Former Philadelphia Phillies slugger Nick Castellanos’ stint with the San Diego Padres ended on Wednesday after the NL West team designated him for assignment.
Castellanos was signed by the Padres after the Phillies released him ahead of their first full-squad workout at spring training in February. The Padres released the two-time All-Star outfielder during the three-game series against his former team, the Phillies.
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MLB fans reacted to the Padres’ release of the veteran All-Star during the Phillies series.
“Brutal to do this away in Philly.”
“Preller decided to leave him where he found him lol.”
“I’m just envisioning Preller dumping Castellanos somewhere on Oregon Avenue, pointing in the general direction of CPB saying “The stadium’s over that way, buddy.”
“Maybe they just wanted him to see the nice video package first.”
“At least they didn’t do it immediately before the Casty tribute night yesterday.”
The Phillies released Castellanos despite owing him $20 million for the final season of a $100 million, five-year contract. The Phillies shared a short video tribute at Citizens Bank Park, highlighting some of his sliding catches from his time with the franchise on Tuesday.
Padres manager Craig Stammen commented on Nick Castellanos’ release
The Padres signed Nick Castellanos for a league minimum of around $780,000. He failed to live up to the expectations, hitting just .191 with a .560 OPS and four home runs in 39 games for the Padres before being released.
Padres manager Craig Stammen reflected on Castellanos’ release on Wednesday.
“We’ve kind of been talking a little bit about our roster and the flexibility that we’d like to have off the bench,” Stammen said. “Maybe a little bit more speed, a little bit more dynamic players. It was tough, Nick is such a pro. I’ve really enjoyed having him here in San Diego.
“We had conversations with him when we signed him that, you know, he was going to earn his playing time. It was probably going to be a different role for him, wasn’t going to be an everyday role… Just decided to make a move and change the roster up a little bit.”
Castellanos is a .270 career hitter with 254 home runs and 940 RBIs and is likely to find a new team during the season.
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash