The Padres and outfielder Nick Castellanos have agreed to a Major League deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post (multiple links). Castellanos will earn $780K on the contract, which is the MLB minimum salary for the 2026 season. The Padres have an open spot on their 40-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required once the deal is finalized by Castellanos passing a physical. Castellanos is represented by Mato Sports Management.
After signing Miguel Andujar to a one-year, $4MM guarantee a few days ago, San Diego has now added another veteran right-handed bat to its list of DH or bench candidates. Castellanos will also be in the first base mix, as per The Athletic’s Dennis Lin, which is noteworthy since Castellanos has never played the position during his pro career. Given how Castellanos has struggled badly in the field as a third baseman and corner outfielder over his career, a move to first base is seemingly long overdue, though Castellanos has been blocked at the position throughout pretty much the entirety of his 13-year MLB tenure.
The left-handed hitting Gavin Sheets is lined up as the Padres’ top choice at first base, so Castellanos makes sense as a platoon partner. Ramon Laureano figures to get most of the time in left field, so Andujar will be used primarily as a DH, providing competition for Castellanos at another spot. Castellanos’ old position of right field is filled by Fernando Tatis Jr., so Castellanos probably won’t be getting much or any time in right unless Tatis is hurt or is getting a DH day.
Given the Padres’ stated need for hitting depth, they were seen as a potential candidate to acquire Castellanos during the Phillies’ winter-long attempts to find a trade partner, and Lin reports that the two teams did indeed have some trade talks before Castellanos was released two days ago. It would seem like the Padres (and other teams) were willing to just wait the Phillies out on a Castellanos release rather than give up anything in value, as the Phils didn’t exactly have much leverage given how open the front office has been for months about their desire to move on from Castellanos.
The Padres’ $780K commitment will be subtracted from the $20MM owed to Castellanos in 2026, leaving the Phillies on the hook for $19.22MM in the final season of the five-year, $100MM deal the slugger signed during the 2021-22 offseason. That nine-figure investment translated to 0.8 fWAR and a perfectly average 100 wRC+ over four seasons and 2477 plate appearances, with Castellanos hitting .260/.306/.426 and 82 home runs in a Philadelphia uniform.
This so-so offense was paired with very subpar right field defense, as Castellanos was locked into an outfield position due to Kyle Schwarber‘s presence at DH, and Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper acting as the starting first basemen. Castellanos’ lack of production on the field led to some tension off the field, as detailed by The Athletic’s Matt Gelb two days ago. Castellanos bristled at suggestions that he should alter his swing or be removed from games for defensive purposes, and he clashed with manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long.
The low point came last June 16, when Castellanos was removed for a late-game sub and Castellanos had to be prevented by teammates from drinking a beer in the dugout as a public protest of Thomson’s decision. Castellanos addressed this incident and apologized in a post on his Instagram page, but he’ll surely face plenty of questions about his controversial Phillies stint when he arrives at the Padres’ spring camp.
It remains to be seen if Castellanos can play first base at a passable level, or if he’ll be able to adjust to more of a part-time role after taking such pride in being an everyday regular throughout his career. The simple fact is that Castellanos has no choice but to adjust, as he is now entering his age-34 season and is looking to revive his career following his disappointing run in Philadelphia.
A bounce-back performance would go a long way towards reviving Castellanos’ value for future contracts following the 2026 campaign. He’ll get that chance on another NL contender in San Diego, and there is some irony in the fact Castellanos is joining a Padres team that has seen more than its share of clubhouse tumult over the last few years. A revolving door in the manager’s office has contributed to the Padres’ issues behind the scenes, and new hire Craig Stammen will be San Diego’s fourth different skipper since Opening Day 2020.
That was quick
But smart
It was? Have you looked at his Baseball Savant page. baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/nick-castella…
Exit Velo, Bat Speed — The guy cant hit anymore.
He’s better than a typical league minimum player for sure.
AM21:
Those numbers disagree:
Range: (1%) 99% of the league is better
Chase Rate (3%) 97% of the league is better
Hard Hit Rate (16%) 84% of the league is better
Bat Speed: (23%) 77% of the league is better
I could keep going
—
Sorry the ‘typical league minimum player’ is better “for sure”.
He still can hit at the mlb level. He’s just not a star anymore. His defense is the main issue
Breslow, sorry but you’re wrong here. The Padres believe he’s worth a shot given they had a 40 man slot open. It simply means it’s worth it to give him a chance over whomever else they were considering. If Boston had an open slot, I’d have wanted him in Fort Myers. If he acts up or shows nothing, he gets cut.
Dewey im so glad there was no spot in Boston the numbers say this guy is cooked and by all accounts a crappy teammate.plus if his only spot is dh we already are pot committed there as by the numbers Yoshida is a considerable upgrade since you arent getting out his 18 mil.further With the sox looking to pinch pennies to stay under the 2nd tax tier that 780k on him as a gamble would be a terrible waste and that much less money for a real acquisition at the deadline
And is a D–k
Sorry Dewey, “youre wrong here”. What a rude thing to say, how about ‘I disagree’.
Many people in “Boston” wanted to run Kristian Campbell out of town last year in Boston, and Campbell STILL had better numbers than Castellanos. Compare the numbers.
Players cant just turn it on and off when they want. And at 34yo, and with zero financial incentive, I dont see any reason to expect even a modest rebound. People follow trending numbers for a reason, you should research it a bit more.
—
PS: If you’re going to have me as an “ignore”, what are you doing responding to my posts?
Talk about damning with faint praise
Pool, it’s spring training where injuries can happen. Moreover, he’s right handed and has provided decent power in the past. Thus, my argument that he was worth a look. No one will tolerate clubhouse antics with the 26th player so hopefully he learned. Finally, he chose SD because he thinks he can make the roster.
Don’t care what anyone says this could end up being one of the steals of the off-season, he is capable of 39 doubles 20 Homer’s still does have low obp but for league minimum they cannot lose
JG
Thanx for disagreeing in a classy manner.
Pool: Good Point!
Right now Duran, Yoshi and Casas have the DH spot tied down. None of them are platoon players.
If the Red Sox had a 41st roster spot this morning and signed Castenallos, how in the world would they find ABs for him?
Dewey loves those crusty old veterans and doesn’t like prospects.
Breslow, I’m not rude by believing your wrong and what is “ignore”? I haven’t muted you nor would I. I just believe his track record is long (unlike Campbell who you mentioned) and is worth basically a free look. As for Campbell, last year he was thought of as a jack of all trades, one who could perform at any position yet he looked overwhelmed in the field wherever he was placed. It then seemed to affect his batting. Give the kid the time he should have gotten in Worcester to start the season. Forget the contract and just let him grow without the pressures.
Hence why franchises are often reluctant to hand out the extra year on a contract offer. It seems like the majority end this way.
-0.8 bWar last year says he’s not.
dewey:
Campbell was given as an example of the impatience in Boston fans. I was using a recent example.
Eric Hosmer would be a better my example of a player in Boston, who people hoped had could find the fountain of youth. And his numbers at the time were worlds better than Castellanos atm. We all know how that worked out.
Hammetin’, where did that come from? I look at each player separately. My argument is based on the fact that outside of Romy, the team is light from the right side on the bench and because Castallanos learned from JDM and I believe he may still be able to hit with a fresh start.
Breslow, sometimes they work out and other times they don’t. Castellanos cost only a roster spot. Again worth a shot if you have an opening.
@Breslow
Hosmer?! OMG, now your scaring all the Padre fans to death! 🙄😖🤣
Unless he’s retiring after the season, your “zero financial incentive” remark is wrong. He’d be playing for another contract.
Breslow: I agree with you about the baseball issue. But what Dewey said is not the slightest bit rude.
If they cut Toshiba ($18mm value) and replaced him with Castellanos (20MM value) couldn’t the Red Sox believe they saved money, if they squint really hard?
Agree to disagree. You come across as a smug pr*ck regardless.
I feel like someone said the same about Miguel andujar…yet..andujar has played better recently and sd is actually paying him 4 million to occupy the rh dh spot castellanos will need to achieve it..so..if this costs andujar pt its more like they are still paying 4 mil+
AM21: stop.
The issue is that he can’t hit. An 88 OPS+ means 12% below average. Maybe if he is restricted to a strict platoon against LHP he would be valuable. The Padres just signed Andujar to fill that platoon though and Campusano’s bat deserves more AB than being a twice a week backup catcher will provide.
Good thing some people think for themselves instead of relying on made-up “stats” like WAR
“…made-up “stats” like WAR”
You know thinking someone is good without the facts to back that up, doesn’t mean he’s in fact good.
You do realize that WAR is derived from stats. It includes some of the stats that luddites love, along with more insightful ones. Some people just can’t comprehend the refinement of traditional stats to make them more informative.
Do you seriously believe that guys in the sabermetric departments of teams, whose very jobs depend on the correct analysis of potential acquisitions, would use a made-up stat?
And bad attitude
It’s certainly low risk in terms of money and contract, but who do you really want to take ABs away from and give to Castellanos? He can’t play the field, and he can’t hit. As pointed out here by others, his topline was bad in ’25 – and the underlying metrics were worse.
wow, those are brutal.
Castellanos is 100% cooked. And his bad attitude and selfish behavior are well chronicled. I absolutely agree with folks on here who said they’re glad there was no open spot in Boston. San Diego had an open spot and I guess they’re gambling he shows up motivated and a changed player in Spring Training or will cut him. The main risk is losing how those at-bats could be spent evaluating a different project. But unless he’s radically improved in his ability and attitude, it’s questionable whether he can even hold down a part-time platoon role.
As bad as Nick C was with the Phillies, he did have one shining moment when he clubbed 5 homers in 13 postseason games, helping the Phillies immensely in the 2023 postseason. But that was really it. Rest of the time his performance was barely even rosterable, let alone $20 mil AAV
I agree 100%. Zero risk for the Padres.
If he’s problematic, release him.
Third- I mostly agree with your statement. The issue is the padres really don’t have a guy that is that promising he will be taking at bats from.
Hence why they added Miguel and Casty. They are looking for some right handed DH/1b hitters that have some slug. They don’t have the money to add a guy like Alonso who would have been perfect. Perhaps not even the money for Hoskins. So they got this duo for under 5m.
With that in mind taking chance with these dudes makes sense. If it doesn’t work out no big deal financially. They will then try and trade for another. If one or both hit then it’s a big win.
Yes but his defense is much worse
Jean: by and large I agree with you but count me as as Luddite: I think individual runs scored tells you a lot about a player. AM21 confuses “made-up” with “derived”.
@Jean Matrac: Do you seriously use a construct to measure players and not stats? Do you know the difference between a construct and a stat? Because I don’t think you do.
WAR isn’t something that happens on the field. It’s an estimate built from layers of assumptions. And while useful to an extent, to use it as the be-all to end-all is generally used by those that know very little about the game.
But you do you.
All stats are made up. WAR measures the entire game, not just BA. That you don’t understand the math, just means that the game is more complex than you ability to comprehend.
Bak Pak, Campusano has to show he deserves more at bats. His AAA numbers do not guarantee him a spot. Although the Padres do not have a backup catcher on the 40 man roster and articles here say he is out of options, so that pretty much does guarantee he has a job in San Diego unless a trade is made.
Andujar and Campusano are who will lose ABs to Castellanos if he makes the 26 man roster.
WAR is derived 100% from what happens on the field. From what you think of as stats. bWAR doesn’t estimate anything. It only uses what actually happened on the field. fWAR does use expected stats. All stats are made up. Even BA which you apparently think is a viable measure of performance.
Skip’s: What can you possibly mean that stats are “made up”? That people decided a certain thing would be good to track? I think everyone understands that. Or do you mean that God didn’t send down a commandment that said, “Tally a player’s at bats and tally his base hits to generate what we shall call a batting average”?
Skip’s fungo: It’s funny that you think someone else lacks the ability to comprehend simple math ideas. Try comprehending this: You can create all manner of elaborate statistics that describe what occurs in baseball games. Of course, one can argue about the value of this one or that one. Making them elaborate doesn’t make the game itself even a touch more complex. The game would have the same complexity if there was no gathering of statistics at all.
