While the Washington Nationals have been arguably the talk of the baseball world over the last week or so besides the New York Mets and Yankees, there is a chance that their interesting offseason of big moves is still not complete. After dealing away star lefty pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers, do the Nationals have another trick up their sleeve?
Following Gore's departure, the name that everyone has continued to circle back to has been 2024 All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, whose long-term future within the organization appears to be much more of a curious case than Gore's was. While Gore was just 2 years away from free agency and was unlikely to re-sign given that he's a Scott Boras client, among other reasons, Abrams is a different story.
He is represented by Roc Nation Sports, and we know that under previous leadership there were at least preliminary extension talks between Abrams and the Nationals. Of course, a lot has changed since then, and most importantly, the guy that would be presenting the idea of re-signing Abrams to ownership has changed from Mike Rizzo to Toboni, making things more interesting.
That aspect, combined with the fact that Abrams still might have some more potential he can tap into, might be a big reason why Toboni poured cold water on the latest trade rumors concerning Abrams. After the Gore trade was completed, some had reported that Toboni was actively seeking out trade scenarios for his shortstop, however his latest comments seemed to confidently refute this notion.
Toboni said on 106.7 The Fan (transcript via Talk Nats on X): "We'll field calls. I will give you the cliche response that probably every GM in every sport gives - we'd be dumb not to listen. Right? It's not like we are calling other teams and looking to trade CJ. While we'll always listen, we're going to take it day-by-day and see what comes our way. If there's something that makes sense, we'll talk about it. But it hasn't even come close at this point in time."
While his comments aren't exactly saying the Nationals won't listen to offers for Abrams, it does put down the notion that he had he had been seeking out trade partners for his star shortstop. Ultimately, after listening to further comments Toboni made about Abrams after news of the Gore deal broke, it appears as if the organization wants to see if it can get more out of Abrams before making a decision on his future, which makes sense given he has 3 more years of team control.
What do you think about Paul Toboni's latest comments concerning CJ Abrams? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.