Should the Chicago Cubs explore reunion with this former Cubs slugger?

The Chicago Cubs have had a couple of feel-good walk-off moments over the last few day, but that doesn’t erase the realities facing the team and where they stand right now.

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Currently in fourth place in the NL Central Division, they would not be a playoff team if the season ended today. That’s a far cry from where many thought the team would be at this point in the year, back when the Cubs were expected to be a deep playoff contender with even some possible World Series aspirations.

Pitching injuries have hobbled this team, stressing and straining things as a whole. But it’s been the offense that has been the biggest disappointment so far.

Although center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong has been red-hot lately and a couple of other bats have had their moments, the offensive output as a whole as been a massive letdown. The simple reality of the Cubs’ hitting situation is that they need more consistency and a steadier hand when it comes to driving runs home.

But was the answer to Chicago’s hitting needs practically dumped into their laps on Friday?

Nick Castellanos released by the Padres

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Veteran bat—and former Cub—Nick Castellanos was released by the San Diego Padres after a subpar run in Southern California that saw him hit just .191 over 39 games.

Now, the numbers Castellanos put up in San Diego wouldn’t normally scream, “Come get me.” But he might be someone worth exploring for a Cubs team in need of fire and someone who has, at the very least, a proven track record of past success.

The 34-year-old, who had significant success with the Cubs in 2019 as a trade deadline acquisition, has been through a career roller coaster over the last year or so.

The Philadelphia Phillies released him this past offseason, eating the final $20 million of his five-year contract, after an ugly clash of personalities with then-Phillies manager Rob Thomson that also brought on an extended slump at the plate.

The Padres had hoped to rekindle the spark in the 14-year MLB veteran when they acquired him prior to the 2026 season, but things never quite picked up.

The veteran did prove, however, that clubhouse personality clashes may have been limited to just his interactions with Thomson. Everybody in San Diego was fine with him and they seem legitimately disappointed in his release.

“Nick is such a pro,” Padres manager Craig Stammen told reporters “I really enjoyed having him in San Diego…It was tough for him to transition from playing every single day to playing two days, then two days off, play another day and another day off. It was a difficult transition to him. It’s something that he probably didn’t love either, you know. In the end, it didn’t feel comfortable for him. So I think the conversations that we had back and forth were great, great communication, but just decided to make a move and change the roster up a little bit.”

“Obviously the news caught everybody by surprise,” Manny Machado said. “I don’t really try to put myself in a GM’s shoes and know why they’re doing the decisions. Obviously we just care about Nick and what he meant to us in the clubhouse.”

What he’d bring to the Cubs

For the Cubs, Castellanos would give them a right-handed bat they could pair with lefty Michael Conforto—another veteran reclamation project paying dividends after a sub-Mendoza line season—that could either be plugged into the DH slot or as a fourth outfielder. A decision would then have to be made regarding rookie Moises Ballesteros and whether it would be wiser to send him back to Triple-A for more seasoning and more actual playing time.

For the minuscule amount of money involved in picking him up and the simple roster fit, trying out Castellanos might be something worth exploring.

Of course, it’s not 2019, where he hit .321 with 16 home runs in 51 games with the Cubs. But if the team could just get some of what’s made him a successful hitter over the course of his career, it might be a win-win.

The post Should the Chicago Cubs explore reunion with this former Cubs slugger? appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-nick-castellanos-sign-conforto-ballesteros/