It 2024 CJ Abrams flashed greatness, with a .295 7 homer April and hitting .373 / .464 / .663 in May earning him a trip to the All-Star Game and getting Nats fans excited about his potential. The only problem was... well... he might have been the worst fielding shortstop in baseball in years.
The plan for 2025 was to start him at SS and hopefully watch him solidify his position as an MLB offensive star while playing some better defense. This didn't quite happen. His 2025 at the plate mirrored his 2024 but with the highs and lows muted. This left him above average at the plate but not close to stardom. His fielding did improve but this just left him the worst fielding shortstop in baseball THIS year. Meanwhile Nasim Nunez flashed his incredible glove while putting up good enough offensive numbers leading Nats fans to wonder if a position shift is in order
Presumed Plan :
Wide open but I'll say Abrams plays SS while Nunez enters super sub role.
Reasoning behind Presumed Plan :
Nunez only played 24 games last year to add to his 23 in 2024. With that little time in the majors and very middling minor league batting stats, it's fair to wonder if he could in fact hit in the majors despite a very short impressive run late last year.Since you can't rely on Nunez to not be TERRIBLE at the plate yet you have to hold onto Abrams and let him see if he can improve his fielding with the new regime. Another player with questionable motivation the new organization will likely want a crack at a guy with super star potential to see if they can unlock it.
My Take :
I don't buy Nunez at the plate and won't until I see him for half a season so I'm not very enthused to shift Abrams off SS. But I do admit the logic in it and Nunez has to get that half a season at the plate somehow? Super sub can do it but a set position would be better.
Abrams can be special so it seems likely to me that the new organization will want their own long look at him. To me that means at SS first, but it's quite possible they've seen enough there. He is REALLY bad by all measures. He has no instincts which matters so much at SS. I mean he's so bad that HE'S the one that should be playing first, not Garcia. So if there's a position change that's where I probably lean.
And a position change could be in order. Or a trade! Abrams is arbitration eligible and a free agent after 2028. This year could up his value a lot OR it could set it at something lower if he just repeats 2025. That's the gamble.
The way I see it Abrams' situation will tell us a lot about the Nationals new organization as a whole. Are they in true evaluation mode trying to get THEIR feel of these guys? (Abrams at SS again) Are they trying to optimize now (Abrams at 1B or DH even?) while they figure out the next steps? Or are they ready to tear down what's here and look beyond 2028 (trade of Abrams)
Me I'd prefer the second "optimize now and figure out if it's worth going for something in the next few years" so I guess I'd want to see Abrams moved off SS for whatever position (1B, DH, 2B?, 3B?) they choose not to deal with in 2026 while looking at other stuff.
I've given my opinion on this in the 2B column, so I won't change my mind here: move Abrams off SS (to 2B, CF, DH, whatever). Abrams's attitude towards being moved determines whether he gets moved off the team by trade or to a new position as a potential cornerstone and extension candidate alongside Wood. Give Nunez the job at SS to begin with. If nothing else, there's reasonable confidence that his defense will be very good, and very good defense, especially up-the-middle defense, can only help the scrappy pitching staff. Merely being not execrable with the bat with excellent defense would make him a meaningful net positive (see, eg., 2024 Jared Young).
ReplyDeleteIf Nunez completely craters, then Toboni can fall back on Plan B and plug in some scrap-heap veteran or call someone else up and hope Willits eventually becomes "SS of the future," but running Abrams out there again is not something I want to see.
I'm leaning Harper on this one, although I get the wishcasting on Nunez. I will say that if you do the Nunez experiment then you pretty much have to bench Jacob Young. A good lineup can carry one glove specialist at a critical position (see, Mark Belanger). But the Nats don't have a good lineup, and so carrying TWO glove specialists is RIGHT OUT.
ReplyDeleteNote that I'm fine with a Lile-Crews-Wood OF with Young as a bench player. I still wouldn't think that the Nats' lineup is good enough to carry Nunez's bat.
I definitely agree with you on Young and Nunez and only having one "the defense is great, but can he hit at all?" guy in the lineup. But we have outfielders and Wood/Crews/Lile actually looks like a collection of Major League players.
DeleteThe issue with the rest of the lineup...I think that the rest of the lineup can carry Nunez's bat simply because we have no idea if it's going to matter: Crews and House already are slated for major "they haven't hit yet; can they learn?" roles already (and Hassell as well if Wood or Lile gets moved to 1B/DH), we don't even know who's going to play 1B and DH yet, and C is almost certainly going to be a black hole as well. So even if Nunez puts up a 70 wRC+ for three months before we shrug and say, "nope, this is a utility infielder, not a starter" it doesn't really matter. And like with Crews and House, I figure it's better to at least take the time to find out (though those two would likely get a longer leash due to their prospect pedigree) what we have just to see how many holes need to get plugged.
I feel like 2026 is going to be the new front office's "now that we're actually bothering to try and focus on player development, what do we really have here?" assessment year.
Although I will note that it's kinda fun that Nunez has folks in his corner pushing for him to start since Rizzo got all kinds of crap for picking him up in the Rule 5 draft.
ReplyDeleteAbrams was the first one in the Soto trade to play for the Nats, but in the long term he won't be the most important piece of that trade. Wood and Gore are already demonstrably more important for the franchise (as players or trade chips). Hassell III and Susana are yet to show what they've got. Abrams can't be SS for a defensively-challenged Nats team so he has to change positions or teams. Looking forward to seeing how Toboni plays this.
ReplyDeleteThe chatter on Abrams being trading seem to be at a crescendo, almost up there with Gore now. All things considered, I did like the trade for a Catcher from Seattle
ReplyDelete