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Royals Exploring CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Jarren Duran In Trade Talks

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The Royals have had discussions with the Nationals about shortstop CJ Abrams and left-hander MacKenzie Gore, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports.  Jarren Duran also continues to be a player of interest, as Passan writes that Kansas City is still considering the Red Sox outfielder after first being linked to Duran’s market prior to last summer’s trade deadline.

It is no secret that the Royals are looking to improve what has been arguably baseball’s least-productive outfield over the last couple of years.  Between Boston’s crowded outfield and Kansas City’s numerous rotation options, the two teams seem like natural and logical trade partners, especially given how the Red Sox have continued to pursue starting pitching even after landing both Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo.  Likewise, the Royals have added Lane Thomas to their outfield mix, yet an everyday starter like Duran would be a much more clearcut upgrade.

Acquiring Gore would represent a fascinating pivot for K.C., and perhaps a step in a somewhat more convoluted path to obtaining outfielders.  Gore would only add to the Royals’ rotation surplus, yet with Gore now in the mix as a front-of-the-rotation arm, Kansas City could be more open to sending a pitcher like Cole Ragans to the Red Sox in a hypothetical Duran deal.  Ragans has been cited as perhaps the most logical fit for Duran, as Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo both recently signed extensions with the Royals, Kris Bubic is only a year removed from free agency, and the Royals’ array of younger arms might not quite move the needle enough to pry Duran (who is team-controlled through the 2028 season) out of Fenway Park.

Perhaps complicating this idea is the fact that the Red Sox almost surely have interest in Gore themselves.  While the Sox haven’t been publicly linked to Gore’s market to date, their desire for frontline pitching and the fact that former Sox executive Paul Toboni is now Washington’s president of baseball operations makes it easy to connect the dots.  The Nationals have gotten so much interest in Gore that Toboni undoubtedly has plenty of creative offers to consider, and there still isn’t any direct urgency to deal Gore since he is under arbitration control through 2027.

Toboni’s hiring represented a fresh start for a rebuild that seemed to have stalled out under former Nationals PBO Mike Rizzo.  Washington hasn’t had a winning season since its 2019 World Series title year, yet even with impatience growing amongst District fans, the sense is that Toboni is more focused on adding more young talent than trying to contend.  That could mean dealing away such top players (and trade chips) like Gore and Abrams, who were supposed to be cornerstones of the rebuild process when acquired in the 2022 Juan Soto trade.

Abrams is controlled through the 2028 season, so the Nationals have even less reason to trade the shortstop immediately than Gore.  The Royals’ younger pitchers or more longer-term minor league prospects would likely have more appeal to the Nats than to a win-now team like the Red Sox, but Kansas City would have to pay a hefty price to extra Abrams given his team control and All-Star ceiling.

With that ceiling, however, comes a low floor.  The last two seasons have seen Abrams excel in the first half only to tail off badly after the All-Star break.  The lack of consistency also extends to Abrams’ splits, as the left-handed batter hasn’t been very productive against left-handed pitching.  Defensively, Abrams is a mixed bag at best — the Outs Above Average metric has long hated his work at shortstop, while the Defensive Runs Saved metric has been more positive in general but graded Abrams as a -6 in 2025.

A move to second base might be in Abrams’ future anyway, and that would work for a Royals team that already has Bobby Witt Jr. entrenched at shortstop.  Jonathan India is the incumbent at second base after K.C. agreed to a one-year, $8MM salary with India for 2026, which came as something of a surprise since India’s unimpressive 2025 season had made him a non-tender candidate.  In the event that Abrams did land in Kansas City, the Royals could look to trade India or just relegate him to bench duty, as inefficient as that would be for a team with a limited payroll.

Nationals, Josiah Gray Avoid Arbitration

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The Nationals announced that they have signed a one-year deal with right-hander Josiah Gray to avoid arbitration. Gray will make $1.35MM in 2026, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. That’s the same salary Gray made in 2025 while recovering from elbow surgery.

Gray will celebrate his 28th birthday in a little over a week. Once a notable prospect with the Dodgers, he came over to the Nationals in the 2021 deadline deal which sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles. That deal hasn’t worked out especially well for the Nats so far. Gray and catcher Keibert Ruiz were hoped to be major building blocks in Washington but Ruiz has struggled to cement himself as a viable big league catcher. Gerardo Carrillo and Donovan Casey, the other two guys acquired in that deal, are no longer with the Nats.

