Nick Castellanos was released by the Phillies on Thursday. (Madeline Ressler/Phillies Nation)

CLEARWATER, Fla. — The day is finally here: Outfielder Nick Castellanos has been released. 

A “change of scenery” was necessary for both sides. The Phillies spent most of this offseason trying to trade Castellanos in an attempt to save a very small portion of the $20 million remaining on his contract. 

Castellanos is now free to go elsewhere. He will make $20 million in 2026. The Phillies are on the hook for all $20 million, minus the minimum salary his new team is required to pay him.

Around the same time the Phillies announced the transaction, Castellanos released a statement on Instagram in the form of a handwritten letter. In the letter, Castellanos addressed what happened in Miami in June that led to his benching the following day. 

When Castellanos was pulled from the June 16 game against the Marlins in Miami in the bottom of the eighth inning for a defensive replacement, he allegedly retreated to the clubhouse, grabbed a beer, pulled it out in the visiting dugout and confronted manager Rob Thomson.

In the statement, Castellanos thanked John Middleton, Dave Dombrowski, the Phillies staff, outfield coach Paco Figueroa, his teammates and the city of Philadelphia. 

Here is Nick’s full message posted to social media: 

Philadelphia

John, thank you for what you have provided my family with

Dave, thank you for the opportunity

Staff, thank you for helping me prepare

PACO!! 414 is just as much yours as it is mine. You are the man in any room you walk into.

My Teammates. I love you guys. Te Quiero Mucho!! Playing with you all will be a core memory for the rest of my life.

To the people of the city. Thank you for showing up these past 4 years. Applauding or booing you were there. Remember!! The sharp attention and powerful passion you have for your sports teams are not married to the lens of media companies that cover them. The color of your collective soul is your own to paint … together

Above all thank you for embracing Liam the way you did. For that I can never repay.

To all who are reading I wish you strong health & peace of mind.

Nicholas

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Part 2 of Nick’s statement:

OK, apparently I need to address the Miami incident. As one of my friends on the team has informed me, there is an article waiting to come out without my consent or comments about this situation. So I’m going to just share myself.

As a veteran of the game of baseball there are rules and I broke one in Miami. After being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family I brought a Presidente into the dugout. I then sat right next to Rob and let him know that too much slack in some areas and [too] tight of restrictions in others are not conducive to us winning. Shoutout to my teammates and Howie for taking the beer out of my hands before I could take a sip. (I appreciate you guys.) After the game, I went into the office with Dave & Rob. We aired out our differences and the conversation ended with me apologizing for letting my emotions get the best of me. I would like to note, that I was ready to share the details of the incident in its entirety to the media the next day but was instructed not to by management. The punishment I [received] for my actions was the benching the following game.

I love this game, I love being a teammate and I am addicted to winning. I will learn from this

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Twenty minutes after the transaction was announced and Castellanos released his statement, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski addressed a group of reporters in Clearwater. 

Here is a transcript of the interview:

Dave: We have officially released the contract of Nick Castellanos from the organization today. We spent a prolonged time trying to make a trade. When I say that, trying to move his contract for minimum return from a dollar perspective and player perspective. Just hasn’t worked out and at some point, you just have to say, “Well, this isn’t going to work.” We have felt that we need to get a change of scenery for Nick. Wish him nothing but the best. Did a lot of good things for our organization. He was here for four years. We won every year he was here, got a lot of big hits for us and a lot of big hits in the postseason. Wish him nothing but the best except of course when he is playing the Phillies. That was the news for the day. 

Q: In your opinion, why had the relationship soured to the point that you did not want to bring him back? 

Dave: Well, I don’t know that there is one specific (thing). A lot is being said about this incident in Miami. I don’t think it’s necessarily one incident. I think you just sometimes are in a situation when you’re around day in and day out, things just don’t work at a particular time. This isn’t the first time … I mean I think normally what ends up happening … Nick’s been a very good player. He’s had a nice career, and he will probably continue to do very well. Well, a lot of times when a good player has their role change with the club, it can cause some friction. His role changed last year from where it was. I mean, he played every single day for a lot of years in a row. Sometimes that can contribute to it. Sometimes then people have debates between themselves where they are not all on the same page. But when you put all that together, sometimes you just need to make sure that you have a change of scenery. 

