The Philadelphia Phillies released outfielder Nick Castellanos on Thursday.
The move hardly was a surprise given Castellanos is owed $20 million during the final season of his five-year, $100 million contract. In addition, Castellanos found himself in a platoon role last season after being admonished for insubordination in June.
Adolis Garcia, 32, is expected to replace Castellanos in right field in the upcoming season after signing a one-year, $10 million contract in December.
Castellanos was benched on June 17, one day after reportedly making an “inappropriate” comment to manager Rob Thomson.
Thomson removed Castellanos from the outfield in favor of Johan Rojas as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning of a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins. That’s what prompted Castellanos to say something to Thomson that the manager deemed out of order.
Castellanos, however, noted during an Instagram post on Thursday that he was benched for the following game after bringing a beer into the dugout following his removal from the game for defensive purposes.
Castellanos, who turns 34 on March 4, batted .250 with 17 home runs and 72 RBIs in 147 games last season, his fourth with Philadelphia.
A two-time All-Star, Castellanos is a career .272 hitter with 250 homers and 920 RBIs in 1,688 games with the Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Phillies.
Garcia, also a two-time All-Star, batted .227 with career lows in home runs (19) and RBIs (75) over 135 games in 2025 with the Texas Rangers.
It was the second straight season of declining production from Garcia, who set career highs with 39 home runs and 107 RBIs for the World Series champion Rangers in 2023.
