Cardinals need to eat some money?
$42 million for Arenado vs $20 million for Castellanos. I’m not saying pay the difference but i would expect the Cards to kick in a little in such a scenario
I’d take O’Neill over Castellanos at this point. He mashes lefties and has legitimate power, and can at least hold his own in the OF.
The Cardinals owe Arenado 37 million over the next 2 years not 42. I think the Phillies would need to include something. Like Bohm.
Not going to lie, that ones a coin flip for me. O’Neill is certainly the better potential offensive and defensive player. But can you really count on the guy spending more time on the field than the injured list? He’s only played in over 100+ games in a season 2 times in his 8 year career, 7 since we’ll subtract 2020 short season. They’re both a hard pill to swallow though, no doubt about that.
Castellanos and Bohm for Arenado
I like this trade
Keep in mind, Jo Adell played the bulk of his innings in CF this past season as the Angels moved Trout to RF. He was never an excellent RF, but he was a Gold Glove Finalist there in 2024.
Gold glove finalist? The winner is often considered a joke, and you are falling for their “finalist” bs. It means nothing.
Joc for Nick.
If the Phillies don’t resign Schwarber I could see this as a fallback option for for LH DH. Or just to save a few mil and cut Joc immediately after trading for him
His “poor” showing of .250 BA, 17 HR, 72 RBI is light years better than any RH bat on the Guardians. Seems like a fit…
I’d gladly take him on the 2026 Guards if the Phils pay down some/most of his salary
They’ll get nothing for him. Someone will wait for the release.
I agree. Why would a team want to pay $3.5M (if the article is correct), and trade away something (even if it is only a low level prospect) when the potential of a release is already being talked about?
Because trading something (that will be worthless in the long run) ensures you get his services over the other 28 teams. 3 to 5M$ is nothing.
Rendon for Castellanos. Talk about a masterpiece of a trade.
A roll of toilet tissue is worth more than Rendon; as the toilet tissue is at least useful in some way.
I’m not sure Castellanos could do anything to sabotage his value that much to make that a fair trade.
Give it some time: put Thom Brennaman on the air
Adolis Garcia for Nick Castellanos and the difference in cash seems like a good match.
Why would Texas do it?
Or Aaron Judge and the difference in cash. Same perspective: coke bottle lens Philly fans
Only in modern baseball could a guy who hits .334 be called divisive.
Ehhhh, what?
Were you looking at his little league stats or something?
Castellanos has never hit .334 in a season. His best was .309 in 2021.
Crawford.
Hit .334 and apparently that’s divisive. Ok well I’ll take 9 of those guys please.
Yeah hope the Phils find a taker for Manny Mota
This has the Marlins written all over it
Marlins wanted him before. Wonder if they would pay him 5 million and send a lottery ticket to the phils if the phils pay the rest
Curious about this who says no:
Castellanos for Christian Walker
Harper to RF/DH, Walker to 1B, Phillies still free to re-sign one of Schwarber/Bader or pick an alternative.
Everybody Loves Raymond. Everybody Says No
Yea, thought that might be a popular answer. Was kind of looking at it as a rich man’s version of Soler-Canning. Houston cuts Castellanos, and Philly chases Walker’s twilight.
Cut Castellanos, sign Hoskins would cost less and feel good to the Philly audience. Though Hoskins doesn’t have Walker’s defensive floor or clubhouse reputation.
Just in time for Halloween: Trick or Trade
Funny. I didn’t watch a lot of Phillies games, but it seemed every time I did, Castellanos was raking. Go figure.
Are you…Thom Brennaman?
This is exactly the type of thing the Rockies need to get involved with. Take on Castellanos and a low top 30 prospect (Mercado?) and send Philly Antonio Senzatela. Philly saves about $8 million. Colorado gets a bat and a lotto ticket. Senza might get a chance outside of Coors to show he belongs in the majors Castellanos gets to hit in Coors in his walk year and maybe convince someone else into giving him another contract (probably not but the guy can dream). Seems like a win all around to me.
