Padres' Manny Machado Not Happy With Nick Castellanos Getting Cut

The San Diego Padres made a surprise roster move on Wednesday, designating veteran Nick Castellanos for assignment.

Castellanos, 34, joined the Padres in February on a veteran's minimum deal after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies. He was DFA'd while the Padres were in Philadelphia, Castellanos' first trip back to his former stomping grounds.

The Phillies made the decision to eat nearly $20 million to not have Castellanos on the team this season. At the time of the deal, the Padres felt they were getting one of the best bargains of the offseason.

Unfortunately, it just never panned out.

Castellanos was brought in for his offense, and while he had a few big hits, he mainly struggled in his reduced role.

Overall, the two-time All-Star and one-time Silver Slugger award winner hit just .191 with an OPS of .560. Last year, he had an end-of-season OPS of .694, which was the lowest of his career in a full season.

While, on paper, the move to cut Castellanos made sense, the de facto leader of the Padres, Manny Machado, didn't like it.

Machado, who's known Castellanos since their childhood, doesn't think it was fair that he was the one to fall on the sword when the Padres' best players — Machado included — are struggling.

“The issue is not Nick,” Machado said to reporters on Wednesday. “I don’t think that was the move to try to make this offense better. For us to get to where we want to get to, it’s going to take the big guys in the middle of the order to swing the bats hot, and we’re not doing that right now.”

Castellanos was a below-average hitter and an even worse defender. Thus, the Padres decided to add some speed and defensive versatility to the bench, which came at the loss of Castellanos.

While Castellanos is unlikely to play again for the Padres, Machado was appreciative of what he did for the team this season.

“He had a lot of great at-bats for us,” Machado said. “He did what he needed to do for us, and it sucks that it has come this way. I think everyone in here loved him and appreciated what he brought every single day. It sucks to hear the news. The numbers don’t really look great, in hindsight. But he … won some key games for us.

"I think that’s gonna help us get to where we want to get to.”

Castellanos will now head to waivers, where another team will be free to pick him up. If not, he'll likely head to free agency, where he'll look for his next baseball home.

“Nick's such a pro,” manager Craig Stammen said after the move. “I've really enjoyed having him here in San Diego. We had conversations with him when we signed him that he was going to earn his playing time, and it was probably going to be a different role for him. It wasn't going to be an everyday role that he was accustomed to for the last 12-15 years, his entire life playing baseball.

“I think that was definitely something that was tough for him. It was tough for him to transition from playing every single day to playing two days, then two days off."

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