Multiple GMs reportedly believe Nick Castellanos could be traded at the deadline

It’s a widely accepted fact that the Phillies are going to be aggressive this trade season. Apparently, some executives are watching for a step above that.

They’re not ruling out what many might consider unexpected.

That would be a Nick Castellanos trade, at least according to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, who surveyed more than 40 executives and asked them to predict the best starter, reliever and hitter traded before the deadline.

He wrote that “multiple GMs think there’s a chance” the Phillies could deal Castellanos. It would hinge, naturally, on the Phillies finding an upgrade in right field, and on the Phillies forking over the majority (or entirety) of his remaining salary.

The Castellanos rumors just never go away, and for that reason alone, multiple GMs think there’s a chance he could get moved if Philadelphia can find a better right-field option. Castellanos, 33, is hitting .282 with 10 home runs and a 111 OPS+. He’s a well-below-average outfielder and is signed through 2026 at $20 million per year, so Philadelphia would have to pay down his contract to move him.

Who that right field upgrade might be is anyone’s guess. It’s not yet clear which teams are selling at the deadline. It might not be many, those who do might not have many great offerings, and the few great offerings will be highly sought after.

Perhaps that theorized upgrade is Bryce Harper, who reportedly told the Phillies in the offseason he’d be willing to move back to the outfield to accommodate a free-agent signing. The strong — no, stronger — bet here is that the team wouldn’t exactly love the idea of him diving around the outfield on a wrist that doesn’t seem to be fully healed, if it ever will be.

Maybe it’s Brandon Marsh, who’s been heating up with the weather and could slide over to right if the Phillies trade for a center fielder (or strike gold on a Justin Crawford promotion).

But the answer to the Phillies’ decent-at-best, lefty-heavy offense doesn’t feel like trading Castellanos, who’s third among qualified Phillies in average, slugging and OPS and arguably their most consistent hitter. If they land an impact corner outfielder — not two, but one — to spell either Castellanos or Max Kepler, is there really any chance it would be the former?

Besides, it takes two to tango. And finding a team that would part with any real impact piece for Castellanos — no superstar at the plate, and either a full-time DH or a … non-superstar, let’s say, in the field — might be a fruitless task for Dave Dombrowski and co. Instead, a Castellanos trade would likely just be a straight-up salary dump, which makes sense from a sheer player value standpoint, but the Phillies aren’t exactly in a position to be making decisions based on WAR-per-million.