Nats demote All-Star Abrams for non-baseball reasons

CHICAGO – CJ Abrams’ 2024 season is over, and not for baseball-related reasons.

The Nationals optioned Abrams to Triple-A Rochester this morning, a stunning transaction so late in the season that club officials said was not made for performance or service time reasons.

“It’s an internal matter,” manager Davey Martinez said. “I’m not going to go into detail or talk about specifics because I have to keep these guys and everything else private. There are other guys out there that I want to support. I’m going to support CJ. He’s an important part of our Nats family and he’s going to be. But at this point, it’s the right thing for me to do.”

Abrams, who earned his first career All-Star award with an impressive first half, has been on a long slump since July but had one of his best games in months Thursday night, hitting 4 for 5 with two doubles and two stolen bases in the Nats’ 7-6 loss to the Cubs. He was back in the lineup Friday afternoon, hitting 0 for 3 with a walk, then was summoned to Martinez’s office for a lengthy postgame meeting and learned he was being demoted.

Before the game, an X-post from Cody Delmendo of CHGO Sports, citing a source, said Abrams was “up to date at Bally’s Casino as of 8 a.m. this morning.” When asked about that report, Martinez said, “I’m not going to go into details. I’m going to handle it internally.”

Although he was officially sent down to Triple-A, Abrams will not pitch for Rochester, which ends its season on Sunday. He was scheduled to return to Washington today and then head to West Palm Beach, Florida, to work out the final week of the season with several other Triple-A players who are being sent there to be ready in case the major league club needs to make roster changes.

General Manager Mike Rizzo did not speak to reporters before today’s game.

The demotion will not affect Abrams’ eligibility for “Super Two” arbitration status this winter. He has already accumulated enough service time to cross that threshold, which grants the top 22 percent of players with more than two but less than three years of major league service an additional year of arbitration eligibility and, with it, a significant raise through 2025.

The Nationals are taking a risk, however, by essentially disciplining Abrams for now and hoping that he responds well to his demotion and plays well again next spring without lingering problems.

“I assure you he will get better. He will,” Martinez said. “We talked at length yesterday and last night before making any decisions. I know he wants to be here. He made that very clear. He will miss his teammates. But without going into details, it was the right thing to do.”

Abrams was one of the key young players signed in the August 2022 blockbuster that brought Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres. Since then, he has become one of the key faces of the Nationals’ rebuild. Beloved by teammates and fans, he plays with charisma and burst onto the national stage this season while hitting 20 home runs and stealing 31 bases for a .747 OPS. He is the fifth player in club history to hit 20 home runs and 20 steals in the same season.

Martinez occasionally affectionately refers to Abrams (and several other young players on the roster) as “dumbasses,” acknowledging his strong personality and immaturity but supporting him in his development as a player and a person.

This made Friday’s post-match meeting an emotional event for the manager, who has been in office for seven years.

“We had our moments. We sat here and cried together,” he said. “But as I always say, it’s about taking care of the person first and not the player. And I’ll do everything I can to help him. I love the boy. He’s a good boy. He’ll come back.”

The Nationals have brought back infielder Trey Lipscomb to take Abrams’ place on the roster. Nasim Nuñez starts today at shortstop, José Tena at second baseman and Ildemaro Vargas at third baseman. Luis García Jr., who has missed the last three games with wrist soreness, is back in the roster today but will serve as the designated hitter.