Jean- Let me ask you a question.I have wondered about WAR for five or six years since I heard that one WAR was equal to $8M.
I also heard that a team with all replacement level players would win about 40 games in a season or what the White Sox and Rockies have won the last two years.
If you add up all the player WAR’s on a team will it roughly equal the total wins for that team over the amount of 40 which is if all players had a 0 WAR?
Do the analysts do that every year for every team to see how close they are to estimating the accurate total?
I do not know how it is accurately measured and figure that someone like you may.
Please advise.
Simm-You post too much sense for me.
Please dumb it down next time.
Skip- See my post above for Jean.
If he cannot or does not answer my question please feel to do so.
Mendoza, You flatter me. I can’t say I have the depth of knowledge about the specifics of WAR required to satisfy your query. I do know, as most of us do, that WAR is a compilation of multiple stats to identify value.
I don’t believe that it’s exact in every aspect, but think it’s useful in determining relative value, since the parameters are applied equally to all players. In other words, I don’t completely believe (though I’ll take their word for it), that 1.0 WAR is exactly equal to a replacement player. But I do believe that the guy with a 2.0 WAR is better than the guy with a 1.5 WAR.
I also don’t really like trying to determine salary variations, for over or underpays, based on WAR. Every situation is different. A 2.0 WAR guy that plays a position in great demand, especially for a team in need, should sign for more than a 2.0 WAR, guy with much less leverage.
BTW, I was a fan of Mario Mendoza. I love a slick fielding SS. I even used his nick name, Manos de Seda, as my username for awhile.
Jean-I honestly did not mean to flatter you by asking the question.
You gave me a good general response that I basically knew.
I dealt with hydraulic models throughout my career and we had to compare field tests to computer results to make sure that future conditions were accurately analyzed.
It was my understanding that a replacement player had a 0 WAR as as you know some players actually end up with a negative WAR.
I think that the $8 M tag for 1.0 WAR was ridiculous that many years ago but what the Dodgers pay for players now it may not be so inaccurate.
I doubt that anyone knows on this site whether the individual WAR results are recalibrated or not but accurate predictive models I would think are important for use in these calculations unless they are meant as you say for just comparing two players.
But I will say that I will flatter you now as I am very much impressed that you are a fan of my namesake and actually know what manos de seda is without like me having to google the word seda even though I took Spanish in high school for two years many many years ago.
I didn’t address your question about adding up the WAR for all players on a team. I don’t think there’s a direct correlation. because there are too many variables in team wins.
The Phillies had a +51.7 bWAR + 40 for 91.7, and won 96 games, for a difference of 4.3, so relatively close. The Rockies finished with a -3.9 bWAR (36.1) and won 43 games, for a difference of 6.9, again relatively close
I did a quick look at the Dodgers and their WAR plus 40 was 84,2, against 93 actual wins. It makes sense for teams with a high WAR to win a lot of games, and also the reverse. Not close enough though, IMO for it to be much value.
Skip, I think you mean all stats are invented, not made up. Made up implies numbers without a basis in fact. Invented stats apply an actual value to an event.
Actually I disagree as that is at least somewhat close,much more than I thought,for a team comparison.
These three random team averages were off 4.5%,16.0%,and 9.5%,for an average of 10% off.
Our hydraulic models needed to be no more than 5% off to get accurate results.
This leads to me to believe that WAR may be fairly useful to compare player results especially inasmuch as it takes a number of different statistics into account.
Thank you very much for computing these figures.
Most posters on here I believe just blindly accept the usage and results of predictive models without questioning their accuracy.
I think it’s safe to say his offense and defense are the main issues.
Which for the Padres was offset by his extremely low cost and decent chance for improvement with a new team under new circumstances and a new hitting coach which is what Dombrowski meant by saying a change of scenery may benefit him.
What DD was politely saying is the Phillies will benefit from Castellanos’s change of scenery. This was not an act of baseball charity. It’s a business.
Some people may take it that way while others take it that DD meant it the way he said it.
Or maybe he meant it both ways.
I used to believe in the stat, but the more I kept comparing production at game outcomes with who they said was just a 2 or so, and seeing how many games they affected the outcomes, I just stopped looking at it, and went off of the standard RBI, slugging, and OBP.
WAR isn’t perfect IMO, but it’s still much better than a stat like RBI. WAR defines the individual player’s value. While RBI greatly depends on how good the players are at getting on base in front of a guy, and where that guy hits in the lineup. Neither is very insightful for a particular player’s value.
Mendoza, when its mentioned that a point of WAR is worth a certain amount of money that is based on what free agent players were signed for in an offseason and what WAR they produced the previous season.
In the 2024-2025 offseason, FA players signed for an average of just over $10 million per bWAR.
It is not a measure of how much a point of WAR is worth for vastly underpaid pre-arbitration and 1st and 2nd year arbitration eligible players.
A team filled with 0 WAR players, replacement level players, would win 47-48 games. WAR stands for wins above replacement.
0.0 WAR is a replacement level player.
1.0 WAR is above replacement level.
2.0 WAR is MLB average.
4.0 WAR is All Star level.
6.0 WAR is superstar level.
Silk hands. Great way to remember him.
Jen, you are correct. All stats are invented. They have a real basis in fact. bWAR is based entirely on what happened on the field.
RBI is useless without context. The player that had the most baserunners when he came to bat is almost always the player with the most RBI. He is also rarely the player that drove in the largest percentage of baserunners. Schwarber had 50 more baserunners on than Judge and consequently drove in more runs.
That is why we have stats like wRC+ that show who created the most runs and adjust by the parks the player had his at bats in.
Joel, you just used a whole bunch of words to say that you don’t understand the math behind WAR and proved his point.
Let’s see how many guys the padres will rotate through 1B looking to replace Arraez
@ohyeahdam
I’d rather have any platoon at first base than more of Arraez. Sheets and Castellanos can presumably be instructed on the value of working a walk. Arraez apparently could not.
You might want to double check Castellanos’ walk rate. He’s very much a free swinger like Arraez, just with more power and less contact.
@straight
Oh, I know. That’s how little faith I have that Arraez will ever change. I’d rather deal with the mess that is Castellanos half the time at league minimum than more of Arraez’s overrated game at $12 million.
My guess too is Castellanos will see more reps at DH anyway than at first if he makes the team out of Spring Training.
They already have Sheets, who was a better 1B as of last year lol.
It won’t take very much to replace Arraez and his 1.2 bWar. Bet Preller wishes he still had Jakob Marsee, who he traded away in that deal.
Castellanos and Sheets combined for -.1 WAR in 2025…
He doesn’t walk. He will swing at almost every pitch down and away and will swing at every first pitch that is anywhere near the plate.
And regarding platooning, he doesn’t want to platoon. That was his big issue, not playing 9 innings 162 games a year.
Good luck with him.
Sheets was worth about a win between the two WARs and he should be playing 1B full time where he’s defensively average. 110 wRC+ with some encouraging underlying metrics is a fine stopgap.
Just no beer in the dugout! What could go wrong?
Always down with 10 minute player evaluations on how they’ll fit in team chemistry-wise.
There’s plenty of experts on that topic around here.
Padres signed Conner Joe, Jason Heyward, and Yuli Gurriel last year to fight for a spot or 2. Very low risk, cut a couple, and still won 90 games and made the playoffs. They literally will make Castellano’ salary in beer sales in a 3 game weekend series.
All you guys acting like this is a horrible signing, its laughable. Padres have less holes than last year as well. One works out, keep him. If it doesnt, cut him.
They will make his salary in three games only if they sell Presidente beer.
Only the best for Padre fans.
Have a beer Nicky!
It’ll be the magnanimous AleSmith Tony Gwynn .394 Hazy or Original. Welcome, Nick, we can use some swat.
Stone Brewery Arrogant B@st@rd is a better fit.
That’s what she ……..
There’s a drive into left field by …..
I don’t know if you should ever wear these headphones again, Theo…!
I think the Padres dugout and clubhouse will be okay if Castellanos gets regular playing time, as in every game. He’s got a tricky personality and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
I enjoyed rooting for him as a Phillie, until I didn’t.
Nick never had an opinion that he did not want to express and did.
He felt that he was owed the starting job and finishing each game.
His hitting has been trending down for three years.
He was a good fielder and thrower but only covered ten square feet.
He thought that his big contract covered him.
His best attribute now is that he comes for basically no cost.
But Nick may have seen the light and figures that it is now or never to continue a once promising career.
He has basically been a good guy and teammate although at times a pain in the butt.Dombrowski was right- a change of scenery could benefit him.
His negative WAR is basically his fielding or lack thereof.
Statistics tell the past story but are not guaranteed to tell the future.
I think that he will turn it around as a DH and be a league average hitter at worst.I do not know why they need both him and Andujar although there was no guarantee that they would get Nick.
Just don’t put him the outfield.
Nice, fair analysis Mendoza. Appreciate
There’s room for both against LHP. one at 1b and one at DH
You are not an ignorant son-of-a-b after all!
You are welcome young man.
I had heard that Nick was taking grounders at first base but do not know where although I do not doubt that he would do be open to it.
He played third base before for several years so he may at least be decent at first base with the proper coaching and experience in ST.
For less than $5M the Padres certainly could have done worse than with these two guys.
Could he have gotten further away from Philadelphia geographically?
He could have gone to Japan
I wonder if he would have violated the terms of his contract then? Interesting question.
No he wouldn’t have violated the contract because he was released from the contract. He was a free agent. That means he is free to do what he wants. I’m not sure if the Japanese salary would be taken off though.
According to Google the Phills would owed him the entire 20 million regardless of what he made in Japan.
I figured that would be the case. It would be like getting a job anywhere else. If he got a job selling cars or something, I doubt Philly would get to subtract each commission. Not that he would do that when making $20 million, but he COULD. If it is possible to do, there is likely some regulation for it.
Slightly off-subject, but man, how toasted are we that we just accept what the internet tells us as truth? The overlords have won. Time to build that bunker and stock it with hotdogs and popcorn.
Get some powdered milk. Gonna need calcium.
And dehydrate the hotdogs!
Yeah, the “amount-owed-minus-league-minimum” thing is only an agreement between MLB teams. If Castellanos spends the summer mowing lawns for ten bucks an hour, the Phillies don’t get to deduct that from how much they owe him.
I am trying my best to not respond to the dehydrated hot dogs! HA.
Freeze dry then then!
I didn’t mean these hot dogs were talking to me … again. But if i freeze dried them that would probably do the trick.
If the hot dogs are talking you definitely need some of that powdered milk. Just spoon it onto the dog.
Hope that bunker has air purification!
Not with 20 mil on the line lol
he could have gone to Australia
He chases breaking balls so far out of the strike zone they could possibly end up in Japan.
He will have to change that proclivity to stay in the ML’s.
It is necessary to first change his outlook on deserving a full time job.
Everybody needs to work on keeping his attributes as they get older and I think that Nick took his natural hitting ability as a young player for granted.
And where most US players go that can’t hit or play. Maybe at the end of 2026.
Mars! Mars needs baseball players!
He would still be playing in Pennsylvania if he goes to Mars.
Or if he went to Moon.
A lot of great far flung places he can go.
Captain-Just north of Pittsburgh so the Pirates would be scouting him for a cheap replacement player.
I was familiar with Neptune, New Jersey, but I wasn’t aware of Mars, Pennsylvania. Thank you for that!
experiencebutler.com/cities-and-towns/mars/
We played them in high school WPIAL basketball.
You are more than welcome.
Those aren’t boos, per se. They’re actually using a Philly term of endearment: “hey boo, how’s chings?”
Phillie fans used to boo Mike Schmidt.
Nuff said.
There is a HUGE difference between Schmidt and Castellanos.
Schmidt made the mistake in saying bad things in an interview in Montreal about his fans who expects excellence. Though, he always accepted his subpar play, knew how much his play meant to the Phillies fans (he was also able to win us back over by playing to his money’s worth) and he was strong enough to listen and always worked hard at being better. He expected the same excellence from himself as the Phillies fans do of their players.