As for Gray, he has had some decent but not overwhelming results for Washington. He made 28 starts for the Nats in 2022 but with an unimpressive 5.02 earned run average. He dropped his ERA to 3.91 in 2023 but with less impressive numbers under the hood. His 20.5% strikeout rate and 11.5% walk rate were both subpar. It seems a fairly high 80.4% strand rate helped him keep runs off the board. His 4.93 FIP and 5.08 SIERA were less bullish than his ERA.

He has mostly been on the shelf since then. He made just two starts in 2024 before landing on the injured list due to a flexor strain in his throwing elbow. He began a rehab assignment in June but then was shut down with renewed discomfort. He required Tommy John surgery in July. He finished that year on the IL and eclipsed three years of service time in the process. That qualified him for arbitration for the first time going into 2025. He and the Nats agreed to a $1.35MM salary to avoid arbitration.

Gray spent the year rehabbing. He made three brief rehab starts in September, getting stretched out enough to throw 2 2/3 innings in the final outing, but he didn’t get back to the big league club. The way the arb system works, player salaries almost never go down. For guys who miss an entire season, they usually see their salaries hold steady. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected that would happen with Gray and it has.

Much has changed since Gray has been out. The rebuild effort stalled out to the point that president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez were both fired in July. They have since been replaced by Paul Toboni and Blake Butera respectively.

It’s unclear when the front office plans to return to contention but Gray is now down to two years of club control. His teammate MacKenzie Gore is also two years from free agency and has been in plenty of trade rumors. Infielder CJ Abrams has also been in trade rumors despite being controlled for three more seasons. If Gray has a strong first half in 2026, it’s possible he will also be in a lot of trade talk this summer as well.

Photo courtesy of Reggie Hildred, Imagn Images

MLBTR Podcast: Winter Meetings Recap

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Check out our past episodes!

  • An Agent’s Perspective with B.B. Abbott – Also, Cease, Williams, Helsley, And Gray – listen here
  • Some “Classic Baseball Trades,” Nimmo For Semien, And Ward For Rodriguez – listen here
  • Offseason Preview Megapod: Top 50 Free Agents – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Orioles Remain Involved On Top Free Agent Starters After Alonso Deal

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After making a massive splash on offense, the Orioles figure to turn their attention to the rotation. That could also come via the open market, as the MLB Network’s Jon Morosi relays that Baltimore remains in the mix for the top free agent starters. Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner similarly suggests that the O’s have ongoing interest in Ranger Suárez.

Baltimore committed $31MM annually on a surprising five-year deal to add Pete Alonso. It’s easily the biggest free agent move of Mike Elias’ tenure leading baseball operations. That also means the long-term books are still fairly open. Alonso joins Ryan Helsley, Tyler O’Neill and Samuel Basallo as the only players signed beyond next season. Helsley and O’Neill come off the books after 2027, while Basallo won’t make more than $4MM in a season until 2030.

A significant arbitration class clutters the short-term picture a little more. RosterResource projects their 2026 payroll obligations around $148MM. (That’s using a $31MM estimated salary for Alonso, but the annual breakdown on his deal hasn’t been reported.) Baltimore had a little more than $159MM committed to their Opening Day payroll in 2025. They’d need to push that higher to make a second notable free agent move, but that appears to be in play headed into the second full season of David Rubenstein’s ownership tenure.

Adding a front-line starter alongside Trevor Rogers and Kyle Bradish is the clear objective now for Elias and company. Alongside Suárez, they’ve been tied to Framber Valdez, Michael King and Tatsuya Imai. Elias has already said he’s open to sacrificing a draft pick to sign a player who rejected a qualifying offer. That applies to Valdez, Suárez and King. They did not give up any draft capital to sign Alonso, who was ineligible for a QO, but their unsuccessful $150MM bid for Kyle Schwarber demonstrates that willingness to add a qualified free agent.

