Jul 2, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) returns to the dugout after grounding out in the fourth inning against the San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park. (Credit: Grace Del Pizzo-On Pattison)
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski continues to indicate that Nick Castellanos has likely played his final game with the Phillies.
During his Tuesday media session at the general manager's meetings in Las Vegas, Dombrowski had this to say of Castellanos, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic:
Dombrowski said he had a “lengthy conversation” with Castellanos. Without going into specifics, Dombrowski said the club is “open-minded” about Castellanos’ future.
“Sometimes a change of scenery can be beneficial for people,” Dombrowski said, “but we’ll wait and see what happens.”
In his year-end press conference last month, Dombrowski didn't push back much when asked about whether Castellanos could return for another season given multiple public disagreements with manager Rob Thomson during the 2025 campaign.
"Well, we'll see what happens," Dombrowski said. "I don't know. 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. But, we'll see what happens."
When asked by @TimKellySports about Nick Castellanos’ future with the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski was noncommittal.
(via @GraceDelPizzo) pic.twitter.com/0PMieK6NMq
When Castellanos was asked about whether he would want to return to the Phillies in 2026 if he was asked to play in a lesser role like he did over the final two months of the season, the two-time All-Star was non-committal.
"I think that right now, where I'm at is, I'm going to get some imaging on my knee, rest, then clean that up and see where we're at and then just go from there," Castellanos said after the Phillies were eliminated from the playoffs. "So, first things first."
The fact that the 33-year-old hired Mato Sports Management in late October to serve as his representation — after previously having been his own agent — was also a pretty good indication that he expects to be playing for a new team in 2026.
Indeed, Gelb wrote in his story that "the Phillies are actively shopping" Castellanos this week.
From here, the best-case scenario in a Castellanos trade would be that some team gives the Phillies a bit of salary relief on the $20 million he's owed in the final season of a $100 million contract. Make no mistake, the Phillies will likely foot the bulk of the $20 million next year, even though Castellanos almost certainly won't be playing for them. But if there's a team that trades you a warm body and eats, say, $5 million in a trade, the Phillies might be able to consider that addition by subtraction. The reality is that Castellanos is a high-priced, aging player that everyone knows wasn't on great terms with the Phillies by the end of the season. This isn't going to be a transaction that nets them an impact prospect.