Castellanos on the other hand can’t take the criticism, didn’t want to listen for help to improve and instead kept criticizing the fans for his inability for not playing up to par and what he was paid to do.
Schmidt can walk into the stadium or anywhere near a Philly fan and will be greeted with appreciation and praise.
Castellanos? Curious at how well he will play with being booed coming to play at Philly as a visiting team. There will be a HUGE reception difference between these two players. Like the HUGE difference the two made to better their Phillies teams.
Schmidt would never have to pay for a beer in Philadelphia. Castellanos better buy one for the house or Phillies fans will toss him out on his behind.
Exactly.
Ayeah- My point is that the greatest third baseman of all time would not have been booed anywhere else if he struck out four times in a game.
Phillies fans wear their hearts on their sleeve and Schmidt had his personality quirks,and you are right the fans do appreciate great players and hard workers.
But booing players should only apply to those who are not trying their best day in and day out.
Especially one who is the greatest ever at his position.
Mike Schmidt is a beloved member of the Phillies Sunday home tv broadcast crew. I wouldn’t expect Nick Castellanos to be in the Phillies booth anytime soon, or ever.
@Skip’s Fungo,
Nick’s last beer on any Philadelphia tab was in the Marlin’s Park dugout this past season.
Seattle is 685 miles further from Philadelphia than San Diego. As a rule, Seattle is always farthest away.
Interesting. USA is a little thick at the top end.
Seattle-Miami is furthest.
Pal-You are correct in the second part of your statement,but not the first part.
It is longer by about 10 miles by air.
So in essence they are the same distance.
@Paleobros,
Noted.
Xander will be a positive influence on him.
I didn’t realize he was still a child and very impressionable.
Mark – Personal and professional growth doesn’t stop at childhood. People can change for the better at any age.
He is still a child, he couldn’t take the criticism in Philly or advice from the coaches on how to improve as well couldn’t take being substituted in the late innings of the game for defensive purposes.
That sounds like a child.
Agreed. But can Xander fix his bat speed and chase rate? While he attends to his own?
stel – That’s a whole other subject! The positive influence is more related to behavior, he has mentored players such as Devers and Merrill.
Hopefully he can mentor, because he’s not giving them anywhere near enough production for that bloated contract he signed.
Fever – i wouldnt use Devers as an example. Two options there, either Bogey couldn’t do enough to mentor Devers, or, whatever lessons he passed on left town as quickly as Bogey did.
Either way, not exactly a success story. (And mind you, Bogey was my favorite red sox after pedroia, and, before Sale came to town)
Hank – Finally something I can agree with! Xander has been a very solid all-around player over the years, but he was never an elite hitter or fielder worthy of a contract like that. It just happened to be great timing for him.
GaSox – Xander left after 2022, there were no issues with Raffy in 2023 or 2024. Speaking of Xander, how ironic is it that he was heavily involved in recruiting Story and then Story was indirectly heavily involved in pushing him out of Boston. It really is true, no good deed goes unpunished.
BTW – It’s kinda weird, I’m staying in the Myrtle Beach area for a few months and every time I go out in public i see people wearing Red Sox gear and Greenville Drive gear. Who would have thought a High-A team would have that much influence 4 hours away.
Fever, its really a black hole of a market for fans. They pick a local minors squad, or, root for someone wicked far away
It’s called the reticular activating system.
All of this help for Nick sounds like an add for Boystown, USA.
Bogaerts’ bat speed increased to 72.2 MPH in 2025 and was above MLB 71.7 mph average.
He had a shoulder fracture in May 2024, an injury that players typically don’t fully recover from it until their 2nd season post-surgery.
But hey, hate on. That is certainly better than knowing what is really happening.
Should be a great fit in that clubhouse. It’s already a mess and now you add a sulker?
Sometimes chaos can be cohesive…. if everyone is griping and acting out you lose the attention getting aspect of your misbehavior, and, it become disincentivized.
In a well behaved clubhouse, you grab attention for acting out.
In a madhouse you blend into the background no I se and your tantrum becomes wasted effort, which, you realize fairly early.
GASoxFan: far-fetched.
GASox, I was watching the player interviews from the Padres fanfest and I found out that the Padres are the only team in MLB that have a player sponsor a get together for both minor and major league players in the offseason. They said as many as 40 players have come and its organized by Musgrove I think. That tells me that they have a very cohesive clubhouse.
Skip, Musgrove sponsors a camp for players every offseason the weekend before FanFest. The Padres have a very tight clubhouse.
but he’s an attractive sulker… isn’t that worth it? LOL
I bet Castellanos and Machado will at least have a few bouts during the season especially since Shildt isnt there anymore
@tormented…. Dude, they’re friends and first played together as 10 year olds…..
This is going to be a wild clubhouse
I’m certain that each and everyone of them will be on their very best behavior all season long!
‘86 Mets vibes or 2011 Red Sox
Castellanos, Machado, and Tatis all in the same clubhouse. The sitcom writes itself.
Shrunk…… Well, since Im guessing you’ve never been in the clubhouse, you, like the rest, have zero clue how Manny and Tatis are in there. From what everyone says locally they’re good teammates.
Vermon – Agreed! People often don’t realize players mature as they get older. Sure Machado was a jerk with the O’s, but that was 8 years ago ….. he’s 33 now, not 25. Everything I’ve heard is he has become a respected team leader.
Fever – there is no redemption in my book for a guy who intentionally spikes knees.
Relatedly, maybe Cobb became a great doting grandfather, ive got no idea, but I’ll always equate him to a guy actually sharpening spikes to rake opposing ballplayer.
Reputations are earned and deserve to hang around someone neck like Marley’s chains… forged link by link
GA, wasn’t redemption the point of a Christmas Carol? Scrooge, by changing his ways, won’t end up with chains like Marley?
It looked like they were very good teammates when Machado was screaming at Tatis at the dug out steps, ” It’s not all about you!”
Styme – That’s what team leaders do.
GaSox – Before the rule change, that’s how the game was played …. spikes flying as motivation for the fielder to get out of the way instead of trying to complete the double play. Was it an unnecessary late slide? Both MLB and Pedroia say no. Manny’s actions immediately after the slide clearly indicated it was not intentional, as he put both his hands on Pedey and asked him if he was okay while leaning over him for a while.
Pedey had his foot firmly planted on the LF side of the bag, which was directly in Manny’s path. Pedey should have cleared out of there, or had his foot planted on the 3B side of the bag instead. As much as it sucks, it wasn’t intentional.
As for Cobb, the sharpened spikes thing was a myth …. either he didn’t do it, or he didn’t do it as badly and often as described.
Correct me if I’m wrong, weren’t you a Bregman supporter last year? He certainly earned his reputation as a cheater and liar.
Cobb was an interesting character, but was nowhere close to a doting Grandpa. He remained irascible his entire life. He claimed that he beat a guy to death on his way to the park one day when he was jumped by 2 guys attempting to rob him. He said he beat the guy to death with the handgun he carried.
He lived the last few years of his life in a large house without electricity. Though he was wealthy he had an ongoing dispute with the power company and the cut him off so he lived in darkness, rather than pay what he thought was an unfair bill..
My favorite story about Cobb was when a reporter asked how he might fare against the best pitchers of the day, guys like Koufax and Gibson. He said he thought he’d be able to hit at least .300. Really? the reporter said. You think these guys are that good. that you’d hit that much below your career average? Cobb then said, well, what do you want damnit, I’m 60 years old.
Socal – I honestly am a little weak on my written classic Dickens.
I do remember them telling scrooge that his chains were already longer than marley’s and then some, but, i dont recall it getting into them dissolving away – although the implication is you can make amends.
Haven’t seen Machado make amends for destroying pedroia’s career though, the way scrooge donated to the orphans, gave away grain, and gave a raise and/or partnership o cratchet depending on version of the adaptation
Jean – I’ve read Stump took liberties to sensationalize his book after Cobb had died, and I’ve read Cobb lied about certain things (such as the spike sharpening) to intimidate his opponents.
Here’s one article insisting Cobb didn’t kill anyone:
mlb.com/news/ty-cobb-history-built-on-inaccuracies…
I agree Cobb had his dark moments, such as beating up the fan with fingers missing. But overall the things he did were not that uncommon for that time period. As the above article states:
“In the early 1900s, rowdy fans unleashing awful language on players was quite common. White Sox manager Jim Callahan voiced a concern that the gambling element “indulges in this sort of abuse.” According to Leerhsen’s research, Pirates manager Fred Clarke pushed a heckler down a flight of stairs, Phillies coach Kid Gleason chased down a fan who had hit him on the head with a soda bottle, and Hall of Famers Cy Young and Rube Waddell were among the players who rushed into the stands to fight hecklers. So it actually wasn’t even all that unusual that Cobb did, indeed, flail away at a fan in the stands in 1912. “
Yep that’s why he throws balls at opposing managers.
Zerbs…… LOL, he didnt throw a ball at an opposing manager. That was Dave Roberts trying to get his troops riled up. It was a huge nothing burger……
It’s on you tube – the ball is literally rolling in his general direction. Which BTW happens to be near the doorway to the dugout where the bat boy could pick it up.
Don’t drink the cool aid.
what does it say about a guy when he fears for his life with an underhand roller on a baseball field?
Good story but Koufax and Gibson became great only after Cobb died in 1961.
They may have mentioned other pitchers.
The Leerhsen interpretation has gotten a lot of print, and I find it interesting people are willing to accept his revisionism. Stump actually knew Cobb, and was working with him on an autobiography. Unfortunately, Cobb passed away before Cobb could approve the finished product.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Stump did some embellishment, but I wouldn’t assume Leerhsen had no agenda. He wants his book to sell, and repeating a similar story isn’t going to entice people to buy it.
The story of Cobb killing the guy attempting to rob him came from Cobb himself, according to Stump. Stump tried to verify the story through police records and found it was possible but not conclusive. I do remember certain specifics like the gun having been Belgian made. And that it had a large raised sight which, according to Cobb by way of Stump, is what caused the physical damage. There seemed to be some doubt by Stump about that story.
There is no doubt that, although wealthy, Cobb did live without electricity over his refusal to pay a disputed bill. And that he was not particularly liked by his teammates, and was considered arrogant
I’m willing to take both authors with a grain of salt though. And I have no doubt that the movie version of the Stump book exaggerated things further.
The players involved say that never happened, but fans know better. That is too funny.
I guess this means Cronenworth is the only backup at SS
I see Wagner as currently listed on the projected roster on Roster Resource and he has options. Is he the current backup?
He has no SS experience and there’s not a 26 man roster spot available now anyway
The Padres are a team of shortstops. Duh
Padres players who were Shortstops:
Bogaerts, Machado, Cronenworth, Tatis Jr, , Jackson Merrill and more.
Do you think Manny, Tati and our CF should play SS this year? Serious question
Only in emergencies if they did decide to not carry a traditional utility guy (McCoy this year). Finish a game type thing.
Let’s say Bogey has a hammy pull and is out 3 weeks (likely to happen). Who among Tatis, Merrill and Manny are you putting at SS? Not going to happen. Not realistic.
At this point in roster projections it’s Cronenworth. Meaning they only have Song to play 2B and no other utility IF to back up 3B if Manny has to DH or can’t play. Very tenuous situation if you ask me. I’m sure AJ and or Stammen will explain the plan in coming weeks…
I agree. I’m just thinking they have that guy at AAA and then call up or sign Iglesias, etc. mCCoy or aomeone similar will be at AAA.
Brew – first, I thought this signing was about as obvious as it could get. I hope it works for all. Second, I share you backup SS concern but in a pinch during a game injury, Cro, Tatis, Merrill or even Manny could finish a weekend until you could get someone there. Someone has to juggle and figure this out but I like the signing to fill the need at DH (assuming that Gavin was slotted at 1b) and now the compliment of Miguel and Nick – Thats a lot of value for less than 5 m between them.
Beats the heck out of The last 3-4 years of cobbling the DH spot with over the hill (and in some cases overpaid) guys hoping for one more year! There are line 6-7 guys to name here. You know them so I’ll skip listing.
