- 20 hours ago
Grant & Danny think the timing of CJ Abrams moving positions is interesting, and makes it more likely he's moved this offseason.
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00:00I want to get into C.J. Abrams' move to second, though,
00:03and the Nats news of the week here.
00:04And this is big.
00:05This is many years in the making.
00:07Abrams, who has struggled defensively at short since he got to the big leagues
00:10and is inevitably going to have to move.
00:13We've been saying this for years.
00:15It's happening.
00:16And the timing is odd to me.
00:17I don't know another way to say it other than after the game stopped mattering that much
00:22and while simultaneously the team seems to be saying Cever King's not coming up imminently
00:27in the next couple of days.
00:29I think he will be up in September.
00:30Plus, you don't want to move C.J. for a prospect.
00:33That would not look very good.
00:34Kind of the face of your franchise with James Wood and an all-star.
00:37You're not making room for Cever King, who may or may not even stay at short
00:41because ultimately Eli Willits is going to play that position.
00:44It's kind of strange that they are moving him to second base now,
00:47although I'm team moving him to second base and have been since the day this staff took over.
00:52I said to Paul Taboni when he was sitting in this seat last offseason,
00:55I said, are you moving C.J. to second?
00:57And he's like, no, we're going to watch him.
00:59We think he can play short.
01:00We're going to figure that out.
01:01It was a matter of time.
01:02And the time, I guess, is now.
01:04But we just had a Nats reporter on minutes ago
01:09and Kyle Williams from the Baltimore banner on our Beltway Blitz.
01:11And we asked him how C.J.'s been handling this move behind the scenes
01:15and how he's taking the news that they're moving him off the shortstop position.
01:19When we asked Blake about the timeline, he said it's mostly a matter of days
01:23as to when we'll see it rather than weeks in which we will see it.
01:28And C.J., when we talked to him Friday, there's something different about his demeanor.
01:35And obviously so.
01:37Shortstop's one of those positions like a quarterback in football.
01:40It's your identity.
01:41You're not just playing shortstop.
01:43You are a shortstop.
01:44That's who you are.
01:45And he didn't seem too thrilled about it.
01:48He was asked, does he still view himself as a shortstop long term?
01:52And he said, I do.
01:54And so that kind of tells you right then and there,
01:56just like he wants to be shortstop.
01:58He wants to play shortstop.
02:00And he, you know, to his credit, though, he's willing to try out second base
02:04to help the team win.
02:05But it's clear he wasn't, you know, this isn't what he would have wanted.
02:10So that's Kyle from the Baltimore banner who was just on the blitz.
02:13Abrams has had an unbelievable season.
02:15Part of why this is weird, Danny, is he's finally put it together offensively.
02:18He's got an 885 OPS.
02:20He's got 29 homers and 90 driven in.
02:22He's the major league leader in runs batted in.
02:24He's going to have a 30 homer, 100 run batted in season as a middle infielder.
02:28Those guys are really, really hard to find.
02:29There's immense value in that.
02:31If you were going to trade him, you'd get a ton back,
02:33a Soto-like kind of package for him at this point.
02:37And that brings me to the Spencer Nussbaum column in The Athletic today
02:40or the reporting that he did where the headline is,
02:43C.J. Abrams not thrilled with change, agent says,
02:47but focus remains on nationals.
02:49So the second paragraph here does some damage control a little bit for the team,
02:54for, you know, kind of the piece that he's writing and whatnot.
02:57We're going to talk to Spencer coming up in 90 minutes at 6 o'clock.
03:00But he says,
03:02Three days after the announcement,
03:03both Abrams' camp and the Nationals' front office praised each other
03:06as strong partners in the decision,
03:08signaling a desire to find common ground,
03:09despite lingering disagreement about the timing with the necessity
03:13of the position change, end quote.
03:15That's like a, hey, it's going to be okay,
03:17these guys like each other kind of paragraph.
03:19But that's not the lead of this story.
03:21The lead of this story is this quote from Mike Sanders,
03:23the agent for C.J. Abrams from Roc Nation,
03:25where he says,
03:26I think first,
03:27C.J. was not thrilled about the decision to move him off shortstop.
03:30Now, he's not going to be thrilled,
03:32as Paul Taboni has pointed out,
03:34including in this piece.
03:35He shouldn't be thrilled.
03:36If you came to me and demoted me
03:38and took me off of our time slot
03:40and put me on, you know,
03:41late nights or the weekends or whatever,
03:43I probably wouldn't be thrilled either.
03:46But the fact that the agent is speaking publicly to say as much
03:50is a really, really big deal.
03:51Because whatever you're saying publicly as an agent
03:53is like 10% of what you'd like to say.
03:56You know what I mean?
03:56Like, this is not what an agent would typically do.
03:59They don't come out and...
03:59Quite literally the tip of the iceberg type expression, right?
04:01Exactly.
04:02We don't see the depths down below.
04:03Now, Paul Taboni said,
04:04if I'm C.J., of course I'm upset.
04:06It'd be weird if he wasn't.
04:07C.J. has been a shortstop his whole life,
04:09and it's a huge part of his baseball identity.
04:11If I didn't sense he was upset,
04:12I'd be worried that he wasn't being real with us.
04:15So that's a good quote from Paul Taboni,
04:17who's a real guy,
04:17and I've really enjoyed working with and talking to
04:20because he's always pretty honest.
04:21But here's what happened.
04:23The team decided to move Abrams.
04:26We can talk about the timing,
04:27which is the only part of this
04:28that I think is a little bit strange.
04:30And Abrams doesn't want to go to second base necessarily,
04:33but he's going to do it because what choice does he have?
04:35And you can throw a temper tantrum,
04:36or you could just say,
04:37I'll do what's best for the team.
04:38But I don't think this is a,
04:40hey man, I'm happy to be here.
04:41I'll do what's best for the team.
04:42I think this is a,
04:44whatever, dude.
04:45I'll do what's best for the team.
04:46I think that's what's happening.
04:47Yeah, it's a tacit agreement.
04:49This to me is the first step
04:50toward him getting traded in the offseason.
04:52That's where I'm at on this.
04:53I do not think this ends with an extension.
04:56And I also don't feel like
04:57there's a whole lot of reason necessarily
04:59to go into next season with him on the roster
05:02and wait till the deadline.
05:03Unless the work stoppage is so convoluted
05:05and takes so much time
05:06that it's hard to get any real baseball business done.
05:09But Danny went,
05:10by him handling this,
05:11I needed to know,
05:12how does he take this?
05:13How does he feel?
05:14So I did my own digging right away
05:15and just asked around
05:16and kind of got the feeling
05:17he wasn't that happy about it.
05:19But if he was cool with it,
05:20it would have been the other way for me
05:21where I would have said,
05:23hey, you can now pay him
05:23like a second baseman.
05:24He's happy to play second.
05:26Let's give him
05:27close to $30 million
05:29over eight years
05:30and make him the highest paid
05:31second baseman ever
05:32and let's sign him to an extension.
05:33But by him saying he's a shortstop,
05:35which by the way,
05:36he's not going to be a shortstop
05:38long-term in his career,
05:39I think this is kind of the beginning of the end
05:42in terms of him here.
05:44Do you think that's overstated?
05:45No, I think it's 100% on point.
05:47And we get to the same conclusion
05:48slightly differently.
05:49I think the team,
05:51because you're willing to put up,
05:52it's a push and pull.
05:53You're willing to put up with certain things.
05:54Like think back to the Wizards
05:56and having Bojan Bogdanovic on the roster.
05:58That guy could shoot the lights out.
06:00They were going to go at him defensively.
06:01How much?
06:02What's worth it?
06:03Well, if you're shooting the lights out
06:04and open things up for everybody else,
06:05you just deal with the fact
06:06that he might get picked on on defense.
06:07Same with, say, Trey Young now, right?
06:09He's worth it,
06:10but the net result is,
06:12yeah, they're going to find him
06:13when he's got to play some defense.
06:14If you've got a guy
06:15that's in a good place mentally
06:17and is hitting the bleep out of the ball
06:19and is behind like,
06:20you're Don Alvarez and one other player
06:22in terms of offensive war
06:23and leads the league in RBIs
06:25and is having the renaissance season
06:26and you're willing to do this
06:28to ruffle the feathers,
06:30because that's what this is.
06:31It's a feather ruffle.
06:31You're willing to do that.
06:33You're basically saying
06:34we're not as concerned anymore
06:35about you liking us long-term.
06:37It reads to me like a team going,
06:40we know we're not signing him
06:42to an extension,
06:42so we're just going to do
06:44the best baseball thing.
06:45Because again,
06:46take every bit of personality,
06:48ego, et cetera,
06:49et cetera, out of it
06:50and go,
06:50what's the best defensive lineup?
06:52Oh, that's Nassim Nunez
06:53at shortstop
06:54and CJ Abrams at second.
06:55Maybe him DH-ing more often than not,
06:57honestly.
06:57You could throw,
06:58name that Jag there at second base
07:00or whatever, right?
07:02And long-term,
07:02he's not a shortstop.
07:03We don't view him as that,
07:04but he does.
07:05What's worth it?
07:06Him being happy
07:07and making an error
07:08every two weeks
07:09more than the average peer
07:12or,
07:12well,
07:13he's hitting the bleep
07:13out of the ball
07:14or just saying,
07:15hey,
07:15this is what's best.
07:16Maybe you can do
07:17some combination of both.
07:18If you know
07:19you're not going to resign him
07:20and you're not going
07:20to be worried
07:21long-term
07:22about him being
07:23as happy
07:24and locked in,
07:24then you make the move.
07:26And that's how it reads to me
07:27is as a,
07:28we know we're not signing him,
07:30so what's the next step?
07:30Obviously,
07:31as you said,
07:31this offseason,
07:32two years of arbitration
07:33and control left,
07:35you'd get a tremendous haul.
07:36That's how it reads to me
07:37as if they say,
07:38we were concerned
07:40about if we're in it,
07:41him being happy
07:42and pleased,
07:42then yeah,
07:43he's going to kick one,
07:43he's going to lead the league
07:44or be last in the league
07:45in defensive runs saved
07:46among the worst
07:47in the position,
07:49both statistically,
07:49I test everything
07:51of the sort,
07:52we can live with that
07:53because the offensive production
07:54is so great,
07:55we don't want to do anything
07:55to mess with that.
07:56By the way,
07:57there might be a team
07:58that trades for him
07:58that plays him at shortstop
08:00early next season
08:00because the offense
08:01is that good,
08:02just like I think a team
08:03would have tried to trade
08:04for him at the deadline
08:05this year
08:06if the Nats were willing
08:06to give him up
08:07for not as much
08:08as they were asking for
08:09and they might have
08:10played him down the stretch,
08:11just like the Nats
08:12have played him at shortstop
08:13in perpetuity
08:14throughout his career
08:14to this point,
08:15even though he was never
08:17really their best
08:17defensive shortstop
08:18since Nassim Nunez
08:19has been on the roster.
08:20The offense is so good,
08:22you can justify
08:22the expense a little bit,
08:24especially as a second
08:25division team
08:26that isn't winning anything.
08:27That tells me hopefully
08:28they're looking to turn a corner
08:30and get into competition
08:31mode as well
08:32to actually start
08:33winning some baseball games
08:35because if you're just
08:36playing out these
08:3777 win seasons
08:38or trying to build
08:39something where
08:40it doesn't matter
08:41that much
08:42because you're still
08:43in a developmental phase,
08:45then you can play
08:46Abrams at shortstop
08:47probably.
08:48But by actually
08:48prioritizing your defense
08:50enough that you're
08:51moving him to second,
08:52it tells me you're
08:53maybe turning a little
08:54corner in that regard
08:55as well.
08:55The agent for Abrams
08:56Sanders from Roc Nation
08:58doubled down that
08:59his assertion,
08:59meaning Abrams'
09:00assertion,
09:01that he views himself
09:02as a shortstop
09:02long-term is how he feels,
09:04indicated that his client
09:05intends to spend the winter
09:06focused on improving
09:07his defense
09:07at his preferred position.
09:09So here's the issue
09:10with that,
09:10and this is not a knock
09:11on CJ,
09:11I really, really like the player.
09:13He has known for years
09:14that he has struggled
09:15defensively at short.
09:16He has put in a ton of work.
09:18We talk to him
09:18at spring training
09:19every single year
09:20we have the same conversation
09:21with CJ Abrams
09:22about his defense
09:23and all the work
09:24that he put in
09:24and how hard he grinded
09:25over the offseason.
09:26This was not a new thing
09:28that he might not
09:29stick at shortstop.
09:31Since his earliest days
09:32with the Padres,
09:33people have wondered,
09:34despite his immense
09:35athleticism,
09:36if he was going to be
09:37a shortstop.
09:38That was in 2022.
09:39I mean,
09:39that was like three kids
09:41in a house
09:41in a van ago for me.
09:43A lot has happened
09:44since then.
09:44In 2023,
09:45he was a bad defensive shortstop.
