CJ Abrams 'Was Not Thrilled' with Move to 2B from SS for Nationals, His Agent Says

Washington Nationals star CJ Abrams was evidently not happy about his team's call to move him from shortstop to second base, his agent Mike Sanders of Roc Nation Sports told The Athletic's Spencer Nusbaum.

"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."

Nationals manager Blake Butera told reporters on Friday, before Washington's 4-1 loss to the New York Mets, that Abrams would move to second. Nasim Nuñez will switch from second to short.

Per Baseball-Reference, Abrams has played 620 of his 636 career games at shortstop. He played 13 games at second in 2022 with the San Diego Padres. In August of that season, Abrams went to Washington in the blockbuster Juan Soto trade.

Abrams hasn't made the switch just yet and played shortstop during his team's three-game series versus the Mets. It's not clear when exactly the move will transpire, but Butera expected it to happen in the coming days, per Jessica Camerato of MLB.com.

"Obviously, CJ spent the majority of his career at shortstop and all of his time for the Nationals there," Butera said. "So I understand this is not an easy decision, not an easy conversation, of course. But ultimately, we felt like this was the best thing for the team going forward."

Although second base is the team's short-term plan for Abrams, he still sees himself as a shortstop long-term, Sanders told The Athletic.

"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 said. "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."

Abrams has struggled at short this year. His 19 errors lead Major League Baseball. His minus-5 Defensive Runs Saved rank is the seventh-lowest among shortstops, per The Fielding Bible.

He more than makes up for that at the dish, hitting .278 (.884 OPS) with 29 home runs and 91 RBI this year. Abrams made his second All-Star Game as well.

The 25-year-old Abrams, who is in his fourth full season, can certainly turn things around defensively down the road. Based on Sanders' remarks, Abrams would certainly hope to play shortstop again soon enough.

For now, he is headed to second base as the Nationals, who are 60-66 (fourth in the NL East), hope to get back on the winning track after losing five of six.