Baltimore is juggling the free agent pursuits against possibilities on the trade front. (Adding another right-handed power bat only further clouds the path to playing time for former top corner infield prospect Coby Mayo, for instance.) The Athletic reported last night that they’ve been among the most aggressive teams in talks with the Marlins regarding Edward Cabrera. Morosi also mentioned Nationals lefty MacKenzie Gore as a potential trade target for the O’s. The two parties have had multiple conversations surrounding Gore, who’s controlled for two more seasons via arbitration.

Gore is a natural target for any team seeking rotation help. The former No. 3 overall pick was once the top pitching prospect in the sport, and while he’s yet to develop into an established ace, he’s shown glimpses of that ability. Gore has made at least 27 starts in three straight seasons for Washington. His 4.15 earned run average in that time is solid but not particularly eye-catching. Metrics like SIERA (3.99) and FIP (4.01) are only a bit more bullish.

That said, Gore spent much of the season’s first half pitching like a Cy Young contender. He carried a sparkling 3.02 ERA into the All-Star break — a mark supported by a dominant 30.5% strikeout rate and a strong 7.7% walk rate. That strikeout rate trailed only Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler, Garrett Crochet and Hunter Brown. His 14.2% swinging-strike rate checked in behind only Skubal, Wheeler and Dylan Cease. Gore looked to be in the midst of a full-fledged breakout, finally realizing his ceiling as a No. 1 or 2 starter.

The next three starts were a nightmare. Gore was rocked for 23 runs in just 15 1/3 innings, ballooning his ERA into the mid-4.00s. He rebounded over his final seven starts but also spent a couple weeks on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. The 26-year-old lefty (27 in February) finished out what had looked like such a promising campaign with a respectable but unremarkable 4.17 ERA in 159 2/3 innings.

Gore is something of an unfinished product, though other more analytically inclined clubs might hope they can coax another level of performance out of him. The Nationals remade their front office this offseason but had generally been viewed as behind the curve when it comes to incorporating data into their pitching development. On a smaller scale, we saw a big jump in Kyle Finnegan’s performance with Detroit. An acquiring team would surely be hoping for similar improvements from Gore. The pieces are certainly in place. Gore’s 95.5 mph average four-seamer is strong, particularly for a lefty, and his 13.3% swinging-strike rate is already excellent as well.

While Alonso isn’t limiting the free agent pitching possibilities, it probably takes them out of the running for another massive move on a bat. Morosi reported yesterday that the O’s had been in contact with Kyle Tucker’s camp. Baltimore always seemed like a longer shot on Tucker, and it’d be shocking if they add him on top of the Alonso agreement. The O’s already brought in Taylor Ward via trade and have a crowded corner outfield mix with O’Neill, Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers. They’re likely to give some DH at-bats to whomever of Basallo and Adley Rutschman isn’t behind the plate and need to sort out whether there’s room on the roster at all for Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle.

2025 Rule 5 Draft Results

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The 2025 Rule 5 draft is taking place this afternoon at the Winter Meetings in Orlando. This post will be updated with the results as they come in.

As a refresher, the Rule 5 draft is a way for players potentially talented enough for the big leagues but blocked by their current clubs to find opportunities elsewhere. Any players that were 18 and under at the time of their original signing and went professional in 2021, and any players who turned pro at 19 years of age or older in 2022, are eligible to be selected in the Rule 5 draft if they are not on a 40-man roster.

Though the amateur (Rule 4) draft now has a lottery to determine the selection order, the Rule 5 draft still goes the old-fashioned way of reverse order of standings from the season that just ended. Clubs need to have an open 40-man roster spot in order to make a pick but aren’t obligated to make a selection on their turn. If they do make a pick, they will have to pay $100K to the team they select from. The selected players must stay on the active roster (or injured list) for the entire 2026 season or else be placed on waivers. If they clear waivers, they must be offered back to their original team. They cannot be optioned to the minors.

Players like Anthony Santander and Ryan Pressly have been notable picks in other recent years while guys like George Bell and Roberto Clemente are found deeper in the history books. Last year, 15 players were selected. Only four of those remain with the club who selected them and only three of those have had their rights fully transferred to their new club. The White Sox took Shane Smith from the Brewers. The Marlins took Liam Hicks from the Tigers. Mike Vasil was taken by the Phillies from the Mets but was later traded to the Rays and then went to the White Sox via waivers.

