Philadelphia Phillies offseason grades for their 5 biggest additions
By Tim Boyle
Philadelphia Phillies sign Nick Castellanos to a four-year, $100 million deal: B
Schwarber was not enough for the Phillies. We knew it. They knew it. So Nick Castellanos became the other guy they brought in to turn the lineup into one of the most powerful in baseball.
Signed to a four-year deal worth $100 million, he’s getting a bit more than Schwarber. His career numbers are better and with a track record of staying healthy, hitting for power, and average throughout many of those seasons, it’s no surprise.
The four-year and $100 million he has coming his way looks fair for a guy coming off of a 34 home runs, 100 RBI campaign. Add in his .309 batting average, the Phillies have themselves more than a slugger.
The only reason this grade does slide down from a B+ to a B is because having Schwarber and Castellanos on the same roster together raises a lot of questions about the defense. How are the Phillies going to possibly win games when they can’t field the ball? It may have been a better idea for them to, instead, sign one of the free agent outfielders who has average or better abilities on defense. The Phillies brushed defense aside once again like the Eagles will linebacker in the draft. It’s just not important to them right now.
As an individual signing, this would probably get a better grade. Because it came after Schwarber, a few points need to be deducted.
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Overall, the Phillies had a C+ offseason. They made some obvious moves to try and improve the roster. The bullpen has options and the lineup got more powerful. There are too many questions, though. The expanded playoffs make them a fringe postseason club. They’ll need better than expected performances from more than one player if they want to get there.