10 Thoughts About The Phillies Signing Nick Castellanos

What’s the difference between three days and two bats.

The Phillies woke up an excited fan base belatedly looking at the winner by making a streak of signings this week that began with relievers Brad Hand and Jeris Familia, continued with Kyle Schwarber, and ended with the shocking addition of Nick Castellanos, who agreed Friday night to a five-year deal for 100 million dollars.

Here are a few scattered thoughts and observations about Phil’s agreement with Castellanos:

It will make everyone better

The presence of Castellanos should have a positive effect on the rest of the squad. He will likely protect Bryce Harper by setting up opposing pitchers and managers with a pick-your-poison-type decision late in games that the Phillies didn’t have much time behind Harper.

With Castellanos and Schwarber each capable of hitting 30 homers or driving 100 runs, Harper doesn’t have to carry an offense for months like he did in 2021. JT Realmuto should not be relied upon as a striker. or the second highest scoring producer, he may more naturally adjust to an additional offensive role. Realmuto’s strength lies in his versatile skill set, and in fact, he’s probably more of a third or fourth offensive part for a team with deep postseason aspirations.

Up and down the roster, Phillies players should feel less pressure. This also includes Alec Bohm, who is looking to make it to the bottom third of the roster with less focus on every AB.

Very fair price for Phils

The Phillies brought in Schwarber and Castellanos in deals totaling $179 million over nine years.

Chris Bryant received a seven-year, $182 million contract with the Rockies.

Would you prefer Bryant or Schwarber and Castellanos for $3 million combined for two extra seasons?

The Phils pay each new batter less than $20 million per season. They ended up with both without having to overpay.

Burning stripes of Castellanos

His hot streaks look different, both in duration and in significance. When Castellanos is locked up, everything seems to be going well with a double into the lead.

In 2021, he hit .362 for his first 250 record appearances.

In 2020, he hit .340 with 16 RBIs and 11 off-base hits in his first 14 games, a quarter of the season.

In 2019, he hit .312 with 37 doubles and 20 HR in his last 85 games.

In 2018, he hit .342 in his first 55 games.

In 2017, he hit .378 from August 30 to September. thirty.

Overall over the past three seasons, Castellanos is .880 pps with 162-game averages of 35 homers and 50 doubles. Not bad.

The composition of the model range

It will be interesting to see how Joe Girardi sets up this lineup. Does Schwarber lead with his combination of power and cymbal selection?

Can Phils beat Gene Segura second to get an average player with high speed and get closer to the top of the lineup, or get him closer to 6 with Realmuto or Rhys Hoskins in two holes?

How important is the split between left-handers Schwarber, Harper, Didi Gregorius and/or Bryson Stott?

It’s worth noting that, for some reason, Harper has been far worse at hitting second throughout his career than hitting third, fourth, or leading. It looks like he’s going to stay three holes after hitting the ground running MVP a year ago.

luxury tax

Phillies fans became skeptical that they would ever exceed the luxury tax, after managing partner John Middleton said for several years that they would do so when the opportunity arose. This is what you do when you have stars like Harper and Zach Wheeler in their prime and with huge contracts, and when you don’t have a bunch of big league-ready items coming from your farm system.

Phils receive about $10 million on top of the $230 million luxury tax. If they don’t spend anything else by the end of the season, they will pay a fine of approximately $2 million. Since this will be their first year of exceeding tax, they will be subject to the lowest penalty of 20%. Exceed it two years in a row, and this figure rises to 30%. Three years in a row and it’s 50%. This is relevant because the Phillies will still have a ton of money set aside for 2023 and 2024, and if they do become real contenders, the spending won’t stop.

Protective restrictions

There’s no denying that this Phillies team is misrepresenting the offensive. Defensively, they are nowhere above average, with the exception of Realmuto behind the plate and possibly Segura in the second. Harper was impressive defensively in 2019, but has been less impressive in the last two seasons as he dealt with nagging injuries, including a back problem that caused him to change his shooting motion.

Neither Castellanos nor Schwarber know how to defend themselves. The Phillies will likely have to fight their way to victory with one of the worst defenses in baseball and an always unpredictable bullpen. They are well positioned to do so with Harper, Castellanos, Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto and Segura in the same roster.

Can anyone else be on the go?

Hoskins’ situation is worth keeping an eye on. The Phillies don’t need to trade him, but they’ve added two more mid-level bats, one of which can play at first base, and Hoskins hasn’t been renewed yet. He is scheduled to become a free agent after 2023. Maybe at some point the Phils will try to outplay him for an innings. However, it should be a proper comeback, a player who could help as much as Hoskins. The Phillies don’t have much urgency in this move, but it’s worth keeping in mind.

That’s why you invite Dave Dombrowski

He went everywhere he went and relied more on veterans than potential clients. This topic has not changed here. His history in Detroit with the Castellanos probably didn’t hurt.

Draft Pick

The Phillies forfeited their second-round pick by signing Castellanos because his former team, the Reds, extended his qualifying offer.

This is the fourth time in five years the Phils have lost a high pick by signing a top free agent. This also happened in 2018 with the signing of Jake Arrieta, in 2019 with Harper and in 2020 with Wheeler.

Better work

By a quick count, 16 or 17 members of the Phillies’ opening-day roster of 26 were acquired through free agency or trade. This is not how most teams want to work to build a team that sustains success.

With a $240 million payroll and an expanded playoff field, the Phillies should make the playoffs in 2022. There will be no excuse if a few of the best players don’t get long-term injuries. This season it should work.