Brewers Discussing Nationals Shortstop CJ Abrams In Deadline Deal

[Steve Drumwright]

 

After pursuing a trade for Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams in the offseason, the Milwaukee Brewers are checking in on him again as the Aug. 3 trade deadline approaches.

At least that is according to Spencer Nussbaum and Will Sammon of The Athletic in an article posted Saturday. Abrams is making $4.2 million this season and under club control for an additional two seasons.

Abrams, whose defense has been questioned but is in the midst of a terrific offensive year, would likely shift over to third base as the Brewers would value the defense provided by rookie Cooper Pratt at shortstop.

During the offseason, the Brewers were one of several teams to go after Abrams, but the Nationals' asking price was too high, according to The Athletic. At the time, Abrams was coming off a .257/.315/.433 slash line with 19 homers, 60 RBIs and 31 stolen bases in 144 games.

But this year, the left-handed hitter has put up a slash line of .288/.361/.544 with 24 homers, 76 RBIs and 16 stolen bases in 100 games entering play Saturday.

It also must be noted that Abrams caused a stir late in the 2024 season when he was out late at a Chicago-area casino, first being suspended by the Nationals and then demoted to the minors for the rest of the season.

Currently, the Brewers are riding with Joey Ortiz at third base after Pratt supplanted him as the starting shortstop. David Hamilton, just activated off the 10-day injured list, will also get time at third base. But Abrams would be an offensive upgrade at the hot corner, a position he has never played, even in the minors. Since being traded to the Nats in the Juan Soto deal with the San Diego Padres, the only position Abrams has played is shortstop.

 

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[Rick Daltons Flamethrower]

One plus one equals two. The possibility of the Brewers wanting to trade for this position seems outlandish. Not a position of need at this juncture with our pitchers hemorrhaging. Also the aspect of  Matt Arnold bringing  Brewer types of players into the clubhouse doesn't add up. Also his having "not so good" defense doesn't fit.  One plus one isn't adding up here for me to two. It just seems outlandish, crazy and way off target for where this club sits in 2026.

[rickh150]

2 hours ago, Rick Daltons Flamethrower said:

One plus one equals two. The possibility of the Brewers wanting to trade for this position seems outlandish. Not a position of need at this juncture with our pitchers hemorrhaging. Also the aspect of  Matt Arnold bringing  Brewer types of players into the clubhouse doesn't add up. Also his having "not so good" defense doesn't fit.  One plus one isn't adding up here for me to two. It just seems outlandish, crazy and way off target for where this club sits in 2026.

Bringing in an infielder with control doesn't make sense since we have umpteen guys coming up to play the infield positions soon.  But two of those guys ala Pena/Williams/Hamilton/Ortiz could be going back to Washington.

The whole lack of avg defense throws a dark red flag on this trade, though.  Unless we are thinking get a lead and replace with defense late.

I also think it could be Pratt at 3B, Turang at SS, and Made at 2B in 27 and 28 with Ortiz/Williams and orHamilton as backups. I still look at at TALL Pratt and see a 3B body. 

 

[pitchleague]

Could there possibly be a “trade for CJ Abram’s and then send him to Detroit to sweeten a deal for Skubal” ring to this?  Just a thought

 

[jay87shot]

Joey has been good recently but Abrams has been amazing. I think that what the org has done with Durbin and Hamilton defensively makes this possible. However I would guess the Nats will want a monstrous return. My guess would be 2 top 100 guys and at least 1 other strong piece if not 2. For me the upgrade from Joey to Abrams wouldnt be worth say Josh A., Sproat, Letson, and Hamilton or Crow. I would guess the Nats want lots of pitching.

I can see the interest but I think the price would be high and Arnold isn't going to want to give up mlb ready pitching depth.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

Would cost an arm and a leg. Nats have little reason to trade him or Wood with the control they still have so Brewers would have to give up a lot. Maybe 4 players and 2 top 100

edit: Abrams only has 2 years control left thought he had more 

[igor67]

On the other hand this fits with the not trading for obvious candidates pattern

[wallus]

This is a guy I would trade Pena for. I mentioned Abrams earlier in the year. The Nats might want to trade him because he said no to extension talks.

