The San Diego Padres have finally seen enough from Nick Castellanos.
On Wednesday, the Padres announced that they designated Castellanos for assignment, ending the outfielder's tenure in San Diego after 39 games. As a corresponding move, the Friars promoted utility player Samad Taylor from the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas.
The writing was clearly on the wall for Castellanos, who struggled immensely during his short stint with the Padres.
Over 122 plate appearances, the 14-season veteran slashed just .191/.221/.339 with four home runs, 20 RBI and a 53 wRC+. He struck out 34 times while only drawing five walks. When this meager offense was combined with especially poor defense, Castellanos accumulated an abysmal -0.8 fWAR in just under a quarter of a season.
Castellanos, 34, is known for being a proficient, aggressive hitter but a notoriously poor fielder. Playing in 1,737 games, he holds a .270 career batting average and .462 slugging percentage along with 404 doubles and 254 home runs.
However, a weakness in his game is a low on-base percentage, reaching base at just a .319 clip. A much more detrimental weakness is Castellanos' defense; he has -142 Defensive Runs Saved to his name while playing third base and the corner outfield, although he was learning first base with the Padres.
Over the past two seasons, Castellanos' offense has declined. Playing last year with the Philadelphia Phillies, he registered a .694 OPS in 589 plate appearances and -0.6 fWAR. This lack of production, along with clashes with then-manager Rob Thomson, prompted the Phillies to release him from his contract after failing to find a trade partner. Philadelphia owes Castellanos the last $20 million of the five-year, $100 million contract he signed in 2022.
With Castellanos likely to be available on the open market after he presumably clears waivers, any other team could sign him to a contract worth the league minimum of $780,000 like the Padres did. Unfortunately, after accumulating a combined -1.4 fWAR in 2025 and 2026, Castellanos now faces an uncertain future in Major League Baseball due to his declining value.
As mentioned earlier, the Padres will call up Samad Taylor, who has just 73 career major league at-bats to his name. The 27-year-old played 31 games with the Kansas City Royals in 2023 and seven combined games with the Seattle Mariners in 2024 and 2025. In 83 plate appearances, Taylor is hitting just .205/.272/.260 but has been playing well in Triple-A with a .319/.406/.500 slash line and seven home runs.
