Dave Dombrowski on Nick Castellanos’ future with the Phillies: ‘We’ll see what happens’

Nick Castellanos has one season left on his five-year, $100 million contract with the Phillies.

He also has more baggage than an airline.

To recap: In June, Castellanos got benched for a game for disrespecting manager Rob Thomson after being replaced for defensive purposes. Two months later, he ceased playing every day amid the least productive season of his career. And in September, he criticized Thomson’s communication skills.

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After all that, is Castellanos in the team’s plans for 2026?

“We’ll see what happens,” president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a news conference Thursday. “I don’t know. I’m not going to get into specific players that are on our roster under contract. The [incidents] that you talked about are accurate, but we’ll see what happens.”

Dombrowski pointed to the outfield as one position where the Phillies can enact change in a largely inflexible roster. He said free agent Max Kepler “is not going to most likely be back.” Top prospect Justin Crawford will be in the mix next season.

The Phillies have dangled Castellanos in trade talks in the last two offseasons but were unable to move his contract. For one year, they might find an offense-needy taker, especially if the Phillies are willing to pay down Castellanos’ $20 million salary.

Castellanos batted .250 with 17 homers and a .694 OPS. Based on OPS+, he was 12% less productive than league average. And he was among the worst defenders in the sport at 12 outs below average, according to Statcast.

And then there’s his relationship with Thomson.

“From my perspective, it’s good,” Thomson said. “I never hold any grudges. Or if I have a problem with a player or another coach, it doesn’t linger. I’m always a guy that’s going to turn the page on that type of thing.”

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Dombrowski reiterated that internal dustups are common during a season, although they aren’t often as public as Castellanos’ criticisms of Thomson.

“I usually settle it behind the scenes when I get involved,” said Dombrowski, noting that he did, in fact, intervene in this case. “I think that’s the most appropriate fashion for me to to handle that.”

In addition to Crawford, the Phillies’ 2026 outfield could include Brandon Marsh, who is eligible for salary arbitration. Harrison Bader, who solidified center field after being acquired at the trade deadline, likely will decline his half of a $10 million mutual option and become a free agent.

The Phillies have until five days after the World Series to decide whether to exercise a $9 million team option for reliever José Alvarado.

“I’d be surprised, without making any announcements, if Alvarado is not back with us,” Dombrowski said. “But we’ll see what ends up happening.”

Alvarado missed most of the season after getting hit with an 80-game suspension for testing positive on a drug test. The 30-year-old lefty had a 2.70 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 20 innings before the suspension. Upon his return, he posted a 7.50 ERA and seven strikeouts in six innings.

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But Alvarado still throws 100 mph and could factor into a late-inning mix that now includes closer Jhoan Duran. Left-hander Matt Strahm is under contract for $7.5 million; righty Orion Kerkering and lefty Tanner Banks are also under team control.

Dombrowski said 40-year-old righty David Robertson is “not going to be back with us to start the season.” The Phillies signed Robertson in July to a prorated contract that paid him approximately $6 million. Dombrowski said Robertson might be interested in a similar arrangement with a team next year.

The Phillies could choose to decline Alvarado’s option and re-sign him to a lower salary.

“I’m really bullish on Alvarado,” Thomson said. “I love him. I love his energy. I love his stuff. Wherever he’s at, he’s going to have a really good year next year.”

As Bryce Harper turned 33 Thursday, Thomson reflected on a season in which he hit 27 homers and posted an .844 OPS, solid numbers that fell below his career standard.

“I think he’s highly motivated to have the best season of his career next year,” Thomson said. “That’s what the plan’s going to be for him. He hasn’t told me this. But that type of person, I’ve seen it before where they’ve had bad years, and they will go like gangbusters during the offseason to get better because they want to get back to where they normally are at. I think that’s just Harp’s mindset.”

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Zack Wheeler is expected next week to begin the rehab phase of his recovery from thoracic outlet decompression surgery last month. Dombrowski said “nothing’s changed” in the prognosis that Wheeler could resume pitching in six to eight months. ... After the Phillies batted .212 with a .657 OPS in the divisional round, Dombrowski defended hitting coach Kevin Long. “I’ve been with clubs that have had as good a starting pitching as you will ever have — and I’m talking about Hall of Famers with a [Justin] Verlander, a [Max] Scherzer, [David] Price, [Rick] Porcello, an earned-run average leader [in] Anibal Sánchez — and that [Dodgers] staff we faced is as good as any of them,“ Dombrowski said. ”I can’t put that on Kevin and his staff."