6 Phillies most likely to be traded away this offseason

Nick Castellanos

This one may certainly surprise many Phillies’ fans, but star right fielder Nick Castellanos could potentially be dangled as trade bait this offseason.

The first thing that comes to mind is: how is this possible given what Castellanos accomplished for the ballclub in 2023? Not only was he an All-Star this past season, but he made big-time contributions offensively for the Phillies with 79 runs scored, 37 doubles, 29 home runs, and 106 RBI.

Also, who could forget his dominance during the Phillies’ postseason run in which he hit five home runs, scored seven runs and cashed in seven baserunners in 13 games?

Apparently, as reported by MLB.com, a source indicated that the Phillies were open to the idea of trading Castellanos due to his streakiness and his disappointing performance in the NLCS, in which he went 1-for-24 with 11 strikeouts. Moreover, he struck out almost 30 percent of the time during the regular season, with a total of 185 strikeouts that ranked him fifth in the entire league.

In addition, by cutting out his $20 million AAV salary, the Phillies could use that savings to pursue a more suitable and consistent run producer to fill their right field position. Potential candidates that would fill the role admirably include Jorge Soler and Teoscar Hernández.

But if the Phillies are getting rid of a star, this certainly goes against what Dave Dombrowski has always emphasized: that stars are what wins championships. But in this case, if the star is often hurting the team, in the end, more than helping it, perhaps trading the star for an even better star is what the Phillies intend to pursue to make them even stronger and better for 2024.

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