Long- totally agree.
Padres are in a much better spot to start the season than they were a year ago.
Think people forget what they rolled out in LF/DH/C a year ago.
While we don’t what they will get from some of these dudes, they have a higher upside than those dues last year.
MUCH! 🙂
my comment wasn’t a complaint guys. Just stating the plan that has unfolded. This will be the first OD roster in quite some time with Cronenworth as backup SS
Brew- while it hasn’t been mentioned by the padres. It’s a little surprising they haven’t said anything about giving song some reps at short. If he can play third, second, first…he maybe passable at short. Just in case cronenworth has an injury. Obviously the first option is moving cronenworth to short and song to second. Though if they both go down they will need another option.
Simm – AJ actually did say in a recent interview that Song would play utility role at 3B, 2B and 1B, and left out SS. No real experience at SS so I’d be surprised if they try to make him one in ST and go into the season with him as primary backup. McCoy (not Wagner) is the only option at SS on the 40-man but won’t make 26-man OD roster (and neither will Wagner). I see this as an interesting development.
@Brew’88
re: “my comment wasn’t a complaint guys. ..”
I don’t recall Cronie ever being a liability at SS. Solid defense, just not the range of some of the other super-defense-SS’s that the Padres have had on the roster of late. I can’t place a year, but there have been a few in the past 25 or so years where Cronie would have been welcomed as a savior at SS, compared to what the Padres fielded. He’s getting older, so I’m not sure the position would be a favor to him for his health, but I’m pretty sure he can handle that load. (Not that you are saying otherwise, just sayin’ …)
@Simm & @Brew
The battle (lately, anyhow) in the MLB has been for true, two way SS, a guy who can handle the position and contribute at offense. If the Padres lineup produces like it should, the Pads should be able to find a competent glove to fill in SS, and still afford the hit on offense, should the worst situation occur (e.g. Bogie, Cronie go down, maybe also Song, McCoy, ya know how baseball goes).. Compared to issues like, oh, I dunno, starting pitching, SS ain’t a large concern.
And as Longtimecoming so eloquently put it, there ARE other MLB players on the roster with professional experience at short.
Cronenworth does a nice job at SS, when in emergencies he’s been asked to fill in. But he’s never been viewed as the go-to back up at SS. In his tenure with Padres, SS has been played by Tatis, Kim and Bogaerts. When those guys have been hurt the substitutes have been (top of my head) Greg Garcia, Luis Urias, Kim and Profar (all 4 backing up Tatis), CJ Abrams and Bogaerts (backing up Kim and visa versa), Wade, McCoy, and OMG (backing up Bogaerts). Never has Cronenworth been considered the primary backup at SS, until now.
Castellanos is an over the hill guy with a bad attitude.
Well….castellanos isn’t good enough to play outfield so why not shortstop too 🤷♂️
He played SS in HS when he was drafted.
Castellanos played 3B/OF in his senior year at Archbishop McCarthy High School.
McCoy could still make the roster. I would guess that with Song they’ll be more inclined to slide Cronenworth to SS to spell Bogaerts.
They will slide cronenworth to short. Question is what happens if cronenworth has an injury.
Then who is filling in at short. While there are options, they just aren’t very good options.
I wonder if they sign a guy like Iglesias. Which would mean Johnson doesn’t make the team.
Anyways will see if they just roll the dice with Xander cronenworth duo at short or bring in another guy.
BJ is OoO, I don’t think they only wanna carry 3 OFs even if Laureano and Tatis could both cover CF. I would like Iglesias back. I frankly do not want to see Castellanos past ST, which probably means he’s making the OD roster as the RH DH/PH given AJ’s proclivity for adding over-the-hill vets I hate. Ideal bench IMO would be Andujar, Campusano, Song, Johnson, Iglesias/McCoy. Wagner would be an option if Song is completely overwhelmed at ML level. Missing some LH power on the days where Sheets starts, but good defensive coverage.
On 2nd thought, Sheets can cover LF in a pinch and Song should be playable there too (and maybe elsewhere), so maybe BJ is superfluous.
Johnson’s value is playing center and pinch running. Which is a good fit especially with some a lack of speed on this team.
I like Johnson as a bench option. It’s just a matter is that value greater than the risk of cronenworth/xander combo a greater risk.
Guess we shall see what direction they go soon enough.
If he gets injured, you IL him and call up a SS. If you’re talking about during the game, X goes in. If Cronenworth is at SS because X is on the IL, you probably have another SS called up
Bob, I think they are saying there are no SS to call up.
McCoy is the only true SS on the 40man not named X
Jackson Merrill? Tatis Jr.? Machado? Bogaerts? Cronenworth?
Free agent signing Sung Mun Song is listed @ 3B, 2B, 1B and probably could play SS in a pinch.
How many backup SS do you need? One seems enough.
That’s fair. I like having at least one true SS on the bench. Cronenworth can cover in a pinch and if Sung can handle himself offensively they can probably skip out on McCoy/Iglesias at least to open the season.
In Cronenworth’s tenure on Pads hes never gone into OD as the primary backup at SS, they’ve always rostered another. So I find this sudden change in thinking by AJ as interesting. Jake is capable at SS in a pinch, and I don’t necessarily disagree with the decision, but I find it interesting and eventually Stammen and or AJ will speak about it.
Sounds like preller isn’t done. Said today he is planning to add a few more players. Some non roster a roster players.
Perhaps another starter or middle infielder is still on the table.
Bring in Hunter Greene!
Bruh.
Manny and Nick are close friends I believe from their South Florida ties. Think it’s a good fit for both parties.
So you think they’ll stop at two parties? I see them hitting at least 4 each night.
hey, the chemistry will either produce a strong team, or a comical fiasco – I’m here for both since they’re not my main team, but I like some of the players. This ought to be good. LOL But I hope they work out.
Mrs. Machado may have something to say about that. Manny is a daddy, a “whole adult” now. Plus, his brother in law is a former Padre MLB player, and I believe he’s still in SD. So, I doubt Manny will be out in the bars running around like 21 year old kids.
My brother in law is in his 50s and still thinks partying is the reason for living.
Sorry to hear. Some people don’t grow up.
I think I would trade every minute I spent partying for time in the woods camping or building something.
Absolutely.
Manny and Yuli G are good friends too. That didn’t work out so well.
Manny said he does not know him well only from observing him playing.
That’s what everyone says about Epstein too
zing!
good one!
But seriously, Castellanos has 3 young kids, is a family man
and is past the young bachelor party life.
They have known each other since they played against and with each other in LL and other travel teams starting at 10 years old. Today Machado talked about the Castellanos signing and about them knowing each other since they were kids. If you are going to lie, try not to do it about something that the players themselves have spoken about for years.
Well Anthony said in his chat yesterday he would be a fit in that dysfunctional clubhouse. Go figure…
Lol….yes, it happened within hours of that column.
Padres have been known to have clubhouse issues for years. Let’s sign Castellanos as a calming presence!
LOLOLOLOLOLOL this is pretty good. Nice! I think he’ll either make them really good, or it will all burn down within 60 days. LOL
What clubhouse issues? The Padres are known to have a great clubhouse culture. Musgrove sponsors an offseason get together and 25-40 players attend.
As if these non-Padre fans have any clue, what the Padre clubhouse is all about. Man, the ignorance demonstrated on this thread embarrassing. That “club chemistry’ thingy has been a strength of the Padres for half a dozen years. The high-energy Latin & Hispanic players do have their moments, but they are brothers in arms before and after they let off steam.
.Old- Wire is a Philly Fan can’t handle Nick signing with the Padres.
Remember, they boo Santa Claus in Philly lol!
The Padres Clubhouse problems are exaggerated and overblown.
Didn’t the Oakland A’s win 3 straight World Series Championships after having fist fights in the clubhouse. a meddling owner who tried to phone the dugout and clubhouse with orders and then the manager ripped the phone out of the wall etc?!
:Let’s see how they play and then figure it out!
Billy Martin as Padres manager would be fun
Would need to have bail money ready and Defense Attorneys on call 24/7 if Martin had ever managed the Padres.
Better Call Saul.
Better than Andujar and competition for Laureano. Don’t see room for all three on the opening day roster unless there is injury to someone. Trade with Royals looks better now than when the article was written?
No
I don’t think Castellanos is competition for any of the Padres outfielders but he may be able to help at DH. If a trade for a pitcher from KC comes out of this, that may be worth it… at least it doesn’t cost much $$ to see if he can fit in and be productive.
He could be a defensive sub for Tatis on occasion, Like the Apocalypse or something like that.
Andujar going to have a big season and this is a great addition to the Padres.
They were already stacked. I imagine they keep Laureano and ride with Vasquez and Sears as the 5/6 and that is good depth.
Joe Musgrove can make the Padres great if he has a strong return, if he doesn’t, they should have enough pitching to get to the all-star break.
King’s health and Jason Adam yo a lessor extent are the lynch pins on this team but with how good there bullpen, Id say they are as strong as any team in MLB heading into spring.
Dodgers have to be the favorites but if the Padres stay healthy, they can win the division.
Huh? It’ll be a 1b/split between Sheets, Andujar, and Castellanos. Injuries happen. It’s a good way to keep the guys fresh.
Sheets needs to be the everyday 1B, he has been waiting for this opportunity for a while now and committing to him will keep his spirits up.
Sheets poised for a big year.
He’s still gonna get close to 500 abs depending on health. There’s plenty to go around.
DH + 1B = 600ABs X 2 =1200 ABs/3=
400ABs
each for Sheets, Castellanos and Andujar
Castellanos only has value against the short side of the platoon. 25% of the PA. Last season he was not good even against LHP.
The problem with your math is that 75% of those PA are against RHP and only 25% are against LHP. Castellanos should only play against LHP.
Well, Andujar will still platoon at 1B with Sheets and Castellanos will be the DH – I think. For a team that was strapped for cash this was a scenario that played out as good as possible. I’m a happy Padres fan. And Preller signed Canning as well. Didn’t have to give up any of our bullpen..Not yet anyway. There’s still a chance Preller trades for another starting pitcher with maybe Estrada as compensation.
@winnie It might be the opposite when they’re both in the starting lineup, with Andujar as primary DH and Castellanos in platoon at 1B. We’ll see. Both Castellanos and Andujar are subpar defensively and have little experience at 1B, my guess is that one is going to end up in PH role when the other is DHing.
Either way works for me. I’m feeling good about our team right now. Although I wouldn’t hate it if Preller traded for another legit starting pitcher.
Winnie- my guess is if he does it will be at the deadline. I believe Preller is saving his trade chips for the deadline.
I think they’re done adding pieces at this point, even though they might have cash to bring in more if some guys don’t work out in spring training. People forget that Sears was a legit ML SP in Oakland and we gave up a lot for him – in some ways is on par with Canning (4/5 SP). I’m hoping he gets back on track 2026 and at a minimum serves as our #5 until Canning is fully back from injury..
Brew – no doubt on Sears potential but when referencing the trade, I think they gave it up for Miller and Sears was just a good additional need that could make the deal better if he pans out.
Let’s not forget about the potential for a Yu retirement and 14 mil becoming available.
What would Mad Max for 3 months cost? 5 mil?
I was wrong! AJ wasn’t done, added Marquez to compete for #5 SP with 6 other guys
He is worse than Andujar. Andujar got $4M and the Padres are only paying Castellanos league minimum.
All 3 will be there for the duration of 2026 unless someone gets hurt.
I was only considering all three for a RH side of a platoon in LF or DH., which is 2 positions for 3 players.
1B, DH will be a 3 player platoon with:
600ABsX2 positions- 1200 ABs/ 3 players
= 400 ABs each
Sheets, Castellanos and Andujar
Ramón Laureano is starting in LF and will not be platooning, but
he could use a day off now and then or DH rotation.
All 3 will be playing for the Padres all year.
And, it gives them injury insurance also.
Yeah it’s not likely all three outfielders go injury free. Also likely not all three 1b/dh guys go injury free.