The one other pick from last year’s draft which is still live is Angel Bastardo, who the Blue Jays took from the Red Sox. He was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list. He is still on Toronto’s 40-man but they don’t yet have his full rights, as a player needs at least 90 active days to remove the Rule 5 restrictions. If the Jays are willing to roster him for about three months during the 2026 season, they could then gain his full rights and option him to the minors. All other picks were eventually returned to their original organization and/or became free agents.

This year’s picks will be featured below as they come in…

  1. Rockies: RHP RJ Petit (from the Tigers) (Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs was on this before the official announcement)
  2. White Sox: RHP Jedixson Paez (Red Sox)
  3. Nationals: RHP Griff McGarry (Phillies)
  4. Twins: C Daniel Susac (Athletics) (Susac was then traded to the Giants, per Longenhagen. The Twins will get minor league catcher Miguel Caraballo in return, per Bobby Nightengale of The Minnesota Star Tribune)
  5. Pirates: RHP Carter Baumler (Orioles) (The Pirates then traded Baumler to the Rangers for RHP Jaiker Garcia. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News previously suggested Texas would likely get Baumler)
  6. Angels: pass
  7. Orioles: pass
  8. Athletics: RHP Ryan Watson (Giants) (Will be traded to Red Sox, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. The A’s will get Justin Riemer in return, per Cotillo.)
  9. Braves: pass
  10. Rays: pass
  11. Cardinals: RHP Matt Pushard (Marlins)
  12. Marlins: pass
  13. Diamondbacks: pass
  14. Rangers: pass
  15. Giants: pass
  16. Royals: pass
  17. Reds: pass
  18. Mets: pass
  19. Tigers: pass
  20. Astros: RHP Roddery Muñoz (Reds)
  21. Guardians: RHP Peyton Pallette (White Sox)
  22. Red Sox: pass
  23. Mariners: pass
  24. Padres: pass
  25. Cubs: pass
  26. Dodgers: pass
  27. Blue Jays: RHP Spencer Miles (Giants)
  28. Yankees: RHP Cade Winquest (Cardinals)
  29. Phillies: RHP Zach McCambley (Marlins)
  30. Brewers: pass

Second round (all others passed)

Photo courtesy of Mike Watters, Imagn Images

Yankees Interested In Brad Keller, MacKenzie Gore

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The Yankees are interested in free agent right-hander Brad Keller, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. They also have interest in left-hander MacKenzie Gore of the Nationals, reports Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.

On paper, the Yankee rotation is much stronger at the end of 2026 compared to the start. Each of Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt are all recovering from surgeries and are expected to start next year on the injured list. Cole and Schmidt both underwent Tommy John surgery this year, Cole in March and Schmidt in July. Rodón had surgery in October to remove loose bodies from his elbow.

Bryan Hoch of MLB.com provided updates today. Rodón is expected to be back with the club in late April or early May. Cole is expected slightly after that, with a May/June target. Hoch didn’t mention Schmidt, but given his later surgery date, he shouldn’t be expected back until the latter parts of the upcoming season.

By the end of the season, it’s possible the rotation group includes Cole, Rodón, Schmidt, Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil and Will Warren. But to start the season, the group would have Fried, Schlittler, Gil and Warren, with guys like Allan Winans and Ryan Yarbrough in the mix for the back end. Elmer Rodriguez could be a factor but he hasn’t yet made his major league debut.

Keller has experience as a starter and a reliever. He is coming off a tremendous season working out of the Cubs’ bullpen but has been getting interest from clubs as a potential starter next year. Sherman says the Yanks are more interested in him as a reliever but they could use him out of the rotation earlier in the year as they wait for other arms to get healthy. Once guys like Cole and Rodón return to health, unless the situation has drastically changed, Keller could be pushed into a relief role.

From 2018 to 2020, Keller had pretty decent results as a starter with the Royals. He wasn’t overwhelming but he rode a grounder-heavy approach to some success. He had a 3.50 earned run average over those seasons. His 16.8% strikeout rate was well below par but his 52.1% ground ball rate was quite strong. His results backed up from there, as he posted a 5.14 ERA from 2021 to 2023. He had thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in October of 2023. He was back on the mound in 2024 with unimpressive results.

