While we now know the destinations for the vast majority of Major League Baseball’s star free agents, we also can look at the schedule and see when these players will first get a chance to take on their former clubs.
Here are the five MLB series we are most looking forward to seeing in terms of “revenge” in 2022
Nick Castellanos — Philadelphia Phillies at Cincinnati Reds (August 15-17)
When Castellanos opted out of his remaining two years with the Reds early in the offseason, it was clear that change was coming to Cincinnati. Now that he has signed a a five-year, $100 million deal with the Phillies, Castellanos can see if he can build off his best MLB season, posting a career-best 3.2 bWAR in 2021.
Castellanos won’t get a chance to play against his former teammates until August, then will see them plenty in a 10-day span that includes a pair of three-game series between the two squads. It will be a different Reds team he will face as Cincinnati has traded away multiple players with an eye for a lower payroll.
What kind of reaction with Castellanos gets when he arrives with the Phillies in the Queen City? By August, it could well be a matchup of two teams going in opposite directions, one of the reasons why Castellanos is no longer in Cincinnati.