Great move. LFGSD
So the Braves known for hanging out at the recycling bin (DFA Zone) said they needed a DH couldn’t pony up 780K? I guess they thought he wouldn’t fit in the Clubhouse!
That’s strange because Nick is a slim fellow and Mark Bowman fits in the Clubhouse just fine.
How many McNuggets do you think I could eat in one sitting
I think you see that family serving of 20 as an appetizer my friend.
They do not need a DH.
This is the move for them to finally beat the Dodgers in the standings!
LOL
Well, if not, the Pads can just pony up another $100B like the Dodgers do, and .. oh wait. NO team has the money that the Dodgers have, not even the Mets. So, let’s laugh at the small market team that spends REAL cash, where the owners put up REAL capital, and they go for it, every, single, year.
I suppose that kind of humor helps fans of other teams cope. Dodger fans? Hell, they can be as arrogant and feisty as they want, ’cause there’s no downside for a large market team with truly unlimited resources (e.g. Dodgers OWN their own stadium, completely – how many other MLB teams have a 100 year legacy plus their own stadium).
But, I digress. The Pads will show up, they’ll play hard, they’ll play EXCITING BASEBALL, and have sell out crowds EVERY DAY (not just weekends). They’ll be just fine, likely in they playoffs once again, one of the few small market teams that have done that year after year.
Mets and a few other clubs spread a lot of money around last year without getting the results they expected.
Stammen has his work cut out for himself.
Stammen can probably handle a knucklehead like Castellanos just fine.
Stammen won’t have to “handle” Castellanos. Musgrove, Manny, Tati, Bogaerts, Cronenworth, and a few of the other Padre MLB vets will sit down with him when he first enters the clubhouse and have a chat. They’ll handle him. If he’s the MLB gamer he portrays himself to be, he’ll fit in just fine.
And then, they’ll probably buy him his first Petco Park, beer, too. 🙂
I bet AJP really misses being able to spend like a drunken sailor.
Going from shopping from the top shelf to digging through the clearance bin must be a real buzzkill.
King – if you have followed AJ for the past 5 or so years, he has always shopped in both the cheaper (Japan returnees/reclamation/conversion to SP/one more year vets) dept and the top shelf depts at the same time.
@Longtimecoming
The really fun part will be watching other MLB team fans going berserk, as AJP refills the farm system with stars, and has the Padres system within the top 5 MiLB systems, within 1-2 years. Good times .
(Well, AFTER AJP signs his next contract, which I suspect he will not do until after he’s spoken to the new Padres controlling owners.)..
Castenellas will be considered the Padres’ second best signing of the day. Welcome Griffin Canning.
One of Miguel or Nick will get time at first. This is a good move for they got shoved to the ground by all the lefties the cubs threw at them in the playoffs.
Tatis
Merrill
Manny
Laureano
Sheet/miguel/casty
Xander
Miguel/casty/song
Cronenworth
Fermin/campy
Pretty solid lineup if casty and Miguel can be decent.
Bench
Song
Casty/sheets/miguel
Campy
Johnson
I’m excited.
if you’re going to say casty you have to say muni (“mooonie”)
Castellanos has a lot to prove after the breakup in Philly. I would hope he and the Padres discussed his role on this team and he is onboard with the DH/1st base/OF in a pinch role he will have in 2026.
He is the pinch runner.
Castellanos proved himself in Philly and came up with clutch hits and amazing game saving defensive plays in Philly.
He rose to the occasion.
Some of the high paid, big name Phillies wilted in the playoffs and World Series.
Not Castellanos.
“Castellanos proved himself in Philly…”
He came to Philly with an .814 OPS, and produced only a .732 OPS while there. Yeah, he proved his game has significantly declined.
He rose to the occasion in the playoffs? In the 9 series’ he played in, he did well in just 2. For those 9 PS series’ he played in a Phillies uni, he produced a line of .215/.255/.403, and an OPS of .658. Not much of a rise.
Plenty of highlight clips too numerous to post
on Castellanos saving the Phillies bacon on both offense and defense many many times in every year he was in Phillie readily available online and in Castellanos’s MLB team and stats profiles areas,
Were you one of the guys booing Santa Claus in Philly?
I don’t live in Philly, not a Philles fan, nor am I from Philly. The fact that you’re basing your argument on highlight clips say volumes. Stats don’t lie.
Fan-Will you please quit saying that the Phillies fans booed Santa Claus?
It was the Eagles fans who threw snowballs at Santa and he had to leave the game.
I want some of what you are drinking. Castellanos was the worst defensive RF in baseball and was average with the bat.
No drinking.
Phillies played Castellanos out of position for the entire time he was in Phillie.. They had 2 CF types playing LF?!!
And, they gave Castellanos the more challenging defensive position of RF?!
Castellanos started as a SS when Drafted from HS.
Then, Tigers had him playing LF in minors.
Then, they moved him to 3B because no room at 1b/DH with Cabrera and other sluggers having his natural positions locked up.
At some point, he was moved to RF because all the other positions were spoken for.
Philly signed him and had him playing in RF which is not his natural position and not his best position.
So all you stats heads who blame Castellanos for “taking one for the team” and playing RF when he should have been playing less demanding defensive positions like 1B, DH and LF,
you do not know the facts.
Blame the Managers and coaches for playing the man out of position and not crying about it
like Phillies fans, Media and Broadcasters,
Why didn’t they put one of their 2 or 3 CFs in RF
and play Castellanos in LF?
Schwarber had DH locked up and is a much worse defensive player than Castellanos.
Harper is injury prone so they gave him 1B.
Not the man’s fault.
Don’t sign him for 100M if you have no place for him to play.
I don’t blame Nick Castellanos for taking the 100M cash Guaranteed. Any one on this site would have signed that 100M contract as fast as you could get that pen out.
Should have found him a spot in LF or 1B/DH rotation in Philly or just stop whining and let it play out.
I like Rob Thomson and he has done some very good managing in Philly.
But, I don’t understand his thinking of playing Castellanos in
RF even when the Phillies had Harrison Bader and Brandon Marsh playing CF & LF?!
RF is the harder defensive position.
Castellanos should have been playing LF NOT RF?!
That decision sets up Castellanos to fail and get dinged on his defensive scores and ratings.
Then, you blame Castellanos and question his Defense when you put him in the more challenging position of RF?!
That is on Rob Tomson!
Not Castellanos!
Castellanos was worse at 3B than he was in RF. Put down the Presidente. You have had a 12 pack too many.
Padres are the only team in the NL that can take out the Dodgers.
Three capable starting pitchers and the Padres are all gas and no brakes at the trade deadline every year adding pieces.
The Dodgers do their damage against teams in the late innings and the Padres bullpen with Morejon, Adam and Miller have the answer for that.
Machado, Tatis Jr and Merrill can match up with Otani, Freeman and Mookie at this point offensively where it’s not going to be completely one-sided.
The Dodgers scored nearly 125 more runs than the Padres last year and added Tucker. They’re nowhere close offensively.
But you don’t understand. The Dodgers look at the Padres as that red headed step child. The Padres on the other hand HATE the Doyers. The Padres FO will not sell Padre tickets to Dodger fans who live in LA County Zip Codes.
Only goes so far as there are a multitude of Dodgers fans that live in Orange County, Riverside County, Imperial County or *clutch those pearls* San Diego County.
Dodgers only won 3-4 more games than the Padres last year.
Padres, during this run, will always be competitive with the Dodgers.
Padres are definitely #2 in the division. Brewers, Cubs, and Phillies all look good.
I do think the best non Dodgers teams are probably all in the AL East. Mariners and Tigers are good too.
Is the AL the stronger league this year?
The Padres are top heavy, especially on offense. They have to rely on guys like Andjuar, Laureano (good player, but he had a career year at 30), Sheets and Castellanos to give them real production. I personally don’t see that working out well for them. I love their bullpen and that will keep them in most games, but they’re like an 84-88 win team as constructed.
The padres aren’t any worse than last year. Actually look better today than the start of the season a year ago. A team that won 90 games for the second straight year.
I’d take the bet that the padres score more runs this year than they did last year.
Giants or Diamondbacks any better?
Anything can happen but as constructed I like the Padres a little more than the Giants.
Padres higher ceiling Giants higher floor?
I like the Padres pitching. If they can fix that offense, they’ll be right there with the Cubs, Phillies, or any AL East team.
fred-3, please visit us in June or July to see how your prediction is going. I think you’re going to be surprised.
@Simm
“I’d take the bet that the padres score more runs this year than they did last year.”
Particularly so, considering the deadwood the Pads had at DH for the first half of the year. Nothing really matters until they play the games, Pads, Dodgers, and everyone else. Someone’s gonna have a breakout year, maybe someone like Bogaerts has a recovery year, someone will crash (injury or otherwise), it’s a crap shoot. I’d take last years pitching over this years, except for the fact that Musgrove had TJ surgery and went on the shelf, Darvish never got off the shelf, King was either ineffective or on the IL, and … so forth.
This year’s Pads have a lot of potential upside, and a solid core, a fan can’t ask for anymore than that (or expect it, unless your team is the unlimited funds Dodgers).
re: “Giants or Diamondbacks any better?”
I expect both of them to be better. Both have pretty good organizations overall, but it’s tough to compete when the Dodgers are your “standard”.
Now, the Rockies? God help the poor Rockies fans. All one can say for certain is that they probably can’t get much worse. While the Pads are at a disadvantage compared to other MLB divisions due to the Dodgers, the NL West has really only been a 4-team division for the past few years at least.
Sorry I meant are the Giants or DBacks better than the Padres? You can say all three improved, or tried to, for sure.
I’ll let ya know next September. Would make no bets otherwise. Baseball is just a crap shoot, i.e. too many things out of anyone’s control to predict anything. I doubt that either the Giants or Diamondbacks will be pushovers. I think that the Pads have the advantage, but the Giants & DBacks will compete.
I agree. I think the DBacks could have a very bad year if several things don’t pan out. Giants seem safe to be in contention. Padres have the best shot of going furthest.
All totally depends on injuries and performance.
I’m not sold on the Padres pitching as much as you. They’ve lost Cease and Darvish. Pivetta, Musgrove and King is a decent front 3, and Vasquez is intriguing but unproven, and not sure there’s much after that. Sears, Marquez? IDK.
Agree that AZ could be bad. Though I’m a Giants; fan, I like AZ, have family there, and love visiting. But I see them as essentially the same team as last season minus, Naylor and Suarez. They won’t be Rockies or White Sox bad, but just don’t see them getting a PS berth.
@Jean, Darvish didn’t really pitch last year (half season), so you’re basically only swapping Cease for Musgrove and its the same staff. Cease was pretty bad last year, so as long as Musgrove comes back halfway decent, itll be a wash.
Half a season is not nothing. And don’t expect Musgrove to simply pick up where he left off. As a Giants’ fan I saw in 2024, and last season, the affect for Ray from the long layoff.
Time will tell. Musgrove had a pretty time off to recover.
Darvish and Cease combined for a 4.80 ERA. I think Musgrove can pitch that well even coming off TJ surgery. Vasquez certainly can. The Padres will need to eat innings with both of those guys off the roster and Musgrove likely being on an innings limit, but even a #5 starter just there to eat innings should be able to put up a 4.80 ERA or better.
Adds another layer of drama if the Padres and Phillies match up in the playoffs. This could get interesting and revenge is a dish best served in October.
Like Canada v US in hockey after the tarriffs
He fits right in with Tatis and Machado as another clubhouse cancer lol. Perfect match!
Was he born in June?
Debunked! None of them are Cancers. Had the wife check.
Lol, Tatis and Machado.
“Clubhouse cancers” that every fan of every other MLB teams WISHES were on their own teams. Funny that, no?
Meanwhile, in the ACTUAL Padre Clubhouse of love, that EVERY ballplayer, even anonymously, calls one of the best in baseball … real life goes on.
Oh, look, another person who thinks they know what goes on behind closed doors, even though the people actually inside that clubhouse say otherwise……🙄
Nice move by Preller. These small additions are his forte. The Angels got Soler for $14M and SD gets his doppelganger for minimum wage.
