MLB Insider Reports Phillies ‘Begging Someone’ to Take High-Priced Slugger

The Philadelphia Phillies are believed to be trying to move this outfielder in trade talks, but so far it hasn’t happened.

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The Philadelphia Phillies had no intention of letting Kyle Schwarber get away in free agency. But there appears to be a player they’d love to ship off.

The Phillies and the rest of baseball are done with the MLB winter meetings in Orlando and if the goal was to trade outfielder Nick Castellanos, well, that didn’t happen. But, according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden (subscription required), it isn’t for a lack of trying. In a notes column after the winter meetings, he wrote that “… the Phillies are begging someone to take Nick Castellanos.”

There may be several of things working against a deal — at least right now.

Trading Nick Castellanos

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Castellanos is coming off a 2025 in which he slashed .250/.294/.400 with 17 home runs and 72 RBI. He’s been productive since he joined the Phillies. But since he hit 29 home runs in 2023, his production has declined. He hit 23 home runs in 2024 and then 17 on 2025. His slash has also dropped each of the last three years.

But looking at his Baseball Savant page, it’s nearly all blue, which is not good analytically speaking. The only category in which he was in the red was his sweet spot percentage at the plate, which was in the 88th percentile. In practically every other offensive category, he was below the 50th percentile. His batting run value was minus-5, which was in the 28th percentile.

Defensively, he remains a liability. Per Baseball Savant his fielding run value was in the first percentile, or dead last, at minus-12. He’s never been a good defender, but with Schwarber back to handle DH duties, getting him out of the field is impossible. If Philadelphia keeps him, he’ll have to continue to play right field.

The numbers are a grad considering Castellanos is going to make $20 million in 2026, the last year of his five-year, $100 million deal. He may be more enticing to teams at the trade deadline when they would only have to take on less than half of his salary. A move now would probably require Philadelphia to kick in some money.

The Phillies may be more motivated to move him than just his play. Philadelphia extended manager Rob Thomson’s contract through 2027 earlier this week. Thomson and Castellanos clashed last season, as he was benched for a game when Thomson said that Castellanos made an “inappropriate comment,” per ESPN. Castellanos called the manager out later in the season for his communication.

The relationship may be repairable. It may not be. But, given that the veteran has one year left on his deal and his numbers are declining, a potential deal is more about making room for a young player like Justin Crawford than pasting over an in-season spat last season.