Padres’ Nick Castellanos Calls Out Philadelphia Media Over Controversial Phillies Story

One of the more interesting signings from the San Diego Padres this offseason was the team bringing in former All-Star slugger Nick Castellanos.

Castellanos was released by the Philadelphia Phillies after four seasons with the team, and he quickly latched on with San Diego, signing a league-minimum deal.

Philadelphia remains on the hook for the rest of his $20 million salary due to the release, but the team seemed to just want him off the roster. After the slugger was released, the media went after Castellanos's reputation, saying that he wasn't a great teammate and reporting that he brought a beer into the dugout during a game last season.

Castellanos has owned up to the incident, and he has tried to start a new chapter with the Padres. But he recently spoke with Annie Heilbrunn of the San Diego Union-Tribune about his time in Philadelphia, and even called out the media for how they handled his time there.

The slugger claims that the organization tried to do its best to cover everything up when he wanted to be honest about it all. Historically, the Philadelphia media has been one of the roughest around the country, and the treatment he received proved it again.

"But that just kind of shows, for me, the character of the media that’s over there. Because that [incident] happened seven months [before the article was published]. And the only reason why I didn’t tell the media the next day was because I was instructed by the organization not to. I wanted to. I remember sitting in Rob [Thomson’s] office saying that I take pride in being authentic. I don’t want to lie. I don’t want to hide. And it was from their instruction that they wanted it to be," Castellanos said.

Castellanos has been known to be a fiery personality in the clubhouse, and it seems that during the incident in question, he let his emotions get the best of him. But the story that came out did go after his character, and that wasn't needed, especially since the team had parted ways with him.

"But the media, just with other incidents I had … They all have jobs to do. But the information that I got was, they thrive off of controversy and they’d rather be controversial than truthful," Castellanos said. "One of the things that was hard for me was to just pretend like I didn’t absorb that."

Now with the Padres, Castellanos is looking ahead, not back at his time with the Phillies. It wasn't all bad for the veteran in Philadelphia as he helped the Phillies reach the World Series in 2022, and he did make an All-Star appearance with them.

Castellanos never fully lived up to his massive five-year, $100 million deal with Philadelphia, which could have also played into the media treatment. The slugger also said that he has no ill will toward the organization or the players in the clubhouse.

His tenure with the team will always be a little murky, but he can at least look back and know that he tried his best to help them win games. But that's all in the past, and the slugger seems ready to move on and make his name known within the Padres organization.

His time in San Diego hasn't been the best so far, but he has continued to stay ready for whenever his name is called. On the year, Castellanos has hit .146 with five runs batted in and three walks so far.

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