There’s no doubt that the Philadelphia Phillies and the fans are happy to put the Nick Castellanos saga behind them and look ahead to the upcoming season. Well, we’re not quite done with Castellanos just yet as he surfaced in San Diego after signing a league minimum contract with the Padres on Saturday.
Obviously, when Castellanos arrived at Padres camp on Sunday he was a popular interview, considering the wake of destruction he left behind in Philadelphia. There were plenty of quotes and soundbites coming from the disgruntled outfielder over the holiday weekend in his new brown and yellow garb. And to no one’s surprise, plenty of what he had to say will rub the Phillies and Phillies fans the wrong way.
After the veteran’s tumultuous exit with his release last week, we learned a lot about how he conducted himself in the Phillies clubhouse and with Phillies coaches and management. Not a lot of it was great.
Nick Castellanos didn’t waste any time throwing thinly veiled insults the Phillies’ way
One of the first clips to surface on social media was Castellanos telling San Diego reporters why he went to the Padres. One particular remark will really jump out to Phillies fans.
“They are giving me an opportunity. That’s all I can ask for,“ Castellanos said. “To be able to come here to be myself, to work hard, make the club, earn my playing time. Just help, really, anyway I can, San Diego win.”
Nick Castellanos explains how he ended up with the Padres and why he felt it was the right opportunity for him: pic.twitter.com/FUTL4ChEom
— 97.3 The Fan (@973TheFanSD) February 15, 2026
The Phillies might take umbrage with Castellanos saying he’s willing to “earn” his playing time after everything we learned from The Athletic’s Matt Gelb in his deep dive into what went wrong with Castellanos’ Phillies tenure (subscription required). According to Gelb, Castellanos spent his time in Philly with a chip on his shoulder, feeling slighted at not being treated like a star player. And we know he didn’t like being relegated to a lower spot in the lineup and a platoon role in the outfield.
But now he’s willing to earn his playing time? Sure, okay.
We saw one incident that was the tip of the iceberg last June. In what is now being referred to as the “Miami incident,” he was benched for crossing a line after being pulled late for defense. That ugly episode, which included a beer in the dugout and inappropriate comments to manager Rob Thomson, was the beginning of the end of Castellanos as a Phillie.
As much as the Phillies clubhouse has received glowing accolades both from players in the clubhouse and players who have previously been in the clubhouse, Castellanos was not a fan. He definitely threw some shade the Phillies’ way when commenting on the Padres’ culture.
Castellanos praised the Padres organization for how they treat their players and have their backs, as reported by Annie Heilbrunn of The San Diego Union-Tribune.
"It's a veteran baseball team,” Castellanos said, per Heilbrunn. “They don't cut corners as far as what they do to prepare and win. And also, too, is the reputation they have on how they treat their players and how they have their backs. Even if something goes a little bit awry, they still stand with them, and they don't deviate, I guess, from their commitment to them as a person."
If you weren’t sure how he felt about the Phillies before, this should answer any lingering doubts. Obviously, he doesn’t feel that the Phillies had his back. But as we’ve discovered, they put up with a lot from Castellanos. It’s obvious he only sees it from one perspective: his.
Talk about being unwilling to take any accountability. Talk about playing the victim.
But it explains why his Phillies teammates distanced themselves from him as last season wore on. You don’t become an outcast in your own clubhouse if you’re not the problem.
And finally, we turn our attention to Castellanos’ strained relationship with Thomson. Now safely on the West Coast, he took a thinly veiled shot at his former skipper, based on how he spoke about his new manager Craig Stammen.
We know from Gelb that Castellanos never trusted Thomson or hitting coach Kevin Long because they never played at the major league level. The former Phillie doubled down on that with his comments about the Padres’ first-year manager.
"He's very passionate as far as how much he cares,” Castellanos said, per Heilbrunn. “And he's a player. He's done it. He's put on spikes, he's grinded, he's felt the feeling of success, and he's also felt the feeling, you know, when the game doesn't go your way. So there's a lot of respect in that."
That sure feels like a shot at Thomson. Time will tell how the relationship goes with his new manager, who, it seems important to note, has never managed at the MLB level before. Castellanos obviously respects that Stammen has major league experience (he played in parts of 13 MLB seasons).
So we’ll just have to wait and see how Castellanos handles his role in San Diego if he’s not playing every day. It sounds like he will get reps in the outfield, at first base, and as the designated hitter.
He had a hard time adjusting to being a part-time player in Philadelphia, so we’ll see how he adapts and handles not being the biggest star in yet another MLB clubhouse full of bigger stars.