Phillies’ Nick Castellanos says he thought he was signing with Marlins until Derek Jeter resigned

Reading between the lines, it likely meant that Jeter expected the team to invest more in payroll. Meanwhile, principal owner Bruce Sherman seemed disinclined to do so. At the time, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that Jeter believed the Marlins would have an additional $10 million to $15 million to spend on payroll after the lockout, and that turned out to be not the case. That disconnect turned out to be, in Sherman’s words, “central to Jeter’s decision to leave as CEO.”

This is where Phillies slugger Nick Castellanos enters the picture. Castellanos, who was a free agent this past offseason, was widely thought to be of interest to the Marlins. As well, that interest was thought to be mutual for the native of South Florida.

As it turns out, Thursday occasioned the Marlins’ 2022 home opener, and the opponent was Castellanos’ Phillies. That, in turn, occasioned a revisiting of Castellanos’ winter dealings with Miami:

Phillies OF Nick Castellanos just told me that he thought he would be a Marlin until Jeter left Marlins. Jeter wanted him

— Barry Jackson (@flasportsbuzz) April 14, 2022

Sources: Ex-Cincinnati Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos joins Philadelphia Phillies on five-year deal worth $100 million

Free-agent outfielder Nick Castellanos and the Philadelphia Phillies are in agreement on a five-year, $100 million contract, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Castellanos, 30, is coming off his best big league season for Cincinnati, a campaign in which he ranked in the top 10 of the National League in several offensive categories. He finished fourth in NL batting average (.309), hit 34 homers (tied for seventh), drove in 100 runs (tied for ninth), ranked third in slugging (.576) and fourth in OPS .939. He posted a career-best 3.2 WAR, according to baseball-reference.com.

It was a banner season all around for Castellanos. He was elected as a starter for the NL in the All-Star Game, won a Silver Slugger award and finished 12 in balloting for NL MVP.