Dave Dombrowski continues to speak about potential roster moves for the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of the upcoming MLB season, and one of them remains the expected departure of Nick Castellanos. The team has not stopped trying to make that happen through ongoing conversations with other clubs.
A report from Scott Lauber shed more light on Dombrowski’s comments: “Dombrowski said the Phillies ‘continue to talk to clubs’ about trading Nick Castellanos. ‘That’s something we’ll continue to work on this week.’ Unless they’re playing in the WBC, position players don’t have to be in camp for workouts until next Monday.”
So far, there have been no reports of any MLB team showing concrete interest. Beyond Dombrowski’s words, nothing appears close, and one possible outcome could be Castellanos being released so he can seek an opportunity elsewhere. For now, there does not appear to be a real market for him.
It was not a bad year for Castellanos
Castellanos appeared in 147 games for the Phillies, missing some time due to injury, but still produced 137 hits, 17 home runs, and a .250 batting average. He finished as the team’s ninth-best hitter during the regular season and ranked third on the club in hits, runs, and RBIs. One of the negatives was his 133 strikeouts, the second-highest total on the team.
“The Castellanos/Phillies situation is annoying. Nick is a better option in the outfield than hoping for a prospect or a bounce-back year from what they plan to run with. To just eat $20 million with the lack of offseason moves or upgrades is absurd, especially if one of the two options flop,” wrote Chris Dace on X (@thedaceman).
Keeping Castellanos on the roster would mean paying his full salary. Even if the Phillies manage to trade him, they would still likely have to cover a significant portion of his contract, with the acquiring team paying only a smaller share of the $20 million owed for the 2026 season.