Teams Are 'Aggressively' Pushing to Acquire Nationals Star CJ Abrams in Trade
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The Winter Meetings have arrived, and a lot of the attention is now on the Washington Nationals.
Following their decision to trade Jose A. Ferrer to the Seattle Mariners, all eyes are on what they are going to do when it comes to dealing MacKenzie Gore and even star shortstop CJ Abrams. Both players have garnered attention from around the league, and it seems like only a matter of time before Gore is dealt even if it doesn't come during this high-profile event.
However, following an early-offseason report that certain front offices were monitoring the potential availability of Abrams, the Nationals have started to tell teams to make offers on the 25-year-old as interest continues to build.
Now it's being reported that teams are "aggresively" looking into acquiring Abrams this winter.
Nationals Garnering Major Trade Interest in CJ Abrams
"The Washington Nationals aren’t simply drawing heavy interest in left-hander MacKenzie Gore. They are also getting pushed aggressively on shortstop CJ Abrams, according to people familiar with their discussions," Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required) reported.
That is definitely something considerable at this stage of the offseason. Abrams has long been seen as a cornerstone of this franchise after he was a headliner of the return package in the blockbuster Juan Soto deal.
While he's had his struggles on and off the field, the talented youngster has also started to hit his stride as a major league player the past couple of years. He was an All-Star in 2024 and posted similar numbers this past season, which suggests he's starting to become consistent at the plate.
A two-run triple from CJ Abrams puts the @Nationals up 3 in the 11th! pic.twitter.com/nYgWoJZd4x
— MLB (@MLB) June 29, 2025
Trading Abrams would be an interesting decision at this point in time since they don't have a clear replacement outside of Nasim Nunez, who offers much less offensive upside. But it's clear president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is ready to put his stamp on this franchise, and shipping out the talented youngster for a hefty return package would certainly do that.
"The Nationals are open to conversations on both players, but the bar is high, league sources told The Athletic on Monday," Sammon and Rosenthal added.
Moving Gore appears like it's going to happen this winter at some point. There's just too many teams interested in someone with his profile to not get a haul back at this stage of Washington's rebuild. However, it wasn't quite clear if they would be willing to go as far as dealing Abrams.
Well, it appears like the Nationals would be comfortable trading away the shortstop for the right return package. And with teams now pushing to acquire Abrams, that could come at some point this offseason.
