The San Diego Padres made the surprise decision to designate veteran Nick Castellanos for assignment earlier this week.
Castellanos was hitting .191 with an OPS of .560 across 39 games. He had some timely hits and played a big role in the clubhouse, but that wasn't enough to keep him in San Diego.
So, while the Padres were facing his former Phillies team in Philadelphia , he was removed from the roster for utility man Samad Taylor.
Now back home after a rough road trip, Manny Machado was asked about the team's decision to DFA Castellanos, who he's known since childhood. He wasn't happy with the decision.
"It was tough," Machado said. "Obviously he was a big part of our team. He ingrained himself pretty well in here with the group of guys that we had."
Machado also said the players were surprised and "devastated" by the move.
"Obviously the news caught everybody by surprise," he 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.
"So, we were kind of devastated by it."
The Padres initially brought Castellanos in this February to add some much-needed offense to the lineup.
Castellanos is a two-time All-Star and a former Silver Slugger winner, and was expected to lengthen the San Diego lineup.
Unfortunately, outside of a few big hits, he struggled.
So, with the Padres paying him just the veteran's minimum, the team decided to move on from him after a few months. Manager Craig Stammen said the team was hoping to add a spark to the dormant offense in the form of Taylor and the recently-added Jase Bowen.
"We've been talking a little bit about our roster and the flexibility that we'd like to have with the bench - maybe a little bit more speed, little bit more dynamic players," Stammen said. "With our last two guys we brought up ... we got a little bit more element of speed, some defense, some versatility that we can use on the bench."
"We're not changing the core of what our offense is," he added. "The goal of the offense is to score more runs than what we've been scoring. I know that's going to happen. Just trying to change it up a little bit, see if maybe that's the right formula to get kick-started a little bit, get this offense going a little bit. Get our team going a little bit.
"It's not necessarily the offense, but just, 'How can we play some team baseball?'"
Castellanos will now look for his next home, while the Padres continue to search for offense.
The Padres enter Friday's series opener against the New York Mets with a team OPS of .651 and batting average of .216. Both of them rank dead last in Major League Baseball.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/padres/onsi as Manny Machado Says Padres Players 'Devastated' by Nick Castellanos DFA .