09:47In 2024,
09:48he was a bad defensive shortstop.
09:49In 2025,
09:50he was a bad defensive shortstop.
09:52And this year,
09:53he's been a bad defensive shortstop.
09:54Again,
09:55not knocking him
09:56or trying to crush him.
09:57He's one of my favorite players
09:58in baseball.
09:59He's awesome offensively.
10:00He's just not a shortstop.
10:02So,
10:02putting in more work
10:03this offseason
10:04after a bunch of offseasons
10:05where you put in the work
10:06knowing you might not
10:07stay at short,
10:08there's no breakthrough
10:09coming here.
10:10This is what it is.
10:12We have enough sample
10:13of 650 games
10:15and 2,500
10:16at-bats worth
10:18of baseball
10:18to say
10:19you have been
10:20statistically over that time
10:21arguably the worst shortstop
10:23in baseball.
10:24Certainly in the bottom
10:25five percentile
10:26as evidenced by
10:27all of the numbers,
10:28savant,
10:28things that we have.
10:29So when I read that,
10:30I rolled my eyes.
10:31I went,
10:31I get what they're saying.
10:33This isn't new.
10:34They're like,
10:34give him some time.
10:35He's going to work this out.
10:36And it's like,
10:36no, no, no, no, no.
10:37This is five years in now.
10:38I'm going,
10:38you've had a lot of time,
10:40respectfully.
10:40And again,
10:41I just want to clarify this
10:42for some folks.
10:43Some people say
10:43it's a position switch.
10:44What's the big deal?
10:45There is a mystique
10:46and there's a glamour
10:47with shortstop
10:48more so than
10:49pretty much
10:49any other defensive position.
10:51It's where the best player plays
10:53until you get to the major leagues
10:54and you see great
10:54gold glove defenders
10:55in center
10:56or third base
10:57and everywhere else.
10:58You can be a superstar
10:59defensively
10:59at those positions.
11:01But as a kid,
11:02the best athlete,
11:03where does he go?
11:03Shortstop.
11:04And that's true
11:04until you're kind of
11:06through college
11:06and maybe even
11:07into parts of the minors.
11:08But let me go
11:08one step further.
11:10It's not uncommon
11:11that guys have to change
11:12positions in baseball.
11:13Oh, yeah.
11:14But it almost never happens
11:15with the best player
11:16on a team.
11:17And other than James Wood
11:18or even with him,
11:19this is a perennial all-star.
11:20So how many guys
11:21that are all-stars annually,
11:23which Abrams has become
11:24that kind of guy,
11:25are being asked
11:26to change positions?
11:27It's very, very rare.
11:28A guy like Nico Horner,
11:30who's a really good player
11:31and a gold glove defender
11:32for the Chicago Cubs,
11:33had to move off shortstop
11:35for second base
11:35when they spent a ton
11:36of money on Dansby Swanson.
11:38Abrams is a bigger star
11:39than Swanson,
11:39just to give you an idea
11:40of the top there.
11:41Like, you move over
11:42when you're able
11:43to acquire a guy
11:44like C.J. Abrams
11:45if you're Nico Horner,
11:46who is a glove-first player.
11:50So, yeah,
11:51this is a big deal.
11:52Also, the timing of it's crazy,
11:54which I want to double down on next
11:56as to how the timing came about.
11:58But to go to him,
11:59and I'm glad that they did.
12:00This is not me questioning
12:02them doing it,
12:02because every day
12:04is the right day
12:05as far as I'm concerned
12:06to move him off the position.
12:07We agree there, yeah.
12:08But it is a little bit stunning
12:09that in the middle
12:10of this career year,
12:11while he's having
12:12this unreal stretch,
12:15finally turning into
12:16the player they've wanted
12:18all along
12:18and becoming
12:19one of the most talked-about
12:20studs in baseball offensively,
12:22that's when you're going to say,
12:23hey, by the way,
12:24now we're going to do this thing
12:25that he feels
12:26is a demotion
12:26and humiliating
12:27in a lot of ways.
12:28That part of it is odd,
12:30and I just wonder
12:30how they would explain
12:31that away.
12:32But let's open up
12:33the phones for Nats fans next.
12:34800-636-1067.
12:38800-636-1067.
12:40Do you agree with me
12:40that this will make it
12:41much harder
12:42to get an extension done,
12:43and that this makes it
12:44more likely that Abrams
12:45is probably traded
12:46this offseason?
12:47That's what I'm saying.
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