At this point, everyone knows the Philadelphia Phillies want to move on from Nick Castellanos to try to help the two sides. As the Phillies look for ways to move him, a trade proposal from Mark Powell of FanSided was interesting and would bring the Pirates back a nice prospect.
In Powell’s pitch, the Phillies would move on from Castellanos and add young infield prospect Jhonny Severino from the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pirates receive: • Castellanos • $10 million
Phillies receive: • Severino
“There you have it! Easy and clean,” Powell wrote. “The Pirates acquire Castellanos, who would still have $20 million left on his contract. The Phillies agree to pay half that deal, and in return they get Pittsburgh's No. 23 overall prospect in 21-year-old Jhonny Severino. Everyone wins!”
“As much as the Phillies want to trade Castellanos, he's a good bounce-back candidate IF he were allowed to only focus on the plate. In Pittsburgh, he'd be a DH only, and would immediately become one of the more productive hitters in their lineup. Yes, it's that bleak.”
Philadelphia would move part of Castellanos’ salary, while adding a young, controllable infielder with positional flexibility. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, adds an established bat without having to take on his entire contract for 2026.
Castellanos remains one of the more polarizing players on the Phillies’ roster and all of baseball. His defense has been brutal, and his offensive game has taken a step back.
However, the Pirates’ offensive struggles would make Castellanos an immediate upgrade, especially if he can get back to any sort of his younger form. From Pittsburgh’s perspective, taking on half of his remaining contract for a potential middle-of-the-order bat could be justifiable.
For a team firmly in win-now mode, moving a starting outfielder for a prospect isn’t always the best idea, but getting back Severino would probably be a win at this point.
As crazy as it continues to sound, I question whether the Phillies would even be able to make this deal. No team really has much of a reason to take Castellanos unless the Phillies are giving him to them.