CJ Abrams and the Nationals “held substantive discussions” about a possible contract extension this past spring, Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post reports. It isn’t known how close the two sides might’ve gotten towards a long-term deal, or whether or not an extension could still be struck at some point during the season. Most players prefer not to negotiate to any great extent after Opening Day, but it’s possible Abrams might be more open to locking up the first big multi-year windfall of his pro career.
If Abrams and his reps at Roc Nation Sports wanted to more fully dive into extension talks after Abrams had a more established MLB track record, that strategy might well have paid off handsomely given the shortstop’s red-hot start to the season. Abrams is hitting .264/.329/.521 with seven home runs over his first 156 plate appearances, along with eight stolen bases in 10 attempts and an NL-best four triples. While his hard-contact and walk rates are a little subpar, Abrams’ strong .363 wOBA is actually lower than his .381 xwOBA.
The 23-year-old Abrams has been pegged for stardom since the Padres drafted him sixth overall in 2019, which is why the Nats insisted on the shortstop’s inclusion in the trade package received in the Juan Soto deal at the 2022 trade deadline. While Abrams hit a modest .246/.293/.383 over his first 916 MLB plate appearances in 2022-23, he also went yard 18 times last season, and stole 47 bases in 51 attempts. Back in February, MLBTR’s Nick Deeds profiled Abrams as a possible extension candidate, and floated the idea of an eight-year deal worth $60MM-$65MM, with one or two club option years attached.
If Abrams keeps up anything close to this level of production over the full 2024 season, his camp will surely have a higher figure in mind than $65MM. As Svrluga notes, the Nationals’ track record with extending cornerstone players is pretty spotty, as while some prominent names (i.e. Stephen Strasburg, Ryan Zimmerman, Keibert Ruiz) were locked up, other notables like Soto, Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Ian Desmond, and Anthony Rendon were all either traded or let go via free agency. Ruiz’s extension was signed just last year and is therefore the most illustrative of how ownership and president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo might operate as the Nationals start to emerge from this rebuild period, and the organization continues to be willing to invest in certain players.
There technically isn’t any rush for either Abrams or the Nationals to reach a deal since Abrams is under arbitration control through the 2028 season. Since Abrams is looking very likely to qualify for Super Two status and an extra year of arb eligibility, signing the shortstop to an extension would give the Nationals some extra measure of cost certainty over the young star rather than watch his price tag continue to rise in his arbitration years. From Abrams’ perspective, he is setting himself up for a very nice first-time figure for his initial trip through the arb process, which should boost his earnings in each subsequent year if he continues to produce.
This kid is really good.
Makes sense for the Nats to sign him long term as their new face of the franchise.
Corbin is off the books after this year and Washington is entering a new window of contention.
I agree, he’s 23 years old, and if he keeps up his current numbers, which is looking like a real deal, he’d be their new star player to build around as the Nationals start competing again.
Lock up Abrams, extend Harvey to be your closer for the next window, maybe get woods to sign a pre-debut extension.
As good as Harvey has been, and he’s been amazing, his injury history would still give me pause. Would love a two year extension for both him and Finnegan though.
A Harvey extension would be a bet on health. Hopefully that could make the aav reasonable.
Did not expect him to be blossom into a borderline superstar SS
Abrams will be their SS for years to come, I think gore will also be their ace for the next decade, and wood will be coming any moment now
The nats did the right thing by trading Soto
Abrams has the good mix of speed/power that Trea Turner has and should only get better. I would think the Nats should call Preller any time they need a new franchise SS…
He has traded so many prospects to where he will probably be the first to trade for a prospect he already traded away
The padres need another SS because Xander and HSK and Fernando and manny and profar is not enough
Who knows what this guy is at this point. I think players need to show some consistency for an extension to make sense for either side. I completely understand a player wanting to lock up guaranteed money and the team wanting to save a little in the process but you need to know what you are signing up for. Is he a 700 OPS guy or an 850 OPS guy? Because those are two different guys.
While I do agree, he has gotten better each year he’s been in the league and if he keeps it up he will be the nats next superstar, he’s already getting close. If he maintains that I think they should extend him this off-season, but not during the season, let him play the whole year see if he regresses, or even possibly gets better than he’s already showing, and make a decision based on that.
He’s under control through the 2028 season. That’s a long time. And the Nationals don’t really have any long term commitments at this point. They have shown they are willing to spend if and when it makes sense. I just don’t see the need to do this.
Save yourself 10’s of millions dollars later if you can properly evaluate talent. Really not a mystery why teams try to lock guys in. Not a mystery why a guy wants to guarantee himself a fortune and limit his risk either:
One side almost always ends up unhappy.
My team the Cardinals locked up Pujols with one of the best extensions in the history of baseball for the team. Also waited 3 full seasons to do it. And after it was done Albert wasn’t too happy and he was determined to get every penny out of his next deal, which he did from the Angels. It worked out pretty well for the team and I know Albert wasn’t the same after he left but I sure wish he would have stayed.
Abrams is so overated, its crazy. Mediocre hitter at best with above average defense. This is a star? Yeah I don’t think so. Stars are players like Bonds, Ortiz, Arenado, Frank Thomas, Freddie Freeman, etc. What has Abrams done to warrant an extension? A whole lot of nothing. The best comparison that I can think of for him is Andrelton Simmons. Simmons will have been a better player than CJ Abrams will ever be. The Greats of the past are probably at home laughing about all the money these mediocre players are getting paid now. Hows that Corbin Carroll extension looking? Yeah he won ROY, but they would of had control of him either way so thats meaningless. Clueless GMs, clueless fans, thats the sport of baseball right now
Said the clueless Internet “GM”
264/329/521 is not a mediocre line for anyone, let alone a premium position. He could hit 30 HRs and steal 50 Bases this year and I wouldn’t be surprised.
As someone who has followed his career closely since he was a teen, 30/50 would surprise me, but 3-4 WAR, 18-23/40-45 with 265/330/440 is realistic as an expectation over the next decade. Those numbers, with good (not excellent) defensive skills should warrant a big contract. But in echoing what the article states, the Nats don’t need to be in a rush on an extension unless they think they can get him on the cheap.
There is the Yankees,Giants, knicks and Rangers. There there is a grouping of the Jets Islanders, Nets and Mets. This is just a PO’d New York fan who follows a crappy team
The Greats of the past are probably at home laughing about all the money these mediocre players are getting paid now.
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I made the mistake to go back and read all of your rant… That doesn’t even make sense… Time to delete this account and start over… Again
You might be right to a point, but your comps I don’t think are good because none of them are shortstops
It’ll be a 10 year deal paid out over 30 years
I thought that there could be no worse than the Turner-for-Myers trade but here we are. Rizzo better be sending Preller a Christmas card every year.
Rizzo should send a letter to Bauer, he’s gotta be better than Gore’s 1.45 WHIP