As mentioned, he just wrapped up a tremendous season as a reliever with the Cubs. He tossed 69 2/3 innings with a 2.07 ERA. As before, he got opponents to keep the ball on the ground at a 56.1% clip, but his 27.2% strikeout rate was a massive increase relative to his time with the Royals.

MLBTR predicted Keller could secure three years and $36MM on the open market, noting that it would be possible some clubs looked to move him back to a rotation role. The Tigers had been reportedly interested in that kind of move but that was before they added Drew Anderson, a signing which became official today. It’s possible the Anderson signing make the Tigers less likely to pursue Keller.

While Keller would be an interesting addition in his flexibility, Gore would be a much more straightforward rotation upgrade. He has been exclusively a starter over the past three years. He showed some flashes of huge upside in 2025 but finished with a middling season overall. Through the All-Star Break, he had a 3.02 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. At that time, only four starters were ahead of him in the strikeout rate column, an excellent group consisting of Tarik Skubal, Zack Wheeler, Garrett Crochet and Hunter Brown.

He couldn’t keep it going in the second half. He went on the injured list twice, once due shoulder inflammation and the second time due to an ankle impingement. He posted a 6.75 ERA in his second-half starts around those IL stints, which led to him finishing the year with a 4.17 ERA overall.

Since Gore doesn’t have Keller’s track record of relief work, it’s possible that acquiring him would eventually lead to a rotation logjam later in the year. Perhaps the Yankees aren’t worried about that, as pitching injuries will naturally thin out the group from its ideal arrangement at some point. If a surplus does come to pass, that would be the proverbial good problem to have.

Adding Gore would be cheaper than Keller in terms of dollars. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $4.7MM salary next year. He would be owed another raise in 2027 before he’s slated to become a free agent. That’s undoubtedly appealing for the Yankees, especially considering the competitive balance tax and the compounding costs involved there. However, the Yanks would also have to send a package of prospects to the Nationals. The Nats have received interest in Gore from half the league, so the bidding should be fierce.

General manager Brian Cashman said this week, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post, that he doesn’t have a set payroll for 2026. “Hal’s exact words to me continue to be, ‘Take everything that’s out there to me,’ which I will continue to do,” Cashman said, referring to owner Hal Steinbrenner.

RosterResource currently projects them for a pure payroll of $260MM, which is $36MM shy of where they finished the 2025 season. In terms of the CBT, the Yanks are just above $283MM, meaning they are less than $1MM from the third tier of the tax. If they go over the third tier, they will be subject to a higher rate of taxation and their top pick in the 2027 draft will drop by ten spots.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Nationals Hire Matt Borgschulte As Hitting Coach

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The Nationals announced what appears to their full coaching staff at this afternoon’s Winter Meetings (relayed by Andrew Golden of The Washington Post). The hiring of Matt Borgschulte as hitting coach is now official, after TalkNats reported six days ago that he had accepted the job. The Nats also added Victor Estevez as third base/infield coach and Dustin Glant as assistant pitching/bullpen coach.

Borgschulte spent the 2025 season as Minnesota’s hitting coach. The Twins moved on from him after one year following a managerial switch from Rocco Baldelli to Derek Shelton. Minnesota hitters ranked 23rd in scoring and finished between 16th and 22nd in all three slash stats. They were a middle-of-the-pack group in strikeouts and walks while tying for 11th in home runs.

It was a step back from a ’24 season in which they finished 10th in the majors in runs and were narrowly better than average in every slash category. The usual caveats about separating coaches from their personnel apply, of course. The 35-year-old Borgschulte had spent the prior three season as a co-hitting coach with the Orioles. He replaces Darnell Coles in the nation’s capital.

Estevez gets his first job on a big league staff. The 37-year-old had spent more than a decade coaching and managing in the Milwaukee farm system. He has seven seasons of minor league managerial experience, the past two of which have been at the High-A level. Estevez has also managed in the Dominican Winter League. He’ll have his work cut out for him with a Washington infield that ranked 28th in MLB with -60 Outs Above Average over the past three seasons.

Glant jumps to the professional ranks after spending four seasons at Indiana University. He’d been the Hoosiers’ pitching coach since 2022. Glant had spent the prior six seasons at Ball State as their pitching coach. The 44-year-old pitched parts of six seasons in the Arizona farm system in the 2000s.

