Report: Phillies Continue to Show Interest in Nick Castellanos

When the Philadelphia Phillies signed Kyle Schwarber Wednesday morning, it seemed like they might have hit their spending limit. According to Dave Dombrowski in his media day press conference, he had a strict luxury tax budget.

But Jon Morosi of MLB Network announced via Twitter Thursday afternoon that free agent left fielder Nick Castellanos has been drawing interest from the Phillies.

With approximately $13 million to spend before the first luxury tax, the Phillies would undoubtedly eclipse this threshold upon signing Castellanos. But Dombrowski may have been playing coy on Monday, unwilling to expose his true budget to rival executives.

Schwarber and Castellanos are remarkably similar players. Both play well below-average outfield defense. Schwarber slashed .266/.374/.554 in 2021 while Castellanos slashed .309/.362/.574.

In 2021 these players both couldn't have been Phillies at the same time, but with the introduction of the universal designated hitter for 2022, one of these players could be placed in left field while the other plays DH.

In fact, the Phillies have already committed themselves to sub-par defense in 2022. Between Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm, Didi Gregorius and Bryce Harper they accrued -38 defensive runs saved in 2021. All of those players will return to the position they played last year.

Signing Castellanos certainly would not make the Phillies defense any better, but perhaps it would allow Philadelphia to out-hit their defensive liabilities.

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