Nick Castellanos Finds a New Team

Nick Castellanos has landed with the Padres. He’s set to join them on a veteran minimum contract, pending a physical, as confirmed by Jon Heyman on Saturday morning.

Previously, Castellanos was released by the Phillies, where he spent four seasons, with a year remaining on his five-year, $100 million contract—valued at $20 million. This decision came earlier this week.

Interestingly, before his release, the Yankees showed some interest in trading for him, but feedback was mixed at best.

Castellanos definitely made headlines with his strong feelings about Phillies manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long. He reportedly shared his lack of trust in them, partly because they hadn’t played in the majors themselves—a complaint he’s voiced before.

Going back to September, Castellanos mentioned wanting input from those with professional field experience. He really emphasizes that point. At one press conference, he stated, “The only opinions I honestly care about are the opinions of people with sticks,” referring to players who’ve actually been on the field. It makes sense, right?

The rocky relationship with Thomson probably contributed to Castellanos’ early exit from Philadelphia. There were some notable clashes, including an incident where he brought a beer into the dugout and confronted the manager publicly after a defensive substitution.

Looking at his performance, Castellanos didn’t have the best season last year, with a .250 batting average and an OPS of .694. That’s quite a drop from his All-Star year in 2023 when he hit .272 with an OPS of .788.

Now, as he joins the Padres—who recently lost to the Cubs in the wild card round—it’s expected he’ll rotate among outfield, first base, and designated hitter positions. The Padres currently have Fernando Tatis Jr. as a regular right fielder, so it will be interesting to see how they fit him in.