Rizzo on Abrams following demotion: "He's still our guy"

The Nationals’ decision to demote CJ Abrams for disciplinary, not performance, reasons last week hasn’t changed the organization’s outlook on their All-Star shortstop for 2025 and beyond, general manager Mike Rizzo insisted today.

“No, absolutely not. He’s still our guy,” Rizzo said in an end-of-season session with reporters. “We love him, and he’s going to be a great player for us. Optioning him out wasn’t the end of the world. We have a standard here, and we have to keep people accountable. He still has great upside and is still going to be, in our minds, a great major league shortstop.”

Abrams was shockingly optioned to Triple-A Rochester one week ago after he was reportedly caught staying out all night in Chicago prior to the team’s afternoon game at Wrigley Field. With the minor league season ending the following day, the 23-year-old was sent to West Palm Beach, Fla., where he has spent this week working out with a handful of other Triple-A players who are on standby in case the Nationals need to make any last-minute roster moves.

The very public demotion of Abrams, which both Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez have acknowledged was not performance-based, stunned the entire baseball community and raised questions about his future with the organization.

Both Rizzo and Martinez, though, have stressed the message they delivered to Abrams – while disciplinary – was one of encouragement.

“He got the message, loud and clear,” Rizzo said. “We had a long discussion with him, and he knows the way we feel about him, and the way I feel about him personally. Like I said, we have a standard here, and he realizes and knows what the standards are. And so does everybody else.”

Rizzo wouldn’t confirm that the demotion was directly related to a tweet saying Abrams was spotted at a Chicago casino at 8 a.m. Friday, but when asked later about the public nature of the transaction responded that “it became public because of the tweet that came out.”

One of the five prospects acquired in the August 2022 blockbuster trade of Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres, Abrams earned his first All-Star selection this summer with a dynamic first half that included a .268/.343/.489 slash line, 15 homers, 48 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. In 49 games after the All-Star break, he slashed .203/.260/.326 with only five homers and 16 steals, but he did enjoy a brief hot streak at the plate in the days leading up to his demotion.

Rizzo said he hasn’t spoken to Abrams since the initial conversation in Chicago, but he has spoken to his agents “on multiple occasions since the incident.”

“We’re just going to give him some time to decompress,” he said. “But he reported down there in good spirits. He’s been great with the other guys down there, and getting his work in.”

What makes Rizzo confident Abrams will respond well to his demotion and return a stronger player next season, as opposed to letting the move damage his relationship with the club?

“He’s a competitor, and he’s a guy that … he’s got a good baseball IQ, and he’s a good person,” the GM said. “And the relationship that we had prior to optioning him out was really strong.”

* The Nationals made a roster move prior to tonight’s series opener against the Phillies, recalling right-hander Jackson Rutledge from Rochester and optioning lefty DJ Herz to Triple-A.

Herz made his final start of the season Wednesday night, so he would not have been available to pitch again this weekend. Rutledge, the club’s 2019 first-round pick who was initially supposed to be the first starter called up from the minors when a job opened this season, wound up pitching in only two big leagues games in a couple of brief promotions after struggling to a 6.40 ERA in 27 Triple-A starts this season.

Rutledge, who last pitched for Rochester on Saturday, will be available if needed out of the bullpen this weekend or could theoretically make a start if rain disrupts the schedule at all.