Phillies are paying $34 million to players who aren't even on the roster anymore originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies made a surprise appearance in the World Series in 2022, and began a trek to return in 2023 by signing a few players, one of which being Taijuan Walker for $72 million.
That deal didn't work out at all, as he's now been released. But, he's far from the only player the Phillies have cut ties with over the last few years after Dave Dombrowski signed them to a free agent deal.
Between the Walker release and the Nick Castellanos release in the offseason, the Phillies are paying $34 million to two players who aren't even on the roster this season.
As Matt Gelb of The Athletic highlighted back in the offseason, the Phillies' release of Castellanos meant the team would be taking on $19.22 million in dead money thanks to the San Diego Padres signing Castellanos and taking off a bit from the $20 million figure.
Gelb also shared that the Phillies will be spending $15 million to have Walker not be part of the pitching staff for the rest of the year, which is not a good look at all, generally speaking.
"The Phillies have now devoted a large sum of dead money - $19.22 million to Nick Castellanos and $15 million to Walker - to this year's payroll," Gelb writes.
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Combining those two numbers, and the Phillies will be spending $34.22 million on players to not be a part of their team this season.
Castellanos and Walker were major issues the last few seasons, and both are now off the big league roster. While Castellanos has a new home in San Diego, Walker's a fresh free agent, so his new landing spot, if there is one, is unknown for now.
The Phillies roster is struggling enough as it is right now, and that $34 million would've been nice to have to upgrade Alec Bohm's spot or add more help to the outfield.
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