That only makes sense if they were available at the same time.
Good addition anywhere for that price. Nice quick work here, SD.
Would’ve been funny seeing him go to KC
SD could get pretty funny pretty quick too.
The Padres offense could be considerably better with full seasons from Laureano, Castellanos, Merrill and Fermin with a dynamite platoon option in Miguel Andujar. vs LHP’s.
Thats what I think, and these people don’t see. Merrill is the onl one of that group that was here opening day last year and they still won 90 games and made the playoffs. Their offense is a top 10 in the league other than maybe HR, but full seasons from those guys will bump that up.
Castellanos is a platoon option. You may see both Andujar and Castellanos vs tough lefties with Sheets on the bench. As long as he is healthy, Andujar hits far better than Castellanos vs RHP and should see the majority of starts against them.
If Laureano and Fermin were Padres for the full season and produced at the same pace they did while with the Padres and they had a healthy Merrill all season, the Padres would have had 3+ additional WAR.
I am looking for a bounceback from Bogaerts now that he is in his 2nd season since the shoulder fracture and both Merrill and Tatis seem like they are playing with a chip on their shoulders this spring, so I expect big things from both of them. This should be a really fun season with improved offense.
Last season Diaz had 283 PA and a 68 OPS+, Iglesias had 343 PA and a 66 OPS+, Maldonado had 161 PA and a 57 OPS+, Heyward had 95 PA and a 37 OPS+, and Gurriel had 40 PA and had a -3 OPS+. All of those guys were on the Padres opening day roster. The replacements for those guys on this team for 2026 are much better than that group.
It will be interesting to see how the Padres handle Matsui and Peralta, both under contract through ’27, and both struggled late last season.
Padres LHRP has potential to be a thorn all season.
If both fail to pitch well, Padres have Hart as an option but will still be vulnerable and LHRP is very important down the stretch.
Wandy and Matsui are fine. They were better than they get credit for.
They were good early in the season, but both were liabilities down the stretch.
The numbers dont tell it but I noticed it, there were more than a few games late in the season that one or both were ineffective.
Every reliever has a bad outing. The numbers say they were not very serviceable or actually good.
They aren’t late game lights out relievers but are good guys for low leverage situations.
Both good options heading into the season, I’ll give you that.
No abs says “Their actual performance doesn’t show it, but I noticed it.”
Peralta was lights out late last season
Peralta had a 1.00 ERA in September. Matsui has a 1.04 ERA in September. That is outstanding.
Peralta is fine and a capable LHRP, Matsui is looking like his stuff isn’t MLB viable. I would give him this year (maybe to the trade deadline) before making a final judgement.
Matsui had an era+ of 108 last year. Era under 4, strikes out about 9/9.
He is definitely a major league pitcher. He isn’t great but very serviceable.
Terrible BB:K ratio and extremely homer prone as a lefty at Petco. If he weren’t LH and guaranteed $5M a year he wouldn’t be on the team. He’s a sunk cost at this point, so I’m fine giving him some leash.
His contract is an overpay but that doesn’t make him not serviceable.
He definitely would struggle to make the padres team without the contract he has. That’s less about Matsui and more about how strong the padres pen is.
@Simm
“His contract is an overpay…”
It’s tough to talk about “overpay” contracts on relief pitchers, without the name “Drew Pomeranz” coming to mind. Matsui is at least healthy AND effective. Drew was never healthy or “right” with the Pads, yet he was paid as a closer.
Morejon is a left handed reliever
No abs,
Peralta – 3.14 ERA with a 1.00 ERA down the stretch. Matsui – 3.98 ERA with a 1.04 ERA down the stretch. Both better than average for the season and both lights out in September. No problems there.
Nice attempt at trolling. It failed because of an utter lack of facts, but nice attempt anyway.
Maybe try some planks. Sitting at a computer all day will cause your core to atrophy.
Castellanos at firstbase sounds interesting.
Probably will be a battle between casty and Miguel to see who can handle first. The other will be the primary DH.
Sheets is likely to get 65% of starts at first (against RHP SPs) and on those games Andujar is more likely to DH than Castellanos as he’s better against RHP. That puts Castellanos in PH role except when he platoons at 1b (assuming he can handle 1b defensively) against LHP. Nice to have the PH depth but it’s at sacrifice of defense for sure.
If Sheets starts against all the RHP then he will get 72-76% of the starts.
Yeah that’s true. I was hedging a bit to the Padres mention of Song getting some time at 1b (while Sheets get rest or DHs against RHPs) I’m sure curious how Stammen will manage lineups now after Castellanos signing.
WHAT A HOOT ! That might have set a record for a change of teams, Nick will do well out there. The prior Nick news had a gazillion comments, too funny.
Adding another great chemistry piece. This is going to be one to watch.
Could do far worse if your intent was filling the bench out and very worthy of a free gamble. I was convinced Nick was going to be a Pirate!
The Dodgers just won the NL West.
where were the cubs?
If he had offers from more than the Padres I imagine he picked the team with the chance to get the most ABs. They are about the best fit other than KC or Minnesota or a rebuilding team. In SD he has less of a chance of being traded mid season. And the weather.
@WadeHe was signed for the league minimum. Any team could shave had him Phillies are paying his $15M . It’s soooo right.
Another shrewd move for SD.
Shrewd move ex lax?
The negotiations consisted of: “you want to play where it’s beautiful every day for the league minimum? If not, good luck”…
forecasted Monday-Wednesday major storm in SD is looking beautiful from a drought perspective
@longWere talking between April and October
Saw on the Weather Channel that southern California could get flooding and 1 foot of snow in the mountains.
I wonder if playing for us under the league minimum salary – while still earning $19+ mil from Philadelphia – could ease the pressure on Castellanos enough for him to play more relaxed and have a better season than last year..
Just as I predicted, Castellanos will fit well in San Diego.
And the price is right for the Padres. Playing Castellanos at a postion that he can handle (1B/DH) (unlike in Philly) is the key to maximizing his talents and will keep him happy and producing in San Diego.
Kuddos to AJ Preller for waiting the Phillies out and not giving up any players in getting Castellanos.
Castellanos will be motivated to have a big year and lay the ground work
for his next big contract..
Castellanos is definitely a “change of scenery” type player.
How motivated will Castellanos be when the Padres and the Phillies play?! Revenge will be on the table.
If the Padres play the Phillies in the playoffs, then I expect Castellanos to be ‘fired up” and do some major damage in those “must see” playoffs games.
Preller definitely did not need to give up anything to get Castellanos. Padres are the best landing spot he could hope for.
Now if the Rockies had wanted him…
Over under on Castellanos getting 300 ABs?
The more he hits, the more ABs he will get.
Then you are saying you agree that he will get less than 300 AB because he has shown he can only hit against LHP and he couldn’t even do that in 2025.
If healthy I think Castellanos gets between 400-500 at bats.
Will be interesting to see if him or Miguel get the most at bats vs righties.
Who both could lose at bats if song hits well.
I think if Castellanos gets 400 at bats things have gone significantly wrong for the Padres!
@Wade I agree!
Or very right for him
If Castellanos gets 400-500 ABs something went seriously wrong. Someone had a season ending injury in April or May.
I think that 300 would be about the max if things go well with Andujar and Sheets.
I will take the under.
There will be kegs of Presidente in that clubhouse in no time.
Skunk beer
Cheers
If he plays nice, doesn’t rock the boat, accepts his role without pouting, he can be a nice contributor. And if he’s a pain, just cut him. Chump change for the Padres.
It seems very unlikely for Castellanos playing any 1B decent level at this time. With Laureano and Tatis fixed at LF and RF, respectively, he’d have to excel with the bat in order to make the team as DH/RH bench.
???? 1B/DH seems like a natural fit for Castellanos.
He came up as a 3B.
He can catch the ball and made some game saving plays playing out of position in RF for Phillies.
Harper and Scwarber had those spots locked up in Philly.
At best he’ll play 30% of games against lefties as the RHB platoon with Sheets at 1b (assuming he can field the postion). Against RHPs he’ll likely sit the bench and be available to PH as Andujar will be primary DH ( he hits RHP better than Castellanos)
Will see, I think they both will get opportunities. Who ever swings it best will get the lion share.
Also song is gonna take some of those at bats away from both when he plays.
Idk how Padres fans are so happy about Nick Castellanos, on the Mets site I was pounding the table for them to stay as far away from him as possible and it seemed almost the entirety of the fanbase in the comments agreed. Nothing to do with his character which is questionable at best it’s just the fact he’s cooked. Can’t field, I mean sure being he’s making $20M he will go stand somewhere with a glove but he ain’t tracking anything down. He swings and misses at everything, he has a slow bat that makes weak contact and could barely scratch 20HR playing half his games at Citizens Bank.
Padres are paying him league min.
He can DH, spot start in the outfield or 1b. He may not be great but it’s on upgrade over what the had prior.
Why would the Pads DH Castellanos against RHP when Andujar hits better against them?
He may not make the team out of Spring. League minimum depth signing that fills a gap. If it works out he sticks. If not oh well.
I expect a big bounce back year from Castellanos in San Diego.
He will be on a mission to prove the Phillies wrong
and to set himself up for another multi year contract.
Oh I hate this signing. Where does he fit in? Sheets/Andujar looks like the primary 1B platoon. I’d much rather see Campusano get RH DH starts when Fermin is catching. I hope this is just a ST invite/depth signing but I can’t imagine Castellanos being amenable to being sent down.
They aren’t carrying a third catcher so campy won’t be starting at DH.
Will see what he has, if he sucks he can be released. It’s league min deal…so no biggie if he sucks.
I would rather a 3rd defensive catcher then and let Campusano loose. Yes there’s minimal obligation but it’s not “if he sucks”.. he’s been league average with the bat the past 3 seasons and much worse than Andujar (admittedly in a full-time role) while being one of the worst defenders in MLB and having clubhouse issues. Maybe getting him out of LF and at 1B (can he even play 1B?)/DH brings the bat back around but it’s not worth the headache with a first-time manager. Echoes of Maldonado and Gurriel last year where everyone but the Padres FO seemed to know the writing was already on the wall.
Campy hasn’t shown he is even a league avg bat in the mlb for a couple of years now.
If campy earns DH bats they can always add a 3rd catcher.
At this point there is no harm and seeing if casty can contribute to the team. He isn’t being paid anything that matters.
Sure but the upside IMO is much greater. Campy has been up and down (figuratively and literally) in his MLB career. I would love to see him get 300+ PAs and see if there’s anything there, especially now that you’re forced to carry him on the 26-man or risk losing him. There’s nothing in the last 4 years from Castellanos that says to me “this guy could rebound” and everything coming out of the split with the Phillies paints him as a headache. Again, feels like last ST where yes, they can pivot off a bad vet signing, but why not just sidestep the whole thing in the first place?
Campy will get about that many at bats at catcher if he hits for anything.
Agree after reading Athletic write up can’t see this working with a rookie manager. Also basically pushes Johnson off the roster. Don’t think he sticks past ST
A team can’t let a prospect like Campy with his bat, just walk away without at least one serious opportunity. I don’t know if he can handle the catching job (I never felt he was that bad, but I guess I didn’t see him in enough games; the pro’s say he’s bad), but there a lot worse 4A hitters out there who have better opportunities than Campy has had. I don’t know how it’ll workout, but it’d hurt big time to have him go to say, Seattle on a waiver claim, and hit .330 with 35 home runs, all because Padre pitchers didn’t like throwing to him.
He may be one of those “hard headed” guys who doesn’t take well to coaching, has had a ton of it, leading to managers tossing up their hands and saying “I don’t have time for guys like this”. That was the way Sean Burroughs was, according to a former MLB player and coach I spoke with. Hard headed (plus as we later found out, drug issues).
We’ll see how it plays out.
The Padres do not have another CF, so Johnson is pretty much assured to make the squad.
They can use larureano there if it’s needed. Though as constructed Johnson makes the team.
Tatis can play Centerfield. I’m guessing Sung-Mun can also. Or he will very soon in Spring Training.
I doubt it pushes Johnson off, that would be an act of insanity as he’s an important late inning OF defensive replacement and PR, and only CF backup.
