A few moments after 4:30 p.m. local time on Sept. 28, Nicholas Castellanos wrapped up what was, e sentially, his 2019 exit interview with the Chicago media.The Cubs were in Isaiah Simmons T Shirts St. Louis with two games remaining, but Castellanos was dealing with a groin injury and wasnt going to play either of those two contests; his Cubs had already been eliminated, despite the herculean efforts of Castellanos in his two months with the club. He had been traded from Detroit to Chicago at the July 31 trade deadline, and in 51 games with his new club, in the heat of the pennant race, Casteallanos had 37 extra-base hits 16 homers and 21 doubles hit .321 with a 1.002 OPS and 36 RBIs.MORE: And it was clear from that exit interview, with pretty much every single answer, just how much Castellanos loved those two months.For two-and-a-half years, when your team racks up 260 lo ses and its kind of understood that youre out of it in the first week of May, it becomes more like a job, when youre showing up and staying focused, trying to be the best player you can, he said. But to be able to show up to a ballpark knowing that, Im here to win because were in a pennant race and we have a shot at this, thats a different answer. Thats a different level, for me.Shortly after the Winter Meetings, I wrote a column saying it who havent sniffed .500 since 2013 and have averaged 91 lo ses the past five seasons as a legitimate playoff contender. The club has a solid rotation headed by Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray and Trevor Bauer a 49-homer third baseman in Eugenio Suarez, Joey Votto and a nice complement of young players. And this offseason, they had already added Mike Moustakas to play second base and Wade Miley to join the back of Leki Fotu Jersey the rotation.I to get a very unscientific view of what baseball fans thought. They werent convinced (again, KNOWING the results can Arizona Cardinals Pet Gear easily be skewed by who sees the poll and whether they decided to vote how they really felt), as 62 percent said they believed the Reds would mi s the playoffs again in 2020.But you know who does believe in the Reds for 2020?Nicholas Castellanos, thats who (also, I've , if you'd like to vote). He reportedly agreed to a four-year, $64 million deal with the Reds on Monday morning, pending a physical. It was impo sible to imagine, after hearing him speak pa sionately about the excitement of competing in a playoff race, that he would choose to sign as a free agent with a team he didnt believe had a chance at giving him that thrill again.Castellanos didnt have input on Detroits decision to go through a rebuilding proce s during his Age 25-26-27 seasons. So when he controlled his fate for his Age 28 (and beyond) seasons? There would be no doubt what fueled his decision-making proce s.Again, from that exit interview: I want to win. I Zach Allen Jersey want to be in October baseball. I want to win. I won a lot as an amateur baseball player, was on a lot of cool teams and did a lot of cool things, won a gold medal in Venezuela, won state championships in high school, won summer ball tournaments, and I havent been able to do that at all as a profe sional. None of my minorleague teams finished out too good.I was able to celebrate a division series in 2014, but I was so young and the game was so fast, I didnt really get to appreciate that, you know?As , its clear that, while Castellanos believes in the Reds, hes still keeping his options open. Castellanos reportedly has opt-out clauses after Year 1 and Year 2, which is rather unprecedented.If hes wrong, and the Reds dont take that next step into contention in 2020, he can opt out and be a free agent again, heading into his Age 29 season. Same thing with 2021. Or if he has a ma sive season and wants to test the free-agent waters again, to land a bigger deal, he can do that, too. Playing in a hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark 81 times a year certainly wont hurt his chances.The opt-outs certainly put Castellanos in the drivers seat, and for an intensely competitive player who spent three of his prime years playing for teams that lost 98, 98 and 114 games over the past three seasons, its hard to blame him for structuring his contract to give himself every opportunity to avoid more lost seasons.I love expectations and pre sure to win, Castellanos said on that September afternoon at Busch Stadium. I love being in the pennant race. I love it. And I think being in that Maxx Williams Jersey environment brought the best out of me.The Reds, and their fans,certainly hope thats true.