So, Phillies are willing to trade or release Casty. However, the Yankees refuse to do the same with Stanton. Stanton needs to be released, and Judge needs more time at DH. Why is this option completely out of the question. Bellinger, Dominez and Jones with Judge in the OF is better and makes for a more athletic team. I’d even consider trading both Dominez and Jones for Kwan to get a lead-off hitter. However, I doubt highly Cleveland wants to make a deal without Lombard.
Stanton hit 24 HRs, wRC+ 158, with a .350 OBP in 281 Plate Appearances compared to Castellanos who hit 17 HRs, wRC+ 90 with a .294 OBP in 589 PAs.
You’re comparing apples to coconuts here because Stanton was MORE productive in less than half the amount of at-bats.
Jones and Dominguez and for Kwan is already ridiculous. And you want to add in Lombard, Jr.?
“So, Phillies are willing to trade or release Casty. However, the Yankees refuse to do the same with Stanton. Stanton needs to be released, and Judge needs more time at DH. Why is this option completely out of the question.”
Because Stanton had a 158 OPS+ this year and Castellanos has never come close to that, even at his peak. If Stanton had qualified, he would have finished fourth in the AL in hitting. He’s still elite with the bat. Also in each of the remaining years on his contract, the Marlins are paying $10 million of his salary. Releasing Stanton would be monumentally stupid.
Possibly a fit in Boston if Refsnyder retires.
No thanks
– Sincerely, Red Sox fan
Should have dumped idiot grouchy old man Thomson. Everything said by Nick is correct but the Phillies are stuck because Dombrowski is stuck in 1959.
Cleveland needs a bat. Broom the defense. It makes too much sense so it will not happen.
I’d gladly take him on the 2026 Guards if the Phils pay down some/most of his salary
Agreed. We’d be lucky if Cleveland picked up 5 million, sadly.
If Cleveland needs a bat, Castellanos is not the one to provide it. Look at his Savant page and his 88 OPS+. He’s cooked.
17 homers and a .250 batting average. In Cleveland that would be enough to warrant a parade. Maybe even a lifetime contract lol. It really is hard being a fan sometimes.
Point taken but there’s no guarantee he will even put up 88 OPS+ next year. Although I just looked at Cleveland’s lineup’s stats and maybe you’re right. Yikes.
Time has run its course, he was a 1.5 WAR average from Detroit to Cincy and just .3 as a Phillie.
They need to dump Walker as well so it’ll be interesting. They won’t get an MLB player in return unless they’re just as bad like.. Rendon which that’s a waste of time and money.
Bellinger, Bregman, Alonso, Bichette, etc… they’ll have to come away with someone and get creative financially to most likely.
If the Dodgers can cheat the system and get Ohtani for 2M a season I think they can get something done with the current FA class.
It’s a pity that this is necessary, but it is.
Most of the changes Phillies fans want–and I’m a Phillie fan–are stupid. You don’t blow up half the roster on a team that won 96 games and happened to be knocked out of the playoffs by a team that’s on a historic run. Really, the gnashing of teeth and the clutching of pearls is just stupid. It’s the fans who’re choking, not the team. Nobody’s beating the Dodgers this October. Nobody.
All that being said, Casty has to go. When he’s on a hot streak he’s a fine player but his hot streaks are getting shorter and less frequent, and when he’s not on a hot streak his nothing but a hole in the lineup. Bottom line, he’s no longer a starting caliber player on a contending team, and he’s got no value for the Phillies off the bench. He’s a bad presence in the clubhouse. It’s a shame.
This would be on brand for the Angels.
I wouldn’t trade for him, but if released, and I’m the Cubs, I’m all over him. Mostly DH.
.250, 17 home runs, 72 RBI. I’ll take that production. 33 years old. Change of scenery would benefit him.
Seperate from his on-field play, Castellanos was the only Phillies player who signed autographs for kids before home games from the side of the dugout. He was there early and signed as long as he could… he was personable and had fun interactions with the fans.
WAR means nothing. He was relegated to the outfield because Schwarber and Harper and Realmuto clogged up the DH spot. Castellanos is still a great hitter and is extremely clutch. I’d take him on the Mets as the DH, more clutch then any hitter currently on the team right now
A) Castellanos is not “still a great hitter”. He’s diminished and is below average with rapidly declining metrics.
