The Philadelphia Phillies’ disastrous offseason took another bleak turn on Thursday, as the club finally admitted defeat by releasing part-time outfielder/full-time locker room cancer Nick Castellanos. The petulance displayed by the two-time All-Star has turned him into a reviled figure for most Phillies fans, but like any good story there’s more than one villain here. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman ripped the mask off of the Phillies’ front office and their ineptitude in handling this saga.
Just hours after Castellanos’ release, Heyman told us what everyone was already thinking.
“There’s a lot of interest in Nick Castellanos now that he’s about to be free. Teams apparently were waiting for the expected release,” Heyman tweeted.
There’s a lot of interest in Nick Castellanos now that he’s about to be free. Teams apparently were waiting for the expected release.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 12, 2026
Dave Dombrowski torpedoed Phillies’ already slim chances of trading Nick Castellanos
The rift between the Phillies and Castellanos became public information last July, when the 33-year-old was mercifully benched after mouthing off to easygoing manager Rob Thomson. Castellanos’ long-standing desire to play every game finally fell by the wayside, as the $100 million bust fell into a platoon situation in right field. After the club acquired Harrison Bader at the trade deadline, Castellanos began ceding playing time to fellow free agent flop Max Kepler.
After yet another October failure from the red pinstripes, the writing was on the wall for Castellanos, and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged to the media that the erstwhile right fielder would not return in 2026.
The organization’s desire to jettison a disgruntled player didn’t quite match up to the reality of the situation, as Castellanos is still owed $20 million for this coming season. That price tag paired with his sub-replacement level production on the field made for a toxic combination in trade talks. If the Phils were lucky they could’ve gotten another team to take on a few million dollars for the chance to rehabilitate Castellanos’ ailing bat, and save the Phillies a bit on their bloated payroll.
Unfortunately, Dombrowski torpedoed any hope of gaining a bit of salary relief by telegraphing the club’s intentions right from the start. All the way back in November, fresh off a soul-crushing divisional series loss to the eventual-champion Dodgers, the Phillies’ embattled shotcaller made clear that the team would be moving on from Castellanos via a trade or release. In one fell swoop all 29 other teams knew that they could have Castellanos for free if they simply waited. And wait they did.
Any first year baseball operations employee should know that leverage is crucial in trade negotiations, and the less the person on the other end of the phone knows of your plans, the stronger your position is. A poker player shouting out each card he receives won’t be at the table for long, and yet Dombrowski did just that. After three months of failing to find a team willing to take on even a fraction of the $20 million anchor, Castellanos was finally cut, making him free to sign with any team for just the league minimum.
Before we go thinking that the entirety of the blame should fall on Dombrowski’s shoulders, it should be made known that Castellanos made his own bed with horrible play and an even worse attitude. No one forced him to post a sub-.700 OPS alongside bottom of the barrel advanced metrics on both sides of the ball.
And yet, Dombrowski still should have been able to find a trade partner willing to lighten the Phillies’ load just a smidge. As Heyman made clear, somebody will be willing to take a chance on a decorated veteran with 250 career homers to his name, and because Dombrowski botched the process, the Phillies won’t be able to use that to their advantage.