Shortstop CJ Abrams opens up on his mindset amid talk of the Washington Nationals fielding interest in trade talks over the offseason
The Washington Nationals fell back into the loss column on Monday night after a 7-3 loss against the Miami Marlins, still clinging above .500 as they look to even the series with Miles Mikolas on the mound on Tuesday night.
Yet the loss doesn't dampen the outlook on the Nationals' season with the offense proving to be the most explosive across baseball with shortstop CJ Abrams proving to be a key piece in that.
Abrams finished 1-for-4 in Monday's loss to record a hit in all but one of his last six games while leading the team with a .294 batting average. His 64 total hits rank 12th in baseball, his two triples are enough to tie multiple players for tenth-most, while 13 doubles rank 24th. His 47 RBIs also rank second in baseball only to Dodgers centerfielder Andy Pages, who enters Tuesday with three more in 2026. Abrams also sports a .926 OPS and .537 slugging as president of baseball operations Paul Toboni noted the Nationals' young star has "turned himself into an awesome, awesome player."
For the Nationals, the success is a byproduct of the organization opting to hang onto its star infielder during the offseason.
One day after the Nationals pulled the trigger on a MacKenzie Gore trade, a report emerged that the San Francisco Giants made an aggressive push to acquire Abrams before Washington walked away from discussions due to the asking price. In light of the Nationals' staring at a perceived rebuild season amid talk of materializing into the worst team in baseball, Toboni made clear he was transparent with Abrams through all the discussions - and it mattered to Abrams.
“It meant a lot," Abrams said in an interview. “I was able to ignore things out there because I was in communication with Paul [Toboni]."
Toboni admitted the players "deserve to be in the know" while showing transparency through the process. It was a carbon copy of the process with Gore, who Toboni explained during winter meetings that the front office was transparent with about his interest.
That's materialized into a key decision given the Nationals enter Tuesday 1.5 games back from the final wild card spot and tied with the Philadelphia Phillies in the divisional standings, but more importantly, it's fueled discussions about Abrams becoming a building block for the organization. While Washington's frugal spending under the Lerners has put a pause on an optimistic outlook for an extension, the proposed salary cap and spending floor that's on the table could be the bridge to make it a reality.
For now, Toboni cautioned future moves after noting, we’ve got to see how these next couple of months go."
“I’m not sure people expected us to be in a spot where we could make a run. We’ll see how the team plays, and how it comes together, and obviously that will influence our decision. We’ll figure it out."
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