“Addition by subtraction” is a common phrase that turns up when evaluating clubhouse chemistry in baseball, and the San Diego Padres are definitely on the wrong end of that equation with the signing of new first base candidate Nick Castellanos.
Jason Stark of The Athletic did a rundown of best and worst subtractions during the offseason that featured quotes from multiple major-league execs, and it wasn’t exactly surprising that Castellanos was prominently featured.
We already know some of the gory details about Castellanos’ season with the Philadelphia Phillies. They featured nasty comments about the manager after he was pulled for a defensive replacement, bringing beer into an active clubhouse, and there are surely dozens of others that we don’t know about at the moment.
But when Starks polled MLB executives, the outfielder’s name surfaced on all of the Best Subtraction votes before Castellanos was released last Thursday. He also got five votes in Stark’s “Most Likely to get Traded This Spring” category, but that one didn’t quite pan out, as the Phillies basically wound up paying him to go play for someone else.
The exchange Starks had with an exec about Castellanos is worth featuring, so here it is verbatim:
ONE NL EXEC: “Best subtraction? I would definitely say Nick Castellanos. I mean, we know he’s moving, but he hasn’t yet. So he can’t qualify yet, right?”
THE ATHLETIC: “Hey, it’s my survey. So we can basically make up the rules as we go along.”
NL EXEC: “OK, then Nick Castellanos. Definitely. If that’s OK.”
The Padres certainly think it’s okay. They’re saying all the right things about Castellanos, but that’s because (a) they’re supposed to (b) it’s spring training (c) we haven’t seen him on the field at first base yet. But according to GM A.J. Preller, the rules and stipulations of Castellanos’ situation have been clearly spelled out, and the newest Padres is a lot more releasable given that he’s making the veteran minimum in San Diego.
The unfortunate truth about players like Castellanos is that they rarely change completely. The rule of thumb is that they’re given passes when they’re young, they’re producing and the size of their contract is so large that there’s no choice but to put up with whatever antics are going on.
Castellanos is past the expiration date with two of those rules, however. He’s a 33-year old outfielder who went way beyond the pale in wearing out his welcome in Philadelphia, and while he may still be able to produce with his bat, he’s now on a very short leash in San Diego.
There are three things to watch here: (1) How well Castellanos plays at first base (2) How well he adapts to his new role as DH/first baseman/possible occasional outfielder (3) How well the Padres play early on. Winning right out of the gate would Band-Aid a lot of possible problems here, but the Padres are currently projected to be a .500 team, and if they stumble in March and April, watch out.