Things have reached a boiling point between the Philadelphia Phillies and Nick Castellanos. The relationship between Castellanos and the organization had grown tarnished throughout the 2025 season, and on Thursday, the Phillies made the final decision on Castellanos.
The first report out of the Phillies’ spring training was the team alerting Nick Castellanos to NOT report to spring camp. According to multiple reports, the Phillies are releasing Castellanos. He had one year remaining on his five-year, $100 million contract, but Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office made the ultimate decision to release Castellanos. He had also been the subject of trade rumors over the last few months.
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Nick Castellanos Released by the Phillies
Nick Castellanos’ time with the Philadelphia Phillies is over after four seasons with the club.
Both sides had grown frustrated with one another, and Castellanos recently released a thank-you note to Phillies fans, explaining his side of an incident in Miami where he reportedly brought a beer into the dugout after being benched.
In those four seasons, he hit .260 with 82 total home runs and an OPS+ of 100 (exactly league average). The 33-year-old outfielder’s defense had not been great in recent years, but he had been producing enough offensively to still have a job, if it weren’t for his tarnished relationship with manager Rob Thomson.
GettyNick Castellanos is still owed $20 million for the 2026 season.
In 2025, Castellanos hit .250 with 17 home runs and 72 RBIs in 147 games. However, his bWAR was negative (-0.8) for the 2025 season. In 2024, Castellanos played in all 162 games and hit 23 home runs.
Castellanos was also an All-Star in 2023 with Philadelphia and has had a few big moments in the Phillies recent playoff runs, which include being a main catalyst in the team’s 2023 World Series run.
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Will Castellanos Be Picked Up By Another Team?
Given Castellanos’ age and production, he is likely not ready to hang up the cleats just yet, but it may be harder to find a new organization after all the reports indicate he did not get along with the Phillies clubhouse leader.
Now, that very well could have just been a circumstantial thing, and Castellanos isn’t really a bad teammate or doesn’t usually butt heads with the manager, but he will have to prove that to a new organization.
However, there are plenty of MLB teams out there that are searching for a right-handed hitter, and Nick Castellanos is plenty qualified to be a DH for some of the other 29 teams. He will likely have to take a big pay cut, but that would have been the case anyway due to inconsistent performance in recent seasons.
The Phillies now have an open outfield spot, and they could even hit up the MLB free agent market to find a Castellanos replacement.
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Phillies Make Final Decision on Nick Castellanos’ Future With Organization