Phillies’ Nick Castellanos wants to see ‘serious consequences’ for MLB owners who don’t try to win
On Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies earned a crucial win over the second-place Atlanta Braves (PHI 5, ATL 4). Atlanta had won nine of its previous 11 games and fell five games out of first place. The Phillies overcame a 4-0 deficit on Thursday, thanks in large part to Nick Castellanos’ two-run homer in the seventh inning.
The game’s decisive blow is here. The Phillies were seven outs away from a four-game lead in the division, which would have been their smallest lead since May 18. Instead, they’re six games ahead.
“It’s funny, man,” said Castellanos, who spoke out earlier this week about his lack of perspectiveHe said after the homer on Thursday (via MLB.com). “It’s a high. It’s a good feeling when everybody stands up and just shows their love.”
Hours before his game-winning home run, Castellanos recently posted an interview with MLB FITS online. The Phillies slugger said he wants owners to be punished when their team performs poorly.
When Castellanos was asked what he would do if he were commissioner for a day, he said:
“I would make the change that there would be no serious consequences to losing ownership long-term,” Castellanos said. “You know, like if we’re in the big leagues and we don’t do well, we get demoted or fired. If their organization doesn’t do well, somebody else would have the opportunity to buy it. You know, just, just you know how it can be that nobody really owns the game of baseball because the game of baseball is above actual ownership.”
While I appreciate the sentiment — giving owners a reason to prioritize winning — I’m not sure forcing owners to sell their team for several billion dollars is the best way to go about it. Too many owners only speak the language of money. To get their attention, you have to hit their wallet. Taking away national broadcast money or revenue sharing dollars would probably be more effective than forcing them to sell. That’s just my opinion, though.
Castellanos’ comments came less than two weeks after remarks from Phillies chairman John Middleton, one of the few owners who clearly believes winning is paramount. He said the owners have an obligation to the city and fan base to try to winMiddleton purchased a minority stake in the Phillies in 1994, increased his ownership over the years, and took over as the team’s controlling person in 2016.
“It’s remarkable how special this city is as a fan base,” Middleton said“That’s why I keep telling everybody, this may be a private business that we own, but it’s not a private organization. It’s a very public organization. It’s a management. We have an obligation. We’re accountable to the fans and the city. If you don’t see it that way, in my opinion you shouldn’t be an owner.”
In the current collective bargaining agreement, which covers 2022-26, a number of new measures have been introduced that aim to tackle what we would call anti-competitive behavior. There’s a new draft lottery, so being bad doesn’t mean you’re automatically at the top of the draft, with teams rewarded with extra draft picks when they don’t manipulate the service time of their top prospects.
Due to lottery rules, the Chicago White Sox cannot select higher than 10th in the following year’s draft Despite being on pace to lose over 120 gamesChicago earned the No. 5 pick in the 2024 draft, and teams paying in revenue sharing cannot receive lottery picks in back-to-back years. It’s a punishment for multiple years of poor performance, though it’s not too harsh.
Castellanos, 32, is hitting .250/.303/.425 with 19 home runs this season. He’s been particularly good the last few weeks, putting up a .297/.338/.505 line with 14 doubles and eight home runs in his last 51 games.
