Philadelphia Phillies Should Trade Their Star Slugger to Upgrade Roster
As the Philadelphia Phillies enter the Winter Meetings, there are still questions surrounding what the team's going to do. Could they add another major bat like Juan Soto? Does adding a Yoshinobu Yamamoto type of arm make sense after re-signing Aaron Nola?
This is the championship window for the Phillies. An argument can be made that each season the window shortens.
Sure, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and others haven't shown reason to believe they're going to regress anytime soon, but this roster isn't getting any younger.
If Philadelphia wants to get better and maximize this championship window, they're going to need to make a trade.
The Phillies currently have four Top-100 prospects, according to MLB.com. It's uncertain which of those four they'd be interested in moving, but there's a chance any of the four could be included in a big trade.
When looking at the needs of the team heading into the Winter Meetings, there's one name I'm looking at that could net Philadelphia a return in an area of need.
The team should move on from Nick Castellanos.
With his disappointing playoff performances and streaky play in the regular season, he's a moveable piece for the Phillies. The thing with trading Castellanos, however, is that Philadelphia would need to find his replacement in right field. This wouldn't be a move to upgrade another position, but rather a straight replacement for the 31-year-old.
The struggles for Castellanos came at the biggest time in 2023. While a chunk of the lineup did struggle in the NLCS, the 1-24 performance in seven games can't be ignored. This comes after a tough performance during the 2022 postseason when he slashed .185/.232/.246.
His Chase Percentage of 2%, according to Baseball Savant, is a huge factor in why Castellanos struggles in important moments.
The regular season production he had in 2023 was undeniable. He hit 29 home runs and slashed .272/.311/.476. However, with what the Phillies are trying to accomplish, not performing in the postseason when he's supposed to be a major piece of the lineup is unacceptable.
Philadelphia needs to find an outfielder that's going to perform when it matters most. Castellanos, at this point, hasn't proven to be that guy.
They should find trade partners interested in adding a boom or bust bat or include him in a deal that brings back someone with more consistency to help the Phillies win a World Series title.
