The offseason hot stove ignited during the Winter Meetings with Dylan Cease, Kyle Schwarber, and Pete Alonso all signing megadeals and the Dodgers landing their new closer in Edwin Díaz over the last week. Despite further nine-figure deals expected to be signed in the coming weeks and months, several executives feel that the trade rather than free agent market will dominate discussions in the closing days of 2025. To that end, look no farther than the recent report that the Nationals are open to moving
both MacKenzie Gore and CJ Abrams.
Last week, my colleague Josh explored the case for acquiring Gore, a southpaw starter who flashed signs of an ace-caliber ceiling before a drop-off in the second half cratered his overall numbers. In many ways, his teammate Abrams mirrored his season on the position player side, riding the high of a scorching hot first half before the bat cooled off significantly after the All-Star break. Though neither is a sure-bet superstar yet, both are clear upgrades over the players they would be displacing on the Yankees roster while offering glimpses of franchise cornerstone talent, Abrams at the most important position around the diamond.
2025 Statistics: 144 games, 635 PA, .257/.315/.433, 19 HR, 60 RBI, 31 SB, 107 wRC+, -11 Outs Above Average, 3.1 fWAR
2026 FanGraphs Depth Charts Projections: 146 games, 630 PA, .255/.315/.429, 20 HR, 68 RBI, 30 SB, 106 wRC+, 3.0 fWAR
Contract Status: Entering first year of arbitration eligibility, projected to earn $5.6 million. Free agent following conclusion of 2028 season.
When the Nationals dealt Juan Soto to the Padres at the 2022 deadline for a mega package that included Gore, Abrams, James Wood and Robert Hassell III, the idea was that those four players would jumpstart the organization’s rebuild, forming the core of a new window of contention. Three-and-a-half years later, the Nats are still going nowhere fast, and with a new front office looking to stamp its mark in its first offseason, several of those players are now being shopped as the rebuild begins anew.
If the Yankees decide that Anthony Volpe is not their franchise shortstop, the pickings are pretty slim beyond Jeremy Peña in the upcoming three winters. They missed the boat on the previous super class of star shortstops. Therefore, when a player of Abrams’ ability and age (he’s entering his age-25 season) becomes available, you have to jump at the opportunity as a hedge in case Volpe’s situation becomes untenable.
We have a convenient comparison of Volpe and Abrams given both played their age-22 through age-24 seasons over the last three campaigns:
As you can see, Abrams has been the clearly superior offensive and baserunning force. The one area where Volpe has held the upper hand is with the glove, grading out above average while Abrams has been far and away the worst defensive shortstop in baseball by OAA since his debut in 2022.
Even with simply a league average bat, it’s amazing how much of an upgrade Abrams represents relative to Volpe, who, with three straight seasons of a wRC+ between 83 and 87, we can comfortably say has reached his offensive ceiling. Over the last three years, Volpe has never posted an OBP above .300 nor a SLG above .400 while has never been below a .300 OBP nor .400 SLG. Volpe’s career high in stolen bases is 28, regressing to 18 in 2025, while Abrams has three consecutive campaigns in the 30-steal club including the fourth-most in 2023 with 47.
Both have made concrete mechanical adjustments at the plate in recent seasons, but it appears only Abrams has profited while Volpe is constantly in search of the type of hitter he wants to be. For example, both hitters added bat speed in 2025 resulting in career-high average exit velocities. However, Abrams has embraced the pulled fly ball revolution whereas Volpe looks like he wants the pull the ball one night and slap it the other way the next.
Prior to 2024, Abrams looked like he would pan out as a speed-first shortstop with a light bat and porous glove. But starting season before last, Abrams changed his approach in the box. Abrams is starting his swing a fraction earlier as he attempts to pull the ball, and is therefore intercepting the ball about an inch farther in front of the plate than in 2023. To compensate for his swing decision point occurring sooner, he moved about about two inches farther back in the box, giving him that split second to let the ball travel that he lost by starting his swing earlier. As a result, his swings have had an ideal attack angle of five to twenty degrees about 60-percent of the time, up from a mark of 52-percent in 2023. This translates to 22-percent of his batted balls being pulled in the air over the last two seasons, a huge increase from about 15-percent between 2022 and 2023.
It’s this ability to both embrace and weaponize the latest trends that impresses me most about Abrams. He’s an individual who knows what kind of hitter he wants to be and the steps to take to get him there. And the fact that at 25 he still has not reached his peak years and still has time to hone his game further is exciting.
Of course, a player of Abrams’ youth and cost control at a premium position do not grow on trees, and the Nationals are rightfully setting a steep price tag on him and Gore. Brian Cashman stated at the end of Winter Meetings that the market for the players he is targeting is moving at a glacial pace, and that he has not been close in talks with several player representatives. Of course, if he has indeed been handed a mandate from ownership to suppress payroll below $300 million, it is effectively impossible to plug the multiple holes on the roster with impact free agents.
That is where Abrams and possibly even Gore enter the picture. They are projected to earn $10.3 million combined in 2026. You simply do not find a projected six wins for that kind of money on the open market. It goes without saying that the package to acquire one let alone both would sting the front office. However, the opportunity to acquire a pair of potential franchise players for an assortment of unproven prospects rarely presents itself, and it is hard not to feel optimistic that maybe the stars are aligning this winter for the Yankees to make a franchise-altering move.
