It's almost all but guaranteed that the Philadelphia Phillies will move on from outfielder Nick Castellanos. 

Whether that comes in a trade remains to be seen, as the Phillies could look to cut ties with him and designate him for assignment. 

Moving on from $20 million worth of Castellanos won't be easy in a deal, but the Phillies do have some other ammo in the farm system if they're willing to move on from prospects to get the proper return. 

Ultimately, it sounds like the Phillies plan will be to move on from him, no matter what it takes. According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Phillies understand that they have some prospects who need to play in the near future, and Castellanos isn't a part of that plan. 

“This much is clear: It will somehow involve Justin Crawford. Dombrowski has all but decided the prospect will be on the club’s Opening Day roster. It will not include Nick Castellanos, whom the Phillies are actively shopping at this week’s meetings, multiple major-league sources told The Athletic...

“The Phillies do not have much leverage here; the trade return for Castellanos will not be significant. He is owed $20 million in 2026, the final season of his five-year deal. The Phillies have signaled to clubs that they are willing to eat a large chunk of Castellanos’ salary. Teams might prefer the Phillies to attach a prospect to Castellanos instead of paying down the money. The Phillies would rather avoid that scenario,” he wrote.

I'd love to see the Phillies bring up a prospect or two next year, but we also don't know what the plan is going to be in free agency. 

If the Phillies are to get an above-average outfielder, there might not be much room for a youngster like Justin Crawford to play. 

However, and I truly believe this, if the idea isn't for Crawford to play in the future, there isn't much of a reason to keep him on the roster any longer. 

The Phillies have done this for far too many prospects in recent years, so that's something they have to factor in here.