WEST PALM BEACH – With baseball on the forefront of CJ Abrams’ mind this offseason, baseball chatter buzzed with his name in the background. The Nationals were entering a new phase with a revamped front office and coaching staff, and both Abrams and MacKenzie Gore were mentioned throughout the winter as potential trade candidates with appealing contracts.
“I’ve been traded before,” Abrams, 25, said. “The rumors and stuff … if it happens, it happens. You’ve just got to keep working.”
Abrams already has been through a major baseball shakeup that taught him an important lesson. Just three years after the Padres selected him with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 Draft, they traded him to the Nationals as part of the Juan Soto megadeal.
“I wasn’t expecting it in San Diego, and it happened,” Abrams said. “You never know. You’ve just got to stay where your feet are.”
Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni stayed in communication with Abrams throughout the winter. While Gore was moved to the Rangers in exchange for five prospects, Abrams remained part of the Nationals’ young core. When he arrived in West Palm Beach, Fla., for early work ahead of Spring Training, he was welcomed with high expectations from first-year manager Blake Butera.
“Watching the way he plays the game, he’s one of the best players in baseball, in my opinion, [he] has the potential to be,” Butera said. “I told him a couple days ago, ‘Hey, you should be an All-Star this year.’ He was like, ‘I know, that’s my goal.’”
Abrams has been the Nationals’ starting shortstop since he was acquired in 2022. Same team, different outlook this year. Butera is emphasizing a fresh start approach for all players this season, his first as a Major League manager.
“A clean slate’s good, especially last year when things don’t go how you want it to go,” Abrams said. “You just put that behind and focus on this year. We want to win. That’s the goal.”
After Abrams earned his first All-Star selection in 2024, he started off last season at a strong pace. He ranked second in OPS (.836) and slugging percentage (.483) among National League shortstops before the break.
By the end of last year, Abrams slashed .257/.315/.433 with a .748 OPS in 144 games. He hit 19 home runs (one less than 2024) and 35 doubles (six more than ’24). Abrams stole 31 bases, surpassing the 30 mark for the third season in a row. He led National League shortstops with a 91.2% stolen base rate, and he tied for ninth in the NL in total stolen bases.
“When you get a little tired throughout the season, the mind kind of snowballs a little bit and you get worried about the numbers and stuff,” said Abrams. “You’ve got to just pay attention one day at a time, and things will work out.”
Abrams does not become a free agent until after the 2028 season, when he is set to join a free-agent pool that currently includes fellow shortstops Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Volpe. It should be expected that Abrams’ name comes up again in trade talks before then.
“That only thing that I would tell CJ is, the reason your name has come up is because other teams want you, which is a good thing,” Butera said. “You don’t really hear bad players’ names come up in trade rumors. … That’s just a testament to who CJ is as a player.”
While monitoring Abrams’ trade value and interest around the league, the Nationals are developing 2025 No. 1 overall Draft pick Eli Willits, a shortstop with a Major League ETA of 2028, per MLB Pipeline. But regardless of what happens in the long run, Abrams is locked in for the ’26 season.
“That feels good,” Abrams said of Butera’s praise. “I agree. I’ve just got to put the work in every day, get the task done and we’ll be good.”