[JoeyWiemerTruther]

13 minutes ago, wallus said:

This is a guy I would trade Pena for. I mentioned Abrams earlier in the year. The Nats might want to trade him because he said no to extension talks.

It might not be worth it if there’s no season in 2027. For that reason I’m not sure the Brewers make a splash like that

[wallus]

16 minutes ago, JoeyWiemerTruther said:

It might not be worth it if there’s no season in 2027. For that reason I’m not sure the Brewers make a splash like that

I would be shocked if there is no season next year.... Just way too much money that would be lost

[Klantz27]

4 hours ago, pitchleague said:

Could there possibly be a “trade for CJ Abram’s and then send him to Detroit to sweeten a deal for Skubal” ring to this?  Just a thought

 

U gotta be trollin no way 😂

[rickh150]

1 hour ago, wallus said:

I would be shocked if there is no season next year.... Just way too much money that would be lost

More likely to start a little late and agree to kick the can down the road on certain topics.

[Ron750]

Joey is hitting .281/.316/.483

his last 30 games.

 .333/.396/.646 his last 15 games. A Hamilton/Ortiz platoon is adequate. Ortiz’s defense is stellar. I am not in favor of this trade. 
I think any pitching help will be overpriced this year. If it’s affordable, fobit, but I don’t think it will happen. 

[ChapelHeel66]

I wouldn't say "whose defense has been questioned."  That makes it sound like there are a couple of naysayers.  The reality is that on Baseball Savant his Range is a 1 (out of 100) and his arm is a 40 (out of 100).  The year before, those scaled ratings were 3 and 39, so this is not an anomaly.

He is basically the worst defensive shortstop in MLB.  Here are his ranks by Fielding Run Value the last three years among qualified players (2024-2026):  86 (out of 86), 77 (out of 77), 71 (out of 73).  I would not give up meaningful prospects for a terrible shortstop that we would have to teach to play 3b in the midst of a playoff run. 

Nothing about Abrams says "Brewer" to me.  I'd rather "spend" less and get Casey Schmitt or inquire about Isaac Paredes (who is a below average defensive 3b, but not worst in the league...and he actually plays the position).

Or just bring up Pena right now.  He has looked pretty good at 3b, and while he is still an immature hitter, my major league translations for 2026 for him are not much different than Pratt's (and are quite a bit better long-term, at the plate).  The only question is whether that's a meaningful upgrade over Ortiz/Hamilton at 3b...enough to interrupt Pena's development.

Personally, I hope Pena is not involved in one of these trades, unless we truly get something terrific in return.  I'm still confused about the long-term contract to Pratt when we have two better prospects at the same position.  

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I think there is another possibility.  What if we bring Abrams in to be our DH…

either Yelich does back in the trade (with prospects) or goes to the bench.

i know Pancakes would keep our new .900 OPS player on the bench to bat a .550 player leadoff

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

24 minutes ago, ChapelHeel66 said:

I wouldn't say "whose defense has been questioned."  That makes it sound like there are a couple of naysayers.  The reality is that on Baseball Savant his Range is a 1 (out of 100) and his arm is a 40 (out of 100).  The year before, those scaled ratings were 3 and 39, so this is not an anomaly.

He is basically the worst defensive shortstop in MLB.  Here are his ranks by Fielding Run Value the last three years among qualified players (2024-2026):  86 (out of 86), 77 (out of 77), 71 (out of 73).  I would not give up meaningful prospects for a terrible shortstop that we would have to teach to play 3b in the midst of a playoff run. 

Nothing about Abrams says "Brewer" to me.  I'd rather "spend" less and get Casey Schmitt or inquire about Isaac Paredes (who is a below average defensive 3b, but not worst in the league...and he actually plays the position).

