Nationals' CJ Abrams gets trade update involving Yankees, Braves, Brewers, Rays

CJ Abrams is in the midst of a special season that makes him look like one of the best shortstops in baseball.

With about two months to go until the MLB trade deadline, that starts to raise the question of whether the Washington Nationals should considering dealing him.

ESPN's Jeff Passan explored this idea in a new article on Thursday, pointing out that the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays could all use a shortstop.

"As tempting as it might be for the Nationals to trade Abrams seemingly at his peak -- especially considering shortstop is a weak link for so many contenders (Milwaukee, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, New York) -- it would take an overwhelming offer for Washington to consider it," Passan writes.

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The Nats obviously are enjoying the production from Abrams, who originally came to the organization as part of the Juan Soto deal with the Padres.

But since getting Abