There may be no more drives into deep left field for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies are expected to part ways with veteran outfielder Nick Castellanos this offseason, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported Friday. Gelb notes that the Phillies are likely to either trade or release the 33-year-old Castellanos.
Castellanos, a two-time All-Star and a former Silver Slugger Award winner, has been with the Phillies since 2022. That is when he signed a five-year, $100 million contract with the team.
But Castellanos has mostly failed to live up to that price tag, especially this season when he batted .250 and was a negative WAR player overall (though Castellanos did still produce 17 home runs and 72 RBIs over 147 games). Over four postseason games this year, Castellanos only managed to hit a woeful .133 as well (with the Phillies ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS round).
On top of that, Castellanos’ attitude has become a bit of a problem for Philadelphia. He was benched back in June after crossing the line with a comment to Phillies manager Rob Thomson and eventually expressed frustration over his reduced role for the team later in the season.
With Castellanos now entering the final year of his contract in 2026 at $20 million, he now becomes much easier to move off. The Phillies already explored the idea of trading him last offseason, and now either a trade or a release could become a reality within a matter of weeks here.