Or just bring up Pena right now.  He has looked pretty good at 3b, and while he is still an immature hitter, my major league translations for 2026 for him are not much different than Pratt's (and are quite a bit better long-term, at the plate).  The only question is whether that's a meaningful upgrade over Ortiz/Hamilton at 3b...enough to interrupt Pena's development.

Personally, I hope Pena is not involved in one of these trades, unless we truly get something terrific in return.  I'm still confused about the long-term contract to Pratt when we have two better prospects at the same position.  

Pratt looks pretty darn good so far.

[wallus]

42 minutes ago, ChapelHeel66 said:

 

Or just bring up Pena right now.  

No team is bringing up a guy still in A ball to start in a playoff chase........

[Snoebird]

1 hour ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I think there is another possibility.  What if we bring Abrams in to be our DH…

either Yelich does back in the trade (with prospects) or goes to the bench.

i know Pancakes would keep our new .900 OPS player on the bench to bat a .550 player leadoff

I think this potential pursuit of Abrams started with Thad Levine saying, "What if . . . ."

[Sugarrayray]

It’s shocking to me that more people don’t see how valuable he would be to the left side the Brewers infield, which has seen a paucity of offense this year, albeit solid as of late.

It’s not uncommon for struggling defensive shortstops to play really good defense at 3rd base. It’a also not uncommon for anyone to play a good 3rd base under the tutelage of Matt Erickson et al…..

The jolt and over the fence pop plus speed he would put in the lineup would be stunning. This is the kind of addition that helps you avoid hardly scoring a run in an entire playoff series.

Lastly, I fear this may be the best time to sell on Pena; he is universally praised as a prospect but his inability to be available for games is getting to be profound. And it’s not just this year. Skubal for 2 months is the exact kind of trade I would loath to see the Brewers use Pena in however. The Brewers are not that kind of organization thank goodness.

[MrTPlush]

2 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I think there is another possibility.  What if we bring Abrams in to be our DH…

either Yelich does back in the trade (with prospects) or goes to the bench.

i know Pancakes would keep our new .900 OPS player on the bench to bat a .550 player leadoff

Acquiring CJ Abrams to be DH would be a horrendous use of assets.

Nor is Yelich be traded (he would likely block the trade), not going to the bench, and not being DFA’d to make that trade happen.

[StearnsFTW]

No thanks for what it would cost.

Very non-Brewers player.  Makes no sense.

[TURBO]

6 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Acquiring CJ Abrams to be DH would be a horrendous use of assets.

Nor is Yelich be traded (he would likely block the trade), not going to the bench, and not being DFA’d to make that trade happen.

Yeah, Yelich isn't going anyplace, in any way.

Murphy won't bench him, the club won't DFA him, and he either won't allow a trade or no one would want him.

We are stuck with him, basically ruining our line-up, for the next 2.5 seasons.  

All we can do is hope and pray that he can add something, anything offensively in that time.

It's kind of gross.

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

15 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Acquiring CJ Abrams to be DH would be a horrendous use of assets.

Nor is Yelich be traded (he would likely block the trade), not going to the bench, and not being DFA’d to make that trade happen.

Why?  Our DH has been horrific this season.  Should be the easiest position on the diamond to fill, and we have horrendous production.

the DH literally exists so you can play a solid offensive performer who has no value in the field

[MrTPlush]

1 hour ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

Why?  Our DH has been horrific this season.  Should be the easiest position on the diamond to fill, and we have horrendous production.

the DH literally exists so you can play a solid offensive performer who has no value in the field

Because the cost of him isn’t going to be that of a DH. It is going to be that of a Top 5/Top 10 SS in the game. Maybe his value is needed a bit that he may need to go to 3B…but even then, massive overpay for him to be shifted to DH.

[Jopal78]

4 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I think there is another possibility.  What if we bring Abrams in to be our DH…

either Yelich does back in the trade (with prospects) or goes to the bench.

i know Pancakes would keep our new .900 OPS player on the bench to bat a .550 player leadoff

Yelich has 10/5 rights. He’s almost certainly not going anywhere.