Phillies reportedly making ‘serious pursuit’ of Nick Castellanos

The buzz around Nick Castellanos continues in Philadelphia.

The Phillies are “in serious pursuit” of signing the free-agent slugger, according to a Friday report by The Athletic‘s Jayson Stark. This followed a report from MLB Network‘s Jon Morosi on Thursday signaling the Phillies’ interest, even after signing Kyle Schwarber.

As Stark noted, inking Castellanos would take the Phillies over the luxury tax threshold for the first time in franchise history. Due to that reason, Schwarber and his four-year, $79 million contract appeared to be the last big-ticket acquisition the team would make before the season starts.

But according to Stark, the Phillies seem to believe Castellanos provides enough value to warrant additional spending.

Castellanos, a DH/outfielder type, became an All-Star and Silver Slugger last year with the Reds in his ninth major-league season. He batted .309/.362/.576 with 34 home runs in 138 games.

The 30-year-old also has a connection to the current Phillies front office. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was the general manager in Detroit when the Tigers selected Castellanos with the 44th overall pick in the 2010 draft and through the right-handed hitter’s first three seasons in the bigs.

Castellanos is a career .278/.329/.486 hitter with 168 homers since making his debut in 2013.

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