B) Castellanos is not “extremely clutch”. In 2025, he hit .157/.224/.329/.552 with two outs and RISP. He hit .173/.259/.227/.485 Late and Close. He’s anti-clutch.
C) Remember how much Mark Vientos struggled this season? He finished with a 97 OPS+. Castellanos had an 88. You want to replace Vientos at DH with a worse hitter who is eight years older, rapidly declining, and caused a clubhouse stir when he was benched for a game for platoon reasons? Total buffoonery.
Its crawford time baby
Bad contract swap for a pitcher?
@Yankees. The Yankees roster needs a change. Getting rid of the slow Stanton is the first step. What’s wrong with the Yankees going after Kwan to be a lead-off hitter. The Yankees put Goldy in the lead-off spot last year. How is that the answer? They refused to keep Dominez in the spot lead-off, and I thought he was a spark when given a chance. At least I’m thinking change is necessary. What are your thoughts??
Is Harper able to play the outfield again? He’s pretty shaky at first base.
I can’t imagine Harper will ever play the outfield again. And he’s solid at first base.
Whoever represented him and got him 4 years @ 20 M is the real MVP.
Can’t come to grips with his rapid decline. Even at a bargain basement price may be a risk to clubhouse dynamic, particularly for a team w/ young developing players.
Another Scott Boris prize!
IIRC Jeter walked away from the Marlins because the owners wouldn’t let him sign Castellanos.
Among other reasons surely, but this didn’t age well.
Castellanos to St Louis, Arenado to Phillies.
I cant decide who needs to send prospects to whom, though.
As a Nats fan, I’m enjoying watching the “what do we do with [insert player] and his contract?” coming out of Philly. The comments about Harper IMO were definitely an attempt to see if there’s a trade market they might be able to talk Harper into, if not this offseason, definitely next year unless he has a monster 2026…which, to be fair is definitely possible for him.
I’d say that we’d definitely take even a “lesser” version him back in DC, but the Lerners would actually have to pay him, and that’s not happening.
No matter how many times lengthy deals become problematic as a player ages, owners and GMs really never seem to learn. Everybody always claims (and hopes) the guy they sign will be the exception, and it very rarely works out that way.
If the Lerners do finally spend some money, I wouldn’t be shocked to see them do the wrong thing and get Castellanos.
Three team trade between Philly, San Diego and Boston.
Yoshida and Tijuan Walker to Padres, Arrez and Castellanos to Boston and Hicks and ???? to Philly
The best player in that trade is “????”. I hear he’s a gold glove finalist.
Can’t see them getting anything for him unless they attach a prospect to the deal. So probably they just release him. But who signs him if they do? He’s a terrible defender and his power numbers have gone down in recent years.
The more I hear what Dombrowski says about his current players, and with the pending free agency of 2 core players, the more I think he’s trying to clear the slate, and rebuild. His comments about Harper not being elite anymore seem like he’s trying to get Bryce to request a trade, or be open to the idea that he may not be wanted by management in Philly any longer.
They can and will likely find a partner for moving his contract. I’m fairly curious to if they will heavily pursue Bellinger or Tucker
Technically two returning outfielders if Harper dusts off his outfield glove
Harper has said he was willing, but the Phil’s are not due to a history of elbow issues in his throwing arm. They want to keep him at 1st Base. At this point, any OF play would be on an emergency basis.
In short, no returning outfielders.
The Idiot Brigade is out in force on this one.
Castellanos was one of the worst players in MLB in 2025, at age 33, a negative producer at –1.0 bWAR.
In 2026, at 34, he rates to be even worse, but you’re lining up to hand the Phillies $3m to 5m plus a lottery ticket for his ‘services,’ apparently because he didn’t suck five years ago.
Castellanos is far worse than useless in the field, his OPS+ was 88, well below average, and his OBP, baseball’s most important stat, was a truly abysmal .294. His EV and Hard Hit rate were below the MLB average, but you want him to DH for your favorite team.
What a site.
But you are forgetting his sterling clubhouse Persona. He will go running to the Team Owner any time you put in a defensive sub or give him a rest day.