Phillies insider breaks down Nick Castellanos' future with the club

Jared Bloom

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Phillies insider breaks down Nick Castellanos' future with the club image

During the 2025 season, Philadelphia Phillies slugger Nick Castellanos saw a decline. He had 133 strikeouts and could not consistently be a threat offensively. 

He also struggled out in the outfield. He saw his role in right field shrink after putting together a -12 Outs Above Average. He also had some friction with manager Rob Thomson back in June. 

He will be owed $20 million in 2026, which is quite a lot for his decreasing production. This has led to rumors that the club is actively looking to trade or get rid of him altogether. 

Phillies insider breaks down Nick Castellanos' future with the club

In a Reddit AMA, MLB.com's Todd Zolecki answered a bunch of fans' questions. One of these questions revolved around Castellanos and the chances the Phillies could find a trade partner, and Zolecki was honest with his answer. 

"They'll probably need to eat almost all of his $20 million salary. Maybe they'll get lucky late in the offseason and a couple of teams that got shut out for a right-handed-hitting corner outfielder will agree to pay some of his salary to take a flier that Castellanos bounces back from the worst year of his career. If the Phillies can't do that, they'll probably just release him before Spring Training."

It will not be easy to sell a team on taking on Castellanos' contract. More than likely, they will have to eat much of that contract to send him elsewhere. 

However, they could get lucky with a team believing he has what it takes to bounce back. Maybe a change of scenery is all the veteran slugger needs to revamp his game. 

If the Phillies cannot find a trade partner, Zolecki believes the club will just release him before Spring Training starts. So, this is a situation that fans will want to keep their eye on over the next few months.

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Contributing Writer