CJ Abrams: Our new man in the middle

[Smithian]

Sure would have been nice to extend him this past offseason. I don’t think it happens now.

Unless you think he is going to keep this up offseason, I think it is still possible to resign him. But it has to be this year with four years of arbitration to buyout. If it goes further, not going to happen.

I can't imagine the Nationals didn't at least approach CJ Abrams about an extension. But my assumption is, with the security of a $5 million draft signing bonus, his agent told him to bet on himself and look for upside.  Now, if we read a process story in 6 months that says the Nationals didn't try to give him an early extension while he was still on rookie contract money, then yes it was a massive disaster for the organization.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/stock-rising-four-players-im-higher-on-after-a-month-of-play/

more praise for CJ on FG, this time from Ben Clemens:

With his swing now producing more fly balls and line drives, I expect the doubles, triples, and homers to keep on coming.

Projection systems agree with me on this one. Before the season, our Depth Chart projections pegged Abrams for a 93 wRC+; they’re now forecasting a 106 wRC+ for the rest of the season, a marked increase. We have him down for 4.0 WAR at year’s end, as compared to a preseason projection of 2.5 WAR in a similar amount of playing time. In other words, he looks more like an All-Star than an above-average regular now.

The cautions?

He’s chasing much more in this season than he did in 2023, and he’s not swinging more at meatballs to make up for it. I think that his strikeout rate is due for an increase; despite excellent bat-to-ball skills, he’s just swinging at too much junk to maintain both his power and his contact. I’m also getting concerned about Abrams’ defense – this is the third straight year that Statcast thinks he’s one of the worst defensive shortstops in baseball.

Doubts he'll maintain the big HR pace, but hitting more flies hard should make him an above average hitter.

[aBaltoNat]

Interesting. To my eyes, he doesn't seem like one of the worst defensive shortstops in the game. Hrm.