Marlins division rivals shopping formerly top bat

There's some interesting news on the Miami Marlins division rivals the Philadelphia Phillies. Preston Mattingly and Dave Dombrowski have a lot to work in Philly this off-season. After losing in the NL Cy Young race to the Atlanta Braves, Philly will have more important things to work on. Their NLDS loss to the New York Mets still stings in their memory and they want to shake things up.

Miami Marlins division rivals are planning a very busy off-season.

It's become apparent that this Philadelphia Phillies core is probably not on the way to winning the World Series. Philly seems to be copying their 2009-2011 run. They won the pennant in 2009, after a strong season and then lost to the World Series in the New York Yankees. They had the best record in the NL in 2010, but lost in the NLCS to the San Francisco Giants. They had the best record in the Majors and franchise history in 2011. They followed that up by losing in the NLDS to the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 2022, Philly made it to the playoffs as the third NL Wild Card team. The first time in history that it was even possible. They ended up winning the pennant, but lost in the World Series to the Houston Astros. In 2023, they were the top Wild Card team but lost in the NLCS to the Arizona Diamondbacks. In 2024, they won the division, but then lost in the NLDS to the New York Mets. Weird situation to be honest.

Philly now wants to move on from RF Nick Castellanos. I'm glad that the Miami Marlins didn't sign him, as he's simply not that good and isn't worth the money. From 2022 to 2024 with the team, he batted .263/.309/.435 and was worth just 2.4 WAR for those three seasons. He's terrible defensively, with his dWAR marks being -1.3, -1.5 and -1.7. He's still owed $20 million next season and in 2026. I find it hard to believe that many teams would be willing to acquire him. They may just be stuck with him.