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With a new president of baseball operations and a new manager, there were no shortage of Nationals-related topics to bring up at the Winter Meetings this week. Paul Toboni and Blake Butera were peppered with all sorts of questions during their three days in Orlando, and while some of those garnered the immediate headlines, a few more didn’t make the first cut.
With that in mind, let’s go back through the notebook and present Toboni and Butera’s thoughts on some other topics we didn’t get to earlier in the week …
* While we did print their answers to questions about the possibility of trading CJ Abrams, we didn’t get to the question of what position the new brain trust expects him to play if he’s not dealt this winter.
Abrams’ defensive struggles this season were well-documented. Of the 22 major league shortstops who played enough innings to qualify, he ranked 19th in Defensive Runs Saved (minus-6), 20th in Outs Above Average (minus-11) and 21st in Fangraphs’ all-encompassing defensive metric (minus-3.2).
Much of those negative numbers came during a particularly rough second half. After committing nine errors in his first 89 games, Abrams was charged with 13 over his final 53 games (including four during a five-day span in September).
Given all that, it’s been reasonable to wonder if a position switch is being considered. Would Abrams be more effective at second base, with Luis Garcia Jr. shifting to first base or even designated hitter?
The Nationals’ official position right now on a potential position switch for Abrams?
“No, I think we’re happy with CJ at short,” Butera said. “To that point, we talk about everything. Everything’s on the table in terms of our defensive positioning with all of our outfield, infield, the catchers, obviously the first base position – which we’re all aware of is one spot we’re focused on as well. Whatever we can do to get our best lineup together, our best nine hitters, we’re going to make sure that happens.”
Toboni took it a step further, insisting Abrams has the natural skills to be an elite major league shortstop, and it’s up to the organization to help him get there.
“He’s this dynamic athlete that has all this great athleticism that at times has manifested itself in really good defensive play,” Toboni said. “At times, it has manifested itself in less than that. But it’s our task to realize the best part of that for CJ, and for me that’s a very realistic outcome. When I watch him, there’s very little doubt in my mind that he can be a tremendous shortstop for years to come, defensively and offensively.”
* While acknowledging the likelihood of acquiring a first baseman from outside the organization – the only player on the 40-man roster who has played that position with any regularity is Andres Chaparro – the Nationals do not appear likely to acquire an additional bat to fill the DH spot.
Since the DH was officially established in the National League in 2022, the Nats typically have used one (defensively challenged) player in that role on a daily basis: Nelson Cruz, Joey Meneses, Jesse Winker, Josh Bell.
The new regime seems to prefer using a revolving door at DH, giving regular members of the lineup occasional opportunities to take a semi-day off without losing their bats. That makes particular sense with the current makeup of the outfield, which includes four young regulars in James Wood, Dylan Crews, Daylen Lile and Jacob Young (perhaps even a fifth in Robert Hassell III).
Look for three of those guys to start in the field on any given day, with the fourth serving as DH for the day.
“We’ve got a pretty strong outfield group, and a lot of them have really strong bats,” Toboni said. “So we want to be able to keep their bats in the lineup while maybe getting them some time off their feet. Not just the outfield group; members of the infield as well. I don’t think we’re going to push a ton of chips in, in that space, in free agency. But that’s just based in the fact I think we have folks internally right now that can fill that hole.”
* Toboni and Butera have talked plenty about the core group of young position players the Nationals are trying to build around, but one of those players whose name hasn’t come up as much is Brady House.
The 22-year-old third baseman is no less important than everyone else from his peer group, having been selected in the first round of the 2021 Draft. But his rookie season was rather unimpressive, with a .234/.252/.322 slash line, only four homers in 73 games and a concerning 78-to-8 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
It’s been assumed House is assured of a spot in the Opening Day lineup, and there don’t appear to be indications the Nats are in the market for a long-term alternative (like they did at the catching position by trading for Harry Ford). But the organization does acknowledge he needs to take a step forward in his sophomore season.
“What’s great about Brady is, I think he’s extremely motivated,” Toboni said. “I think he would tell you the world hasn’t seen the best version of Brady to date. In terms of what he can lock in on going forward, we’ll start with just his ability to do a really good job controlling the zone. I think if he does a really good job of doing that, it will unlock some really cool things for him. He’ll make more contact. He’ll get to more power. I think it starts there, in terms of his path to becoming a really impactful offensive player.”
