Alec Bohm, the third baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, has been the talk of the town when it comes to trade rumours in recent weeks. However, it appears that another Phillies player has emerged as a prominent trade target.
Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos was recently identified by Jon Heyman of the New York Post as one of nine players who are the focus of the MLB trade market this winter. With their 32-year-old veteran perhaps on the move, Heyman thinks the Phillies are interested in a major shakeup. Since then, Matt Gelb of The Athletic has reaffirmed that position, asserting that the Phillies have in fact made Castellanos available in trade negotiations this offseason, citing many major-league sources (subscription needed).
According to Phillies rumours, Nick Castellanos is now a primary trade target alongside Alec Bohm. Gelb did highlight one disclaimer, though: the Phillies will probably have to swallow a sizable chunk of Castellanos’ remaining $40 million salary before a trade can be completed. However, why would the Phillies wish to take that action?
Since joining Philadelphia in 2022, Castellanos has been a dependable offensive powerhouse despite his high strikeout rate and defensive shortcomings. He has mostly performed well over his three years with the Phillies, averaging 25 home runs and 90 RBI annually while hitting above.270 and nearly reaching an OPS of.800.
Even though he had a terrible month-long slump to begin the 2024 season, Castellanos was able to turn things around and wind up being one of the Phillies’ top run providers for the remainder of the season. Indeed, they might not have won a game in the 2024 MLB Playoffs if it weren’t for Castellanos. He scored 80 runs, hit 30 doubles, four triples, hit 23 home runs, and dished out 86 RBI while batting.254 overall with a.742 OPS. More significantly, Castellanos has shown himself to be incredibly resilient, as seen by the fact that he has not sustained any injuries in the last two seasons and that he was the only Phillie to play in all 162 games this past season.
