Chicago Cubs: Nick Castellanos to the Reds would be big trouble

The Cincinnati Reds have emerged as the frontrunners for Nick Castellanos, who spent the second half of the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs.

In an offseason that was expected to have substantial changes, the Chicago Cubs roster looks, well, roughly the same as it did the last two years. The front office has done little to improve a broken roster, hinged mostly on the outcome of Kris Bryant‘s grievance hearing accompanied by their lack of available funding. And it appears that it’s about to get a whole lot worse for the north siders as a former friend is likely to become a foe now, as the Cincinnati Reds have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Nicholas Castellanos.

Castellanos, 27, was acquired by the Cubs quite literally under the wire at the trade deadline, as he was dressed to take his at-bat for the Detroit Tigers but was then called back into the dugout and was informed that he was being shipped off. He posted a remarkable second half of the year with a .321/.356/.646 slash line, including 21 doubles, 16 home runs, and 36 RBI (151 OPS+).

As noted, the Cubs have been determined to remain under the luxury tax for the 2020 season, despite rumors indicating that Castellanos’ market puts him at a four-year deal in the neighborhood of $60 million. The Reds have, arguably, had the best offseason of any team in the National League, adding Mike Moustakas, Wade Miley, and Shogo Akiyama. With Castellanos potentially now in the mix, that would make the Reds a considerable threat for the NL Central Crown.

Their rotation is already deadly headlined by Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, and Trevor Bauer. Both Nick Senzel and Aristides Aquino make the offense more formidable that already included the likes of Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez.

The Cubs find themselves in a precarious situation in that their roster on paper, perhaps outside of the bullpen, looks reasonably stable, but the last two years’ results would indicate otherwise. Admittedly, the team became complacent after the 2016 season, which is understandable to a certain extent, but there’s no reason that this team should be scuffling to 84-win seasons with this roster and this payroll.

Castellanos sparked the Cubs’ offense in the second half, as much as he could. Now just imagine what he could do in that glorified launching pad they call Great American Ballpark for 81 games a year.