The remainder of Blake Butera’s first staff, all of which had already been reported: bench coach Michael Johns, pitching coach Simon Mathews, assistant hitting coach Andrew Aydt, assistant pitching coach Sean Doolittle, first base/outfield/baserunning coach Corey Ray, catching coach Bobby Wilson, field coordinator Tyler Smarslok, and development coach Grant Anders. It’s almost an entirely new group after the managerial change. Doolittle is the only holdover from Dave Martinez’s and Miguel Cairo’s 2025 group.

NL East Coaching Notes: Mattingly, Doolittle, Marlins

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Coaching staffs are coming together around the league. The Nationals and Marlins have made recent additions, while the Phillies are close to bringing a former manager back to the division.

  • Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters, including Lochlahn March of the Philadelphia Inquirer, that the team is looking to hire Don Mattingly as a bench coach. “It’s not official, but we have really focused on speaking with Don and trying to make that happen, and we’re hopeful that it will,” Dombrowski said. Mattingly has been a bench coach in Toronto for the past three seasons. It was reported shortly after the Blue Jays’ World Series loss that he wouldn’t be returning to the team. Mattingly previously spent seven seasons coaching in the NL East, as the Marlins manager from 2016 to 2022.
  • Nationals president of baseball operations Paul Toboni shared details on manager Blake Butera’s coaching staff with reporters, including Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports. The list includes recent additions Corey Ray as first base coach and Grant Anders as bullpen catcher, but one of the more notable names is the lone holdover, Sean Doolittle. Washington is retaining the former closer as an assistant pitching coach. Doolittle came on board with the title of pitching strategist in 2024, shortly after his retirement as a player. The lefty saved 75 games for the Nats across five seasons.
  • The Marlins are expected to hire Blake Butler as an infield coach, reports Isaac Azout of Fish On First. He’s taking over for Tyler Smarslok, who took a gig as field coordinator with the Nationals. Butler has been a minor league coach in Pittsburgh’s system since 2020. He’s managed Single-A Greensboro for the past two seasons.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski, Imagn Images

Nationals Drawing Significant Interest In CJ Abrams

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The Nationals have been deep in a rebuild for quite some time, and that figures to continue under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni. That’s meant plenty of trade rumors surrounding southpaw MacKenzie Gore, who is set to reach free agency after the 2027 season. He’s not the only trade chip that Toboni has to market, however, as Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic report that the team is also “getting pushed aggressively” on infielder CJ Abrams. Sammon and Rosenthal write that the Nats are open to moving both players, though they’ve set a high bar to deal each of them.

Gore’s been all over the rumor mill in recent weeks, but the status of Abrams’s market is news. He’s long been a speculative trade candidate (even landing on MLBTR’s Top 40 Trade Candidates list last month) but has received much less buzz than Gore to this point in the winter. Some of that is because it would be easier for the Nationals to hold onto Abrams. The 25-year-old is under team control for three seasons and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a salary of just $5.6MM in 2026. That leaves the Nationals with minimal pressure to trade him this winter, as he’d still be one of the most controllable and affordable players available if held until the summer or even next offseason.

With that said, Abrams’s longer-term control and low price tag make him a player who would be fairly easy to fit onto virtually any club in need of infield help. Abrams plays shortstop in D.C. but has received poor grades from defensive metrics for his work there, suggesting that a move elsewhere on the dirt could behoove him. Teams like the Braves and Rays are known to be seeking help at shortstop, however, and in a thin market with few options beyond Bo Bichette and Ha-Seong Kim adding someone like Abrams despite defensive misgivings could make sense. Plenty of teams could look to use Abrams at either second or third base if they so chose. Teams like the Pirates, Mariners, Red Sox, Tigers, and Cubs have all been connected to the infield market this winter and there’s surely plenty of other teams who would be motivated to try and land Abrams to bolster their infield.

For all his defensive shortcomings, Abrams has the potential to be an impactful offensive player. Over the past two seasons, he’s slashed .252/.315/.433 with 114 extra-base hits and 62 stolen bases, good for a 107 wRC+ overall. The Diamondbacks were the only team in baseball last year to get a 107 wRC+ or better from each of third base, second base, and shortstop. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the other 28 teams in the league all have room for Abrams on their infield—the Dodgers, for example, certainly aren’t going to supplant Mookie Betts after just one down season with the bat—but it does highlight how many teams could upgrade their offense by bringing Abrams into the fold even if the 25-year-old doesn’t continue to develop in the coming years.

