Nick Castellanos addresses nearly signing with Phillies' NL East rival

Miami native Nick Castellanos was heavily linked to the Marlins when he was a free agent during the 2021-22 offseason. Castellanos told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb earlier this week that he very nearly agreed to join the team before the lockout halted winter business in early December 2021.  

“If I wasn’t advised to be patient and wait until after the lockout to sign, I would have been over there,” Castellanos said. 

Instead, the Marlins’ plans changed during the freeze, with some reports tying Derek Jeter’s departure as club CEO to ownership’s decision to not expand the payroll quite so much once the lockout was settled. That meant Castellanos was now without his top suitor, until he signed with the Phillies for a five-year, $100M deal.

Castellanos admitted that it took a while to get over the disappointment of not playing in his hometown, a “dream” scenario that would’ve allowed him to be near his son Liam at all times, and play for one of his baseball heroes in Jeter. This feeling may have contributed to Castellanos’ lackluster numbers for much of the 2022 season, but the Phillies’ run to the World Series reinvigorated him and the outfielder delivered a more productive season this year. 

“I can never sit and say I am unfortunate because I’m blessed and I get to play here,” he said. “I get to play for a great organization. I get to play with one of the most intense fan bases in the sports world. I have so much gratitude for all of that.”

More from around the NL East…

• The Marlins figure to be looking for catching upgrades this winter, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald looks at the free-agent market to see what options the Fish might prefer to the Jacob Stallings/Nick Fortes combo. Jackson also feels the Marlins could consider trading prospects for a veteran backstop, but moving a proven pitcher “would be unwise” in Jackson’s view, due to Miami’s own concerns about its rotation depth. The Marlins got a combined -0.6 bWAR from their catchers in 2023, ranking 28th of 30 teams in catcher bWAR.
• The Nationals have continued to overhaul their front office and minor league staff personnel this week, most prominently parting ways with director of player development De Jon Watson, the Washington Post’s Andrew Golden reports. Watson has been the farm director for the last two seasons and a member of the Nationals organization since 2017. Before coming to D.C., Watson was an assistant GM with the Dodgers and the Diamondbacks’ senior VP of baseball operations, among other roles with Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Miami during a long career in scouting and player development roles. The Nats also made eight changes to their minor league coaching and coordinator ranks, with a particular focus on improving offensive development.