Q: Nick put out a letter after being released mentioning the Miami incident and he brought a beer into the dugout and I guess he says he did not drink from it, but was that something that tipped the scales in this case? Was that why he was benched? 

Dave: Well, I’m not … that was seven months ago, so it was a long time ago. We spoke about it at the time. We addressed it at the time, Rob Thomson and I did with Nick. I was surprised. I was there at the game and I watched everything from where I was sitting, and I was surprised that a lot of people didn’t see what was taking place at the time. I watched what took place, of course was advised … Now, I’m not in the dugout, so (I) wasn’t 100% sure of every step of the way, but that contributed to by all means why he was suspended for that game or taken out of the lineup for that game and benched for the game. … But it was a situation where that wasn’t the final or determining factor. Because if that was, we would have done that at that particular time. 

Q: You drafted him in Detroit. You’ve known him for half his life. How frustrating is it I guess to see this end on a sour note? 

Dave: Well, I mean, I’ve known him for a long time. He’s been a very good player, he’s had a nice career. He’s done a lot of good things and he probably will continue to do so. Things happen, things change over a 15-year period. I still had a good relationship with Nick and his family members. I’ve known them all. You always wish that things end up on a good point, a la Ranger Suarez when he’s leaving and he’s pitching very well, but it doesn’t always happen. That’s just the way life is, not only here but in life in general. 

Q: Why did this transaction take so long? What was the reason for dragging it out? 

Dave: Well, we kept trying to move his contract just for … and there were clubs that would show some interest at times throughout the winter time, really, starting back in November. There were times I thought we might make a trade. We were looking for more dollars at that particular time, but as time went on, I think, still have a responsibility … I know the dollars weren’t standing in the way at this point of clubs taking him. So really, if we ended up moving his contract even for minimum amount, it helps us from a (collective bargaining tax) perspective. That’s really why we kept trying to get this done. I think it’s an obligation to do whatever we can to try to get that done. 

Q: Was there, during an exit interview, any attempt to salvage the relationship and continue this year or was that not even a conversation that needed to be had? 

Dave: I normally don’t have. … I mean, it wasn’t an exit interview. The only people that I generally have exit interviews with are people that would be leaving the organization, potentially leaving the organization. So people like Ranger and J.T. and Schwarbs last year and a couple others. But at the end of the year, with everything we have going on in the baseball (operations department), they have some in the clubhouse perspective, but not from my perspective. 

Q: So there’s no conversation like, “Hey Nick, if you’re going to come back next year, you’re going to have to be in a reduced role. If not, we need to move on.” Nothing like that? 

Dave: No, there was not. But he knew he was already in a reduced role at that point. 

Q: I think you mentioned in November maybe that you did speak to him after the season. I imagine he was in agreement that a change of scenery was good? Did he kind of have any feedback for you? 

Dave: Well, I think he basically, and I wouldn’t get into all of my conversations. I mean basically, he’s had an enjoyable four years here. I mean, he’s been in a situation … last couple of months, maybe not the greatest in that perspective. But he’s done very well for himself, he’s played, he’s contributed to a good club, he’s contributed to postseason runs. So, but I think that we all felt that it was probably in the best interest to have a change of scenery. 

Q: Was releasing him during the year last year at all a consideration? 

Dave: No. 

Q: He mentioned that maybe he didn’t feel Rob Thomson communicated to the level he wanted with him. In your time here with Rob, what kind of communicator do you feel Rob is? 

Dave: Well, he communicates very well with me. You’d have to ask the players for their perspective, but I think the job of the manager, one of the main jobs that he has is to communicate with his players and front office and media members and all. So, he’s done a very good job of communicating with me. And I think overall … I can’t tell you that every situation is always handled perfectly by any of us. But I think he’s a very good communicator.