I doubt Castellanos gets much playing time as he doesn’t make sense as the primary DH (Andujar hits RHP better) and at best he gets an occasional start at 1b ( if he shows he can field the position) against LHP in a platoon of sorts there with Sheets.
The way to get Castellanos out? Do not throw him a strike……he is horrible
Excellent move. I was hoping the Cubs would sign him.
Why would you sign a DH and have no way getting Seiya, Moises or anyone else in the lineup at the same time when either is in the field?
If the Cubs didnt invest in Austin, then perhaps the Jed would of went deep dumpster diving for Nicky 2 bags.
This roster can’t have two RH 2.5 outcome guys assuming everyobe is healthy
Hopefully he rakes for SD
He won’t. Have fun.
Look out Dodgers!
Good for him, wish him luck. Should have gotten at least 1 ring with the Phillies: would have changed feelings for sure.
Shut up, Nicholas.
The bottom line is that the Phillies are going to pay Castellanos $19.22 million to play for an opposing team. Speaks volumes
Was there ever a question?!!?
Soon to be as popular & integral to the Pobres success as Ramón Lauriano!!!
“We have awful news to report, folks. The Coronado Bridge has collapsed. Rescue crews fear a massive loss of life and here’s Nick Castellanos with deep drive to left field, way back there, and gone!”
I think so. He’s an emotional person that is confident, and he felt he was being humiliated for something not worthy, so he sulked because he’s emotional, but not bombastic like Puig, so he got kicked to the curb and still gets to make $20,000,000.00 (must be nice), but he seems like a perfect change of scenery player, and will very possibly play about 120 games, 18HR, 58RBI, well worth under a million. He just needs to do everything they ask of him to stick around.
AJ needs to keep working the phones and possibly grab one or two more back of the rotation arms…
Giolito and Littell are out there and either would improve a whole lot of teams.
See this as a calculated & patient offseason grab for the Friars. I cannot wait to watch an SDPv Phillies series this season. I fully expect Castellanos’ bat will appear somewhere in San Diego’s lineup. Those on here who claim he cannot hit anymore might be elated to see him up at the plate with bat in hand and chip on his shoulder. Fun times ahead watching games between these opposite coast NL contenders😃
May 25-27 in San Diego if Castellanos lasts that long.
Right Bak Pak -just saw that on the RSS game 1 of the May series on TBS✌️
I wonder if Castellanos getting out of Philly and going to SD will have the same affect on his attitude and mental state as when Devers left Boston for San Fran. Sometimes a fresh start and change of scenery will rejuvenate a player and rehab his psyche. I’m not talking about his performance, necessarily, just his motivation and attitude.
Yeah but Devers caused the situation in Bean Town
Didn’t Castellanos cause the situation in Philly?
2 sides to every story.
Ohter side, maybe Phillies took Castellanos for granted, disrespected him, failed to communincate with him, played him out of position in RF.?! Castellanos may have felt that he “took one for the teamn” by playing RF instead of DH or 1B.
Instead of building him up, working with him on defense in RF, Defending him with Media and fans, they threw him under the bus and made him a scapegoat for the Phillies playoffs failures even though his producing bat, at key, moments, helped them in pennant races and in the playoffs.
I’m not familiar with the situation, but I think bringing a beer into the dugout crossed a line.
Nick is too proud for his own good.
The Miami incident occurred in a town where he had a lot family attend the game.
He overreacted.Thomson was not doing his job in not replacing Nick for defense long before that game.
Paco Figureoa worked with Nick extensively on fielding for three years and Nick tried to get better but just could not.
Part of it was mental in not paying attention on every pitch.
Nick thanked Paco a couple of days ago along with others that he thanked.
Nick was no good at third base and evidently did not like playing there.
He is basically a DH now but may be able to fill in at first base.
The Phillies are not using him as a scapegoat.Personalities like his have a shelf life with any team.
Sometimes I read the posts and wonder how the people that made the comments managed to even log into their computer.
Castellanos played almost every game in Philadelphia with an average of 151 GP in those 4 seasons. He was terrible the entire time. The Phillies had Paco Figueroa work with him but Castellanos didn’t have either the skills or the desire needed to improve his defense. He also did not have the self awareness to understand that he was hurting his team on defense. He thought he was good on defense and said so on multiple occasions. Castellanos said several times that he was not a DH. He didn’t want to play that position.
Castellanos was a below average hitter. 88 OPS+. With RISP he was even worse at an 84 OPS+. With 2 outs and RISP, in Late and Close situations, and in high leverage situations his bat completely disappeared not even rising to a 60 OPS+. His bat didn’t contribute. That was part of the issue. A team will put up with bad defense in the corner OF if the player is hitting. Castellanos was not hitting.
Trying to figure out why you would even try to defend his actions. Castellanos was the problem, not Thompson or anyone else on the Phillies. If he makes it to the field at all for the Padres, they need to hope that he doesn’t infect the rest of the clubhouse with his attitude of entitlement.
Bak–How come his teammates liked him then?
How come the Phillies trotted him out to right field for like 650 straight games then?
How come Paco worked with him and had nothing bad to say about him?His lack of field coverage was based on his lack of quickness and slow foot speed than anything else.
How come Thompson did not replace him on defense as a standard practice long before the Miami game?
There evidently was not too bad of a problem during the three and a half years that he played on a regular basis throughout each game.
They were paying him $20 M a year and he underperformed.
It is not like they had a good replacement player during that time.
Nick was self centered but worked very hard and tried to win just as much as anyone else on the team.
Sometimes I read the posts and am surprised that some posters only concentrate on only negative aspects rather than the entire picture and wonder how they get through life as a one trick pony.
The Phillies said that Castellanos refused to change his swing or take extra OF practice. Castellanos literally said in 2024 that he had no reason to do that because he was a good defensive OF. Not only was his range the worst in StatCast history for a qualifying RF, his arm was 25th percentile. Couldn’t go after the ball and couldn’t throw once he had it. Talk about delusional.
Castellanos teammates spoke out against him after the beer fiasco. They didn’t like him and that they spoke out against him to reporters during the season says volumes. The Phillies felt he was such a bad influence on and off the field that they paid him $20 million to go away and never darken their clubhouse and field again.
You do realize they had Harper on the roster? He was certainly a better option in RF, but Castellanos was paid a lot of money and at one time at least had a good bat, so they kept running him out there. That never worked out for the Phillies.
You are apparently as delusional as Castellanos is. Nothing you said matches the facts of the situation other than that they played him every game.
Devers being jettisoned in Boston had the effect of a 4th place team winning 89 games and making the playoffs and a team 11 games over .500 and in the hunt missing the playoffs entirely. Devers also went from being a 151 OPS+ hitter to a 130 OPS+ hitter with the move.
Castellanos caused issues in Philly because he was platooned after being ineffective for 3 seasons. Going to the Padres means that Castellanos will at best be a platoon DH only playing against the short side of the platoon. If his attitude was bad with being benched in Philly, how bad will it be playing once a week in San Diego? Or do you think that the powers that be sat down with him in advance and said this is how it will be and if you prove to be a distraction we will boot you to the curb?
Yeah, playing time for Casty will be hard to justify. If he gets 300 ABs it’s because something else went horribly wrong
This seems strange after they just signed Miguel Andujar. There’s only one DH slot and they both mash lefties and have no defensive value. You generally don’t need more than one of those types of players on a roster.
SD is gonna be scary good.
BuckMcDuck, I agree. The Padres will be excellent in 2026.
So much for the theory that no other team would sign Castellanos because of his fallout with Topper Thomson. Other teams saw how Castellanos was being disrespected by the Phillies all along. San Diego just got the best off-season deal, and Castellanos is in a far better place.
Good luck, Nick. Show them who you are.
I guess the Padres don’t have any open container restrictions in their dugout. Who knew???
As I posted earlier, the Padre vets, Musgrove, Manny, Tati, Cronenworth, and maybe some other gamers, will welcome Castellanos into the clubhouse, sit down and have a very private, friendly “talk about things”, and that will be that.
Except, these pranksters will probably also buy him his first Petco Park beer, immediately afterwards. “Don’t start nothing; won’t be nothing.” New slate. Clean slate. Simple as that.
Rumors are that Stammen and Preller had a “come to Jesus” video call with Castellanos before they signed him. They were not waiting for the vets to deal with it. They headed it off at the pass. I still think its a mistake to sign him.
Bak Pak, they also consulted Machado and other veterans on the team before they reached out to Castellanos on that call.
dole, If alcohol use was discouraged on any major league team, what was beer doing in the Phillies clubhouse in the first place?
The beer had to be available in the clubhouse for Castellanos to take it into the dugout which is connected to the clubhouse by a tunnel.
The truth is alcohol use is a reality in professional sports. Unfortunately, so is drug use, and yes, continued PED use.
What Castellanos did in Philly on a single occasion was a mistake, but desperate times call for desperate measures. A man can only take so much, and Castellanos was shown nowhere near the respect in Philly he deserved for all he contributed to the game for so many years.
Okay, so his ability to get to balls in the outfield was subpar. So what! At least he took to the field every day and gave it the best shot he could. For that, he got no respect from his organization, manager, or Philly media who effectively turned the fans against him. Instead, everyone put Schwarber on a pedestal, even though he was statistically the absolute worst defensive outfielder in all of baseball in 2024, and didn’t even know where the outfield was located in 2025.
Castellanos had a tough year in 2025. A good manager would have recognized that and not taken the one thing away from him that still was a source of intense pride to him. A good manager would not have benched a veteran player who had a consecutive game streak still on the line, especially so late in the season. A good manager would have not broken that streak so that Kepler, who was recently suspended for PED use, could take over and do no better than Castellanos did.
Castellanos returned to the lineup after one day on the bench. Unfortunately, that one day on the bench broke his consecutive game streak and caused him to be humiliated in front of his teammates and fans. So, what good did Thomson’s short-sighted use of his limited authority do in the final analysis?
Thomson recently stated he was proud of Castellanos for publicly owning up to what he did. When does Thomson plan to own up to the broken record, public humiliation, and loss of respect his ill-advised single game decision caused Castellanos?
This entire episode will forever be treated as a stain on Dave Dombrowski’s record of running ball clubs. When does a GM ever release a player he owes $20 million to and then spend an additional $10 million to replace him with another player of lesser ability? The answer is never, except in the case of Dave Dombrowski.
A good GM would have sat down with Thomson and Castellanos and helped them work their differences out. By not doing that, Dombrowski put the Phils $20 million in the hole, and gifted the Padres with a player that is sure to improve their team in 2026.
The Phils recently claimed that, despite their ticket sales, merchandise sales, TV contracts, licensing fees, and other sources of income, they are losing money every season. I’m not sure I believe such a report of the Phils poor financial health, but if it is true, the way the organization handled Nick Castellanos proved how the Phils continue to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, and why the team is still not considered with the same respect given other big market teams.
On the bucks- That has to be the most ridiculous post that I have seen in my ten years on this site.
Nick did not miss a paycheck in all four years.
They started him basically every game.
He was an awful outfielder and the Padres are smart enough not to play him there.
And he should have been taken out for defense many times long before that game.
TL;DR, but there’s a difference between beer in the dugout and beer in the clubhouse.
Communications problems in Phillie.
It was Thomson’s job to handle it,not Dombrowski’s
Dombrowski lets his managers handle dugout and on the field decisions and that has made him a very successful/winning POB and GM for decades and a future 1st ballot Hall of Fame MLB executive.
POB must back up his manager or the manager is eventually replaced.
POB gives input and advice to his manager, but let’s manager run the clubhouse and dugout.
Castellanos was drafted by Dombrowski/Avila in Detroit.
Just wonder why Castellanos was not developed more as a LF/IB/OF type earlier in his career.
Probably because Detroit had legends and veteran sluggers @1B & DH and LF.
Castellanos just became the odd man out and not a skills filt
in Detroit or Philly.
