Grading Padres signings: Nick Castellanos & Griffin Canning

The Padres needed an arm and a bat. They signed an arm and a bat. Is the 2026 roster set?

With things starting to heat up at Spring Training, it was time for A.J. Preller to fill out the final few spots of the San Diego Padres roster.

Knowing Preller, he’ll probably continue to find ways to tinker with this roster between now and MLB Opening Day, but the two moves that were announced this morning at least gives the Padres a complete set. Let’s talk about them.

Nick Castellanos

For the last few weeks, it has felt inevitable that Nick Castellanos would end up on the 2026 San Diego Padres. The team has a desperate need for a power bat (even a potential power bat) and no money to spend on it. Castellanos has hit 34 HRs in a season and will reportedly play for the veteran minimum after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nick Castellanos has been an NL All-Star in two of the last five seasons. He’s also gotten MVP votes in those seasons. There is, potentially, remnants of a good hitter left in Castellanos’ 33-year old (turning 34 in a couple of weeks) body. For that reason alone, he’s worth a one-year contract at the veteran minimum.

The reason Castellanos was available at all is because the Phillies were done dealing with him. He had apparently caused some issues in the clubhouse over sharing playing time, coming to a head when he was replaced for a better defender (he’s a horrid outfielder) in front of some friends and family in Miami. He (admittedly) grabbed a beer from the clubhouse and brought it into the dugout to lecture Phillies manager Rob Thomson about it during the game.

Castellanos is reportedly close with Manny Machado, which should hopefully make it an easy transition into the locker room. Still, Craig Stammen’s first test as a baseball manager has just arrived.

As far as fit, I can see Castellanos being the Padres everyday designated hitter (if he hits well). That would leave Miguel Andújar and Gavin Sheets to split time at first base, which is less than ideal but is better than nothing.

This feels like a low-risk (veteran minimum), medium reward (potential league average DH?) signing for a team that can only seemingly operate in that space right now.

FINAL GRADE: B

Griffin Canning

I think Jon Heyman got both of these signings reported first, which is something to keep in mind as far as how plugged-in he is with this front office.

I do love to get suckered by a “Player Comes Home” story, and that’s probably what’s about to happen here.

Canning is an Orange County kid who signed and played with the Los Angeles Angels for five (good) seasons before hitting free agency last offseason and signing with the New York Mets.

He was pitching well in his only season for Mets, which would’ve undoubtedly made him more of a household name than pitching for the Angels could’ve done, but it was cut short when he tore his Achilles stepping off the mound during a routine groundball:

That is just incredibly bad luck. Especially for a former Gold Glove winner at his position.

Canning was 7-3 with an ERA+ of 107 in 16 starts in 2025, and the Mets (who barely finished the season above .500) went 12-4 in those starts.

I do think there is some Nick Pivetta-like potential here, assuming that the Achilles tear hasn’t affected Canning’s pitching in some way (the injury was to his left Achilles, which is not the one he pushes off of, but it’s possible he won’t be ready by the start of the season…), and I will be eagerly waiting to see what the contract looks like.

My assumption, this late in the game, is that Canning was looking for another one-year “prove it” contract like the one he got from the Mets a year ago. I wouldn’t be surprised if it has that similar Padres structure of player options after the first year, in case Canning’s plan to over-perform and get paid long-term in free agency don’t pan out. I could be way off base, though.

We’ll see what the Padres starting rotation ends up looking like, but I’d be surprised if Canning doesn’t get one of those spots once he’s fully recovered from his injury.

INITIAL GRADE: B+

(Can’t give a final grade without knowing what the contract looks like. Will update this post later)