In what was likely his final appearance with the Phillies, Nick Castellanos smashed a double to left field at Dodger Stadium, driving in the team’s only run in Game 4 of the National League Division Series. After the game-ending miscue, he rushed from right field to the mound to comfort Orion Kerkering. Later, in the somber clubhouse, he drank a beer and chose not to comment on whether he’d be open to a reduced role with the Phillies in 2026.
His immediate concern was getting his left knee examined — an issue he revealed had been troubling him for months.
“Clean that up, see where we’re at, and then just go from there,” Castellanos said. “So first things first.”
The Phillies owe Nick Castellanos $20 million for next season, but multiple team sources have signaled for weeks that they plan to move on from the veteran outfielder. Castellanos is widely expected to be traded or released this offseason as the team reshapes its outfield.
At this stage, both sides appear to prefer a split. It’s never easy for a longtime everyday player to adjust to reduced playing time, and Castellanos struggled with the transition. He had hoped for more consistent starts during the summer, but the team opted for a different outfield alignment.
In September, Castellanos started just 12 of the team’s 25 games. While the Phillies originally planned for him to have a limited role in the postseason, a hamstring injury to Harrison Bader in Game 1 against the Dodgers pushed him back into regular duty. He went 2-for-15 in the NLDS but still managed to drive in three runs.
Tensions between Castellanos and the organization came to light in June when manager Rob Thomson benched him for what was described as an “inappropriate comment” following a late-game defensive substitution. According to several team sources, the incident deeply unsettled both players and coaches.
At that point, the divide was clear.
When asked Thursday if the strained relationship between the Phillies and Castellanos can continue for another season, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski declined to answer.
“Well, we’ll see what happens,” Dombrowski said. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m not going to get into specific players that are on our roster under contract, but the things that you talked about are accurate. We’ll see what happens.”
Nick Castellanos posted a .250/.294/.400 slash line this season, a performance that fell short of expectations given the five-year, $100 million contract he signed with the Phillies in 2022—a deal that pushed the team over the luxury tax threshold for the first time.
Around the league, it’s no secret the Phillies are eager to move on from Castellanos. They’ve quietly made him available in trade discussions each of the past two seasons, but no deal ever came together. With his contract now nearing its end, a move may finally be more realistic. Still, the Phillies have little to no leverage. A potential path forward could involve swapping him with another team looking to shed a similar financial burden.
Castellanos, who turns 34 in March, batted .250/.294/.400 in 2025. That .294 on-base percentage was the lowest mark of his career. It ranked 128th out of 145 qualified hitters. Castellanos’ negative-0.6 WAR, as measured by FanGraphs, ranked 145th among those 145 hitters.
When Thomson benched Castellanos, it ended the outfielder’s consecutive games streak at 236. Thomson was committed to Castellanos at the beginning of the 2024 season, despite massive struggles at the plate, because Castellanos had made it clear that playing in all 162 games was important to him. It became a motivating goal; Castellanos accomplished it. He was slightly above replacement level that season.
The Phillies stuck with Castellanos even after the June dugout incident and subsequent benching. He started in 30 consecutive games after the one-day punishment. He hit .252/.288/.454 in 125 plate appearances during that stretch.
He tweaked his left knee at Yankee Stadium on July 25, sat a day, then hit .200/.250/.316 in his final 168 regular-season plate appearances. The Bader acquisition on July 31 altered the club’s outfield calculus. Castellanos lost at-bats as a result.
In September, Castellanos described Thomson’s communication as “questionable” and said he does not speak to the manager “all that often.” On Thursday, Dombrowski said he was involved in the matter during the season.
“This is by no means the first incident I’ve ever had with players like this,” Dombrowski said. “Usually, you have almost one every year, sometimes more than that. It usually doesn’t become quite as public as that. But usually, in my situation, I settle it behind the scenes. I think that’s the most appropriate fashion for me to handle that.”
Castellanos’ five-year, $100 million contract was the second-largest the Phillies have ever given to an outfielder. Once signed in March 2022, it pushed the Phillies into uncharted territory. They exceeded the threshold that triggered a luxury tax for the first time in franchise history; that might be the deal’s lasting legacy. The club has operated with a larger payroll in every season since.
Discontent aside, the Phillies have come to view the remaining money on Castellanos’ deal as a sunk cost. He was not a productive player in 2025. They would like to reimagine their outfield, and one of the paths to doing that is by paying Castellanos to go somewhere else.
But relationships matter too.
“From my perspective, it’s good,” Thomson said. “I mean, I never hold any grudges. If I have a problem with a player or another coach, it doesn’t linger. I’m always a guy that’s going to turn the page on that type of thing.”
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