Hey to break it to ya. But beer should only be consumed in the clubhouse . It’s not rocket science. You don’t bring it in the dugout
WHAT? Castellanos has been bad in the field with a bad attitude since joining the Phillies in 2022. He has never once risen to the challenge. 2025 was just the culmination of several years of him not performing and acting like he was somehow a valuable player that the manager should kowtow to.
I have looked at many higlight cl;ips for Castellanos for every year in Philly: Walk off wins, Home runs to win games during season and in playoffs, clutch hits that won games many important games for the Phillies, many diving catches to save runs and games. It is all recorded and cannot be refuted.
What cannot be refuted is that Castellanos was the worst RF in MLB on defense. A few highlight reels do not change the facts. 1st percentile range. 25th percentile arm. Worst OAA in MLB. Worst FRV in MLB. Worst DRS in MLB. Worst def WAR in MLB.
Last season he had an 88 OPS+, an 84 OPS+ with RISP, a 57 OPS+ in high leverage situations, and a 47 OPS+ in late and close situations.
Overall he had a negative WAR. -0.8 WAR. That was the worst in MLB.
He had a bad attitude and pouted when taken out of a close game for defensive reasons.
Castellanos was horrible at every aspect of the game last season.
I agree with all your comments except one. You were too generous in your last comment, “Castellanos was horrible at every aspect of the game last season.”
Last season??? How about ALL four years in Philly.
Maybe because of your poor intellect.
Why not? Another anti-glue-guy added to a team already full of them!
His numbers improve if the Gatorade cooler is not full of Miller Lite
Uh, you mean the cooler is filled with Presidente.
Perfect fit. Toxic attitude in a toxic clubhouse
Oh look, another idiot with zero clue what happens in their clubhouse, even though players say its one of the best. Thanks for the uneducated opinion…….
Google “padres clubhouse infighting” or “padres toxic clubhouse” and then tell me i am an idiot and uneducated. Read any article about their clubhouse culture. Get real dot dot dot
You know Castellanos is a little unstable. I haven’t seen Judge and Stanton at each other’s throat or Mookie and Shohei. The Padres celebrate more for doing less , zero class
Enjoy your day. Dont be mad
Ok, you are an idiot and uneducated. You can’t tell the difference between 2021 and 2025. Enough said.
Apparently league minimum was too rich for poboy in Cincinnati
Preller’s annual signing of a failed old player. I don’t see him adding any value with his bat nor is he good in the clubhouse. In Philly he was a cancer they paid $20 million to excise. At best he is a RHB to platoon at DH? What is Preller thinking? Padres fans, how long do you think he lasts? OD, 1 month, 2 months?
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
One man’s trash is most often just another man’s trash if he picks it up after its discarded. That is why no team was willing to trade for Castellanos at all, even last season before the beer incident.
Disagree.
Just a common saying.
Castellanos has value. He is a very good veteran player who works hard, gets his uniform dirty, plays out of position for his team, gets big hits when other bats ran cold.
He hits in the clutch in pennant races and in the playoffs.
Phillies would not have done as well in some of those years without Castellanos’s clutch hits.
Some of the other Phillies bats (not Schwarber) went cold during “crunch time” and at key moments. Castellanos can be “Clutch” and pick up your team, multiple times during do or die crucial times for the Phillies in pennant races adn the playoffs.,
I see a lot of online videos or Nick Castellanos saving the Phillies with outstaning defensive plays, diving for balls, throwing runners out at home, clutch hits, many walk off win hits, home runs, and hero of the game(s) videos etc.
Castellanos is a gamer and fans will see that, again, in San Diego.
If the Padres face the Phillies in the playoffs, then Castellanos could just turn the tables on and get some revenge on the Phillies, their media and their fans that appeared to have scapegoated Nick Castellanos. to make lame excuses as to why other higher profile, highly paid Phillies stars, not name Schwarber, were AWOL when clutch hits and rallies were needed for the Phillies in the playoffs and World Series during the current Phillies run of contention.
Castellanos has no value or some team would have traded for him. The Padres only picked him up because he costs them the same as a pre-arb player. If he doesn’t make the team out of spring training he costs them nothing. There is a good possibility that he doesn’t make the team. He really offers nothing they don’t already have because they already signed a RHB to DH/1B in Andujar and Castellanos blocks the ability for the team to carry either a SS backup or a CF backup.
Castellanos was not scapegoated. He was terrible and he had a bad attitude. He refused to change his swing and he would not even take extra fielding practice,. He caused all his own problems.
League minimum. If it works out, great. If not, no big deal.
Good dice roll by the Pads. There is minimal risk and maybe a 50/50 shot he comes back hungry to “prove haters wrong” or “put some respec on his name”, or whatever it is they say these days, deadass, no cap.
Knowing Castellanos he’ll:
1) crush it in ST, come out of camp hot, slay for a month, go into hibernation, get released, and become a charter boat captain. …or…
2) completely poo the bed in ST, crash out, get released and become a charter boat captain.
As always, he will keep it entertaining. His time as a hitter is past but I will remember his good Phillies times forever. Everything was OK until he agitated the baseball gods with his ring antics in the 2023 postseason.
In 2025 Castellanos was better than Garcia, who the Phillies signed to replace him. While Garcia definitely plays a better defense, Garcia at $10 million basically amounts to a $30 million hit because they’re paying Nick to be a Padre. It’s not like they made some unbelievable upgrade at the position.
What I find strange is that the Phillies couldnt find a trade for him.
GMs all around the league passed on a deep discount on Castellanos, a good hitter. Ozuna got 12M from the Pirates and Castellanos is likely to post a higher OPS this season.
There was an opportunity to potentially add a good prospect from Philly for taking on a small portion of his contract, and another for moving Castellanos at the trade deadline.
Were they passing on Castellanos or sticking it to Philly?
Castellanos isn’t a great catch. At best he’s a league-average hitter who can’t play defense. Why would you give up even a low-level prospect to get that?
Because every team in baseball has a guy – if not two or three – in their system who can hit a bit less than league average like him, and also be playable in the field.
Castellanos’s salary was a sunk cost for the Phillies, and they weren’t going to compound the problem by surrendering a prospect to dump his salary.
This isn’t that complicated a situation.
ABS-If you are talking about the Pirates I think that they are trying to win this year and they are hoping that Ozuna can supply the power that they were seeking in Suarez and actually offered a two year contract to at the same annual rate as Cincinnati.
It was a toss up as to whether they would have taken Castellanos rather than McCutchen as the backup plan.
Sheet happens.
Both Castellanos and the Phillles needed a reset.
Surprised that the Phillies do not move on from Realmeto.
and/or shake up their team even m ore.
2.8 WAR for Garcia. Negative 0.8 WAR for Castellanos. That is a 3-4 win swing to the positive just by getting rid of Castellanos.
Even if you are just talking about hitting you have it backwards. Garcia had a 93 OPS+ and Castellanos had an 88 OPS+.
We shall see who performs and has a better impact for their team.
My money would be on Castellanos if they don’t play him out of position and keep him in the 1B/DH and just a little bit of LF rotation.
From reading your comments and then looking at what actually happened, we can be almost 100% certain that Garcia will provide more value.
I think this is a mistake by the Padres. a poison like Castellanos spreads quick in the clubhouse. Even if he can hit LHP fairly well, his presence is not one you want around younger players.
Calling him poison is a bit over the top. He’s not disliked by teammates as far as we know. He’d probably not be a good influence for a young team, but a veteran team knows how to handle him. His attitude wasn’t an impediment for the Phillies last year. The impediment was his lack of bat and his lack of range. In his mind he thinks he’s worthy to still be a starter. We know he’s not by looking at numbers and watching him flail at sliders. But that belief in himself got him this far. I would want that in a teammate. I hope he turns it around, but I am looking at the wall and I do see writing.
it doesn’t seem he’s openly disliked by most of them, but it’s also true that none of them exactly fought to defend him either. it’s like he’s a guy you tolerated if he can still produce a little.
Read the article in the Athletic they mentioned in this piece. He was disliked in the Phillies clubhouse.
Noted, bitb. That was a good piece by Gelb. It seems like the more open disdain was after the Topper incident.
I can still see the Pads fully embracing Casty with some of the personalities they already have. They all seem to have a similar chip on the shoulders of their stars. This may be the team that starts many team brawls in 2026.
Hate to read this poor sportsmanship and name calling.
Were you one of the guys booing Santa Claus in Philly?!
To be fair Santa deserved some of the boos. His UPS+ spiraled and caught stealing ratios went up last year. And toy shop chemistry with elves at an alltime low. He can do better
Santa has been at it a very long time.
I do not doubt that he looking for a replacement.
I think this could go one of two ways, he could be last year’s Jason Heyward, or 2024’s David Peralta. Hopefully it’s the latter or better but if not, at least it’s not going to cost them other than the minimum and a roster spot.
Undoubtedly he has the 6 games that the Padres & Phillies play one another in late May / early June circled on his calendar.
I wonder if one of the incentives in the contract is a couple of tall boys and a 12 pack by the sixth ending if he gets an extra base hit?
For what the padres are paying him I’d be fine with paying him with beer incentives.
Only Presidente though.
he was a tough watch last year .. both in the field and a bat .. so glad he’s not a phillie anymore..san diego fans get to suffer now
“Phils didn’t exactly have much leverage given how open the front office has been for months about their desire to move on from Castellanos.”
The leverage comes from competition for the player.
If the Dodgers decided they had to trade Ohtani, there would be lots of interest in him, thus they would have leverage.
Should fit right in there – team of unchecked egomaniacs.
Makes sense bc Preller has no cash and he has depleted the farm system.
I hope he goes 0 for 1 million vs the Phillies. Do whatever you want against the Dodgers.
Farm system gets qualify infusions every year from
great drafts and international siginings, but thanks for asking.
So much for playing close to home. He’ll self-destruct due to a reduction in playing time. He’ll be back home playing golf in Miami by June.
Should’ve just grabbed Ryan Mountcastle from the O’s
If Castellanos reaches base one time for every four comments he’s prompted on this blog, he’ll be doing well.
Casty has a history of turning it on when free agency money is at stake. 1.002 OPS in his short time with the Cubs and .939 in his last year with the Reds.
I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he had a relatively good year.
Congratulations to Nick Castellanos
on becoming a New San Diego Padre!
As you know, you are going to a very, very good playoffs caliber ballclub
with a great mix of young and veteran players.
The Padres players have already extended warm welcomes to Nick Castellanos: CF Jackson Merrill, 1B/LF Gavin Sheets and others.
Padres fans will love your passion for the game, how you work hard, aren’t afraid to get your uniform dirty, deliver clutch hits and help your teams win!
You will enjoy playing in San Diego @ Petco Park where most of the Padres home games are sell outs even in the middle of the week.
As you may know, the San Diego Padres are 2nd in attendance in MLB
for all MLB teams.
Top 5 Overall Attendance (Total Fans)
Los Angeles Dodgers: 4,012,470
San Diego Padres: 3,437,201
New York Yankees: 3,392,659
Philadelphia Phillies: 3,375,477
New York Mets: 3,182,052
You will love San Diego: the Food, the music, the beaches, the mountains & deserts and so many things to do.
Work hard, get settled in and prepare for a “Comeback Player of the Year” Season in San Diego!!
what is he “coming back” from?
Good team for Nick to go to. Nick is going to play with a chip of his shoulder.
And, I expect Nick will have a huge year in San Diego and mesch very well with their team roster: Jackson Merrill, Gavin Sheets, Freddie Fermin, Tatis Jr. Machado and more.
For all the uninformed comments in the thread, the padres haven’t had clubhouse issues since Melvin left, and those were driven by Melvin and Sotos beef.
He was not. He had a beer in his hand. A team mate took the beer out of his hand.
Thank God this guy is out of Philly. His play has n the field isn’t with worth the bad attitude he brought. Just wasn’t the place for him. Hopefully, he can turn it around in SD, but looking at the past few years, I don’t see it.
If castellanos can beat Arraez 83 wrc+ against LHP then this is already an upgrade for a fraction of the cost
C’mon, be fair. It’s not like the Phillies had to pay $100m for that 0.8 fWAR. They will now only have to pay $99.2m.