Nick Castellanos’ fabled drives into deep left field may come at a different ballpark next season.
The Phillies are expected to trade or release the outfielder this offseason, according to multiple reports, as he comes off arguably the worst season of his 13-year MLB career.
In addition to hitting full-season lows with a .250 batting average and .294 on-base percentage, the 33-year-old saw his home run and RBI totals — 17 and 72, respectively — drop as he lost playing time due to near league-worst defensive play.
He finished 2025 with a career-worst -1.0 WAR.
Oh, and he also publicly sparred with Phillies manager Rob Thompson, earning him a one-game benching in June.
“We’ll see what happens,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Thursday. “I don’t know. I’m not going to get into specific players that are on our roster under contract. The [incidents] that you talked about are accurate, but we’ll see what happens.”
Castellanos, a two-time All-Star famed for hitting home runs during pop culture moments, has one year left on his five-year, $100 million deal.
If the Phillies are willing to eat some of the $20 million he’s due, it could lead to a trade — something the team has reportedly been angling for over the past two offseason.
It adds to the numerous questions marks surrounding the Phillies, who fell well short of World Series expectations in dropping their NL Division Series to the Dodgers, 3-1.
Fellow outfielders Max Kepler and Harrison Bader are pending free agents, as are slugger Kyle Schwarber, catcher J.T. Realmuto and start Ranger Suarez.
The overhaul likely makes room for 21-year-old Justin Crawford in the outfield, the team’s 2022 first-round pick, who slashed an eye-popping .334/.411/.452 with 46 stolen bases over 112 games at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Thompson will be back, as will Bryce Harper, the two-time MVP, though Dombrowski didn’t mince words when it came to him.
“I mean, in Bryce’s case, of course he’s still a quality player,” he told reporters. “He’s still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past, and I guess we only find out if he becomes elite [again] or he continues to be good.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
