The Washington Nationals have generated buzz in the baseball world for their upstart group of young players as their rebuild continues. However, the team made a mind-blowing CJ Abrams move on Saturday.
The Nationals are sending the shortstop down to the minors, via The Athletic's Britt Ghiroli.
“The Nationals are optioning CJ Abrams to the minor leagues, sources tell the Athletic,” Ghiroli said. “Abrams was an All Star, but has struggled in the second half.”
Abrams is hitting .246 with 20 homers, 65 RBI, 31 stolen bases and a .747 OPS this season. The 23-year-old hit just .176 and .187 in July and August, respectively, before bouncing back with a .271 average in September.
However, the move may not be due to his second-half struggles, via MASN's Mark Zuckerman.
“Nationals announce they’ve optioned CJ Abrams to AAA and recalled Trey Lipscomb,” Zuckerman said. “We’ll be hearing from Davey Martinez shortly but I don’t believe it’s performance-based.”
CJ Abrams is still the Nationals' future
Abrams was a part of the king's ransom that Washington received in the Juan Soto trade with the San Diego Padres in 2022. The 6-foot-2, 191-pounder was the Padres' top prospect at the time, and has lived up to the billing in the big leagues, setting the Nationals' franchise record with 47 stolen bases last year.
While getting sent down to finish the season is a setback, Abrams has now shown for two full seasons that he has plenty of promise. Combine that with No. 1 prospect James Wood, who was San Diego's No. 3 prospect at the time of the trade, slashing .267/.362/.427 with eight homers, 39 RBI, and 14 stolen bases through his first 71 big-league games this year, and Washington's future looks bright.
With Soto now a New York Yankee, there's no question that the Nationals won that trade after the star rejected their 15-year, $440 million contract offer.
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