The Yankees and Brewers are both checking in on CJ Abrams, and I need everyone to relax before we start planning a Bronx parade for a shortstop who might not even play shortstop once he gets there.
Nationals president Paul Toboni all but confirmed the interest is real, saying it’s not like Washington is calling other teams about CJ, but “we’ll always listen” and they’re “going to take it day-by-day.” That’s front-office speak for keeping the door cracked instead of kicking it open. With this trade deadline bearing down, “we’ll listen” is the default answer to every trade question in baseball right now.
Abrams’ bat is loud enough to make you forget the glove. He’s hitting .292 with 27 home runs, 82 RBI and a .926 OPS through 105 games, personal bests across the board, good enough to make him one of the best offensive shortstops in the National League this year. He’s 25, under team control through 2028, and stuck on a Nationals team sitting at 52-52 and three games out of a wild card spot. That’s a season that makes rival GMs start drafting texts to their pro scouts.
Except the defense hasn’t gotten any better. Abrams has posted rough marks at shortstop for a second straight season, and his career Outs Above Average sits at minus-57 across five seasons — a number that isn’t a blip, it’s a track record.
The Yankees’ own plan admits the defense is a problem.
New York’s reported blueprint has Abrams playing shortstop for the rest of 2026, pushing Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe into bench roles, before sliding him to second base in 2027 once Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits free agency and prospect George Lombard Jr. takes over short. You don’t draft a position change a year in advance for a guy whose defense is fine. You draft it because you’ve already seen enough tape to know the answer.
Chisholm is a pending free agent after this season, reportedly seeking something in the eight-to-ten-year range at roughly $35 million a year, and the Yankees haven’t come close to locking him up. My dad already texted the family group chat his official position on that number, and it was not polite. If Chisholm walks, the Yankees need a second baseman anyway, and Abrams, whose bat would look right at home in that lineup, becomes a much easier fit at a spot where a shaky glove costs less.
Nationals will listen, but nobody’s close to a deal.
Milwaukee already tried this once. The Brewers pursued Abrams last offseason before talks stalled over Washington’s asking price, and they’re expected to re-engage before the deadline. One idea floating around has Abrams sliding into shortstop for Milwaukee with incumbent Cooper Pratt moving to third, which tells you Milwaukee sees this as a roster puzzle, not just a name to collect. Abrams isn’t the only shortstop drawing calls either, so go check out the rest of the shortstop trade market if you want to see how weird July is about to get.
And nobody’s saying the quiet part out loud, so I will: a team that won’t extend its own second baseman while quietly building a succession plan around a shortstop’s arm is not being subtle. Beat writers have been floating third-base and second-base scenarios for weeks now. MLB Trade Rumors summed up the widening field of suitors like this:
https://x.com/Complex/status/2082132344652099712
That’s the whole rumor mill in five words. But if I’m being honest with myself as an actual Yankees fan and not just a guy with a keyboard and a grudge, a bat this good might be worth the defensive risk anyway. A lineup that’s been hunting for right-handed thump at shortstop doesn’t get a shot at a 27-homer, .926 OPS season very often, and Lombard isn’t walking through that door in the middle of a wild card race.
I’ll believe “day-by-day” means nothing’s happening right up until the moment it isn’t.