As good of a fit for a large number of teams as Abrams may be, however, it’s worth remembering that he’s arguably more of a complimentary player than a true star at this point. Abrams’s defensive lapses at shortstop severely limit his overall value, and while he turned in a three-win season this year it was the first of his career by fWAR. He also offers little in the way of on-base ability, with a career .306 OBP thanks to a walk rate that peaked at 6.6% in 2023. Even with those shortcomings, however, Abrams’s combination of power and speed are undeniable and should make him very intriguing to any infield-needy team as the Winter Meetings get underway.

Nationals Trade Jose Ferrer To Mariners For Harry Ford

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The Nationals and Mariners lined up on a trade sending lefty reliever Jose A. Ferrer to Seattle for rookie catcher Harry Ford and minor league pitcher Isaac Lyon. Both teams have announced the trade.

Seattle adds a flamethrower from the left side to complement Andres Munoz and Matt Brash in the backend of the bullpen. The price is somewhat steep, as Ford ranks 42nd in MLB.com’s top 100 prospect rankings. Lyon was taken in the 10th round of the 2025 draft. He made a handful of appearances at Single-A this past season.

Ferrer emerged as Washington’s closer after Kyle Finnegan was shipped to Detroit at the trade deadline. He picked up 11 saves over the final two months of the season. The 25-year-old’s 21.9% strikeout rate and mid-4.00s ERA don’t scream shutdown closer, but he had an excellent 2.85 SIERA and an elite 4.9% walk rate on the year. Ferrer put together a stretch of 14 straight scoreless appearances shortly after taking over as closer, though he did falter over his final few appearances.

Ferrer has made 142 appearances out of the Nationals’ bullpen since his debut in 2023. He has a career 4.36 ERA, but his xERA and xFIP are both below 3.50. While he hasn’t piled up strikeouts, Ferrer’s upper-90s sinker has helped him rank among the best relievers in ground ball rate. Ferrer is under team control through 2029. He won’t reach arbitration until the 2027 campaign.

Ford has been a top 5 prospect in Seattle’s system since getting taken in the first round of the 2021 draft. The 12th overall pick slotted in at fifth among the Mariners’ prospects in 2022, per MLB.com. He reached the top spot in 2023, and most recently slotted in at fourth. Ford has hit at every minor league stop, while also providing significant contributions as a base stealer.

The 22-year-old Ford slashed .283/.408/.460 with 16 home runs and seven steals at Triple-A this past year. He struck out less than 20% of the time while posting a massive 16.2% walk rate. Ford briefly debuted with the big-league club, mostly operating as a pinch hitter and defensive replacement. He went 1-for-6 in eight appearances.

The 16 home runs with Tacoma were a career high for Ford, though the seven steals were a disappointing total after he swiped 35 bags at Double-A in 2024. Ford’s elite walk rate has allowed him to consistently put up huge on-base numbers. Outside of a .377 OBP in 2024, he’s been at or above .400 in each season of his minor league tenure. Ford’s power outlook is more gap-to-gap than over-the-fence, but his combination of speed and on-base skills gives him a unique offensive profile, particularly for a catcher.

With Cal Raleigh landing a six-year extension before the 2025 campaign, Ford was going to be blocked in Seattle for the foreseeable future. He’ll head to Washington to join a catching group that struggled with injuries and production last season. Recurring concussion issues limited Keibert Ruiz to 68 games in 2025. He briefly returned to the team in early July, then went right back on the IL and never made it back to the big-league squad. Riley Adams handled the majority of the reps behind the plate, along with brief cameos from Drew Millas and Jorge Alfaro. Washington’s backstops ranked 29th in OPS. Adams is back on a one-year split deal, while Alfaro is a free agent.

Lyon made four starts with Modesto this past year. The 21-year-old righty will head to Fredericksburg to continue honing his craft. Lyon is the son of former pitcher Brandon Lyon.

Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reported the Mariners were nearing a Ferrer deal. Robert Murray of FanSided reported that Ford was heading to Washington. Golden was first with Lyon’s inclusion. Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.

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