PEORIA, Ariz. — A busy several hours between Friday night and Saturday morning saw the Padres possibly fill both of their glaring needs a day before their first full-squad workout.
It was no secret that filling out their rotation and adding a veteran bat were the Padres’ remaining priorities, and they addressed those aims by agreeing to deals with pitcher Griffin Canning and outfielder Nick Castellanos.
The addition of the accomplished and notoriously passionate Castellanos comes days after he was released by the Phillies amid reports of conflicts with teammates and manager Rob Thompson.
“What he did in the other clubhouse has nothing to do with us,” Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill said. “And I don’t think it’s going to carry over either. I think he is going to come in here and we’re all going to look at him as a new human being. I don’t really care (and haven’t) dived in too deep to what he did over there because that was the Phillies and we’re the San Diego Padres. I’m just happy to have him in a new clubhouse, see his vibe and see what he does to help us.”
The Padres will pay Castellanos the major league minimum $780,000 in 2026, as the Phillies are paying the rest of his $20 million salary after releasing him earlier this week. Terms of Canning’s contract were not immediately known.
Both deals are pending the completion of physicals, so manager Craig Stammen would not specifically address the additions.
“I think that’s what A.J. has been talking … about a lot about here over the last couple of weeks — trying to find that extra arm, that extra bat,” Stammen said. “We’ll see how it shakes out here today and tomorrow. But, you know, whenever you’re adding big-league talent, guys that have been in the league for a while, that have proven that they can have success at this level, it makes your team better.”
Castellanos, a right-handed hitter who has 250 career home runs, is expected to add first base to his resume with the Padres. Should that experiment work, it would give the team a complement to left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets. Castellanos will likely also see time at designated hitter and fill in at the corner outfield spots.
“It’s a guy who has had a lot of success in this league,” Sheets said. “When you look at it from a team aspect, it’s a guy that can definitely help us. I don’t look at how it affects me. I just look how it affects this team, how it can help his team, and anything that helps us win a championship a little bit better then I’m all for it.”
New York Mets starting pitcher Griffin Canning throws to the plate during the first inning of their game against the Dodgers on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at Dodger Stadium. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Canning, a 29-year-old right-hander, started 16 games for the Mets last season and 94 for the Angels between 2019 and ‘24. He brings a 4.65 ERA into this year after posting a 3.77 ERA over 76 1/3 innings last year. An Achilles rupture in June ended what was to that point his finest MLB season.
Canning was said to have thrown well in front of scouts last week, but there is more involved in pitching in a game than just throwing. So his arrival might not affect the competition for what is likely one available spot in the starting rotation out of spring, as he might not be ready to start the season.
That competition likely is limited to JP Sears and Matt Waldron and non-roster invitees Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie, all of whom have significant major league starting experience.
The top three spots in the rotation are filled by Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Joe Musgrove. Randy Vásquez is a solid front-runner to earn the fourth spot.
The Padres also have Kyle Hart plus a handful of arms expected to begin the season in the upper levels of their minor-league system.
Depth of starting pitching is almost always a factor in a team’s success, as the average MLB team uses eight to 15 pitchers to make at least one start in a season. Last year, the Padres had 10 pitchers make at least five starts.
Saturday’s attention-grabbing move, however, was the acquisition of the 33-year-old Castellanos, who began his MLB career with the Detroit Tigers in 2013 and also played for the Cubs and Reds.
He hit .250./.494/.400 with 17 home runs in 147 games for the Phillies in 2025 and had one more season remaining on a five-year, $100 million contract.
After his release, Castellanos responded via Instagram to reports that he took a beer into the dugout and had a heated exchange with manager Rob Thomson after being removed from a game last season.
“As a veteran of the game of baseball, there are rules, and I broke one in Miami,” Castellanos wrote in the social media post. “After being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family, I brought a Presidente (beer) into the dugout. I then sat right next to Rob and let him know that too much slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others are not conducive to us winning.”
He posted this minutes before his release was announced on Thursday:
“I love this game, I love being a teammate and I am addicted to winning. I will learn from this.”
Musgrove noted Castellanos made “his apologies” for whatever went on with the Phillies and said he never holds against a player something done in the heat of the moment.
“He has been in winning organizations,” Musgrove said. “I’m excited to see the elements he brings to the clubhouse. … I haven’t spent any time with him aside from playing across the field from him. I know the personality and type of guy he is. He’s a winning player.”
That is generally what is important to professional athletes. They can abide a lot of things that might otherwise irk them if a player is contributing to winning. And while Castellanos’ production has decreased — from a 106 wRC+ between 2023 and ‘24 to a 90 wRC+ in ‘25 — a player with a .785 career OPS who has played in six postseasons is virtually always going to get the benefit of the doubt coming in.
“You never know what’s the truth and what’s not,” Sheets said. “But I know he’s got a winning pedigree. He’s been in big moments. He’s come through in big moments. So for me, it’s a guy that can help us in the postseason. … He brings a swagger to this team that already has a lot of swagger.”
