During the 2025 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies saw their outfield drastically change from the beginning of the year to the end. Brandon Marsh was terrible to begin the year, but came back and was incredible.
Harrison Bader took over in center field and was a revelation. Max Kepler struggled through the first half, but after the trade deadline turned things around. But, most notably, Nick Castellanos grew disgruntled with Rob Thomson and the team as his playing time diminished.
With trade rumors surrounding Castellanos, at the end-of-season press conference shared by NBC Sports Philadelphia, Dave Dombrowski shared a four-word message on those trade rumors that hints at where the Phillies stand on Castellanos going forward.
Dave Dombrowski shares four-word message on Nick Castellanos trade rumors
When asked about whether there's any weight to the trade rumors surrounding Castellanos, Dombrowski said, "We'll see what happens."
There isn't any specific message that can be derived from this comment, but what Dombrowski didn't say is just as noteworthy. Instead of backing Castellanos and shutting down those rumors, he's leaving the door open for a trade.
Dombrowski didn't deny the rumors, instead leaving it open-ended. While he's not outright saying that Castellanos is on the trade block, he isn't shutting down the rumors.
But why would the Phillies trade Castellanos? While his frustrations over his lack of playing time were clear, that's far from the only reason why the Phillies should consider trading him this winter.
Castellanos is in the final year of his $100 million deal, and if the Phillies can save some money by moving his final $20 million season in 2026, it'd be a good move.
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They were already platooning him in the outfield, so his playing time wasn't strong enough to warrant such a lucrative contract. Moving on from Castellanos makes the most sense from a monetary standpoint, beyond his frustrations with the team.
But his performance on the field is also a huge reason why the team should cut ties with the 33-year-old All-Star. Castellanos this season, in 147 games played, hit .250 with a .294 on-base percentage, .400 slugging percentage, and a .694 OPS.
Other than his slugging percentage, which was .389 in 2022, those numbers were all career lows for Castellanos with the Phillies. Combine those poor offensive numbers with some of the worst defense in the Majors, and Castellanos's -1.0 bWAR isn't surprising.
Putting it all together, Castellanos is a $20 million outfielder with defense that rivals the worst in the league, is a regressing bat, and has but heads with Phillies leadership in recent years.
Also, he critiqued Phillies fans for their negativity after losing Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only are there a lot of team-specific reasons to move on from Castellanos, but he also isn't in the good graces of the fan base either.
There's little reason to keep him around next season, and Dombrowski's comments seemingly indicate that the Phillies won't be holding onto Castellanos for the 2026 season, as he's not committing to him sticking with the team for another year.
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