The Cincinnati Reds continue to spend money this offseason, grabbing the last big-name free agent on the market in Nicholas Castellanos. The team has reportedly agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract with Castellanos that has two opt-outs as well. The opt-outs are after both of the first two seasons in 2020 and 2021. Castellanos will join an outfielder that has only gotten deeper throughout the 2019-20 offseason. Jeff Passan of ESPN had the news of the signing, including the opt-out.
The opt-out in Nicholas Castellanos’ four-year, $64 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds is after the first season, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 27, 2020
In 2019, Castellanos was traded from the Detroit Tigers to the Chicago Cubs at the trade deadline in a deal that sent pitching prospects back to the Tigers organization. He played in 151 total games in 2019, managing a .289/.525/.337 slash line with 27 home runs and 73 RBI on the season. One of the issues with Castellanos is his lack of defensive ability; this made it hard to find a home for him with the Tigers, who ultimately would settle on him being their right fielder, which proved to be fatal for his defense.
The Reds will most likely use Castellanos in the outfield alongside other 2019-20 offseason acquisition, Shogo Akiyama, Nick Senzel, Phillip Ervin, Aristides Aquino, and Jesse Winker. This offseason, the Reds also added Mike Moustakas on a similar four-year contract showing that the team is looking to compete and compete now in the National League Central division. The addition of Castellanos also means that free agency has fizzled out, and the rest of the names will be smaller, niche players for most teams.
