How Nationals infielder CJ Abrams truly feels about move from shortstop

CJ Abrams has been a bright spot on offense for the Washington Nationals this year. While he has been a beast at the plate, Abrams has not been as good on defense. This has led to the Nationals moving Abrams from shortstop to second base.

Now, Mike Sanders of Roc Nation Sports, the agent for Abrams, is speaking out about the move on behalf of his client, per Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic.

“I think, first, CJ was not thrilled about the decision to move him off shortstop at this time,” Sanders said. “But his priority is to win games for the Nationals and to be a team-first player, so that is what he’s going to do.”

Abrams has played 620 games in his career at shortstop between the San Diego Padres and Nationals. He has played 13 games at second and three in the outfield in his career.

“He’s always viewed himself as a shortstop short-term and long-term, and would love to have the offseason under this front office to be able to work on that,” Sanders added. “I believe CJ can be a very good shortstop, and without having an offseason to specifically train at the position using the information and feedback this staff has given him, I don’t think we have a full evaluation yet of how good he can truly be there.”

Nationals President of Operations Paul Toboni understands the feelings from Abrams.

“If I’m CJ, of course I’m upset,” Toboni told The Athletic. “It’d be weird if he wasn’t. CJ has been a shortstop for his whole life, and it’s a huge part of his baseball identity. If I didn’t sense he was upset, I’d be worried that he wasn’t being real with us. This isn’t a place where we just think through what is best for the team, then we do it without considering other factors.No, we think about CJ and how this impacts him personally because he’s a huge part of this org. And it’s our job to consider all these factors, decide the best path possible, and do our best to communicate to CJ, Mike, and everyone else.”

The Nationals are 60-66 on the year, which places them in fourth in the NL East. The Nats are seven games behind the Padres for the final wild card spot in the National League. The teams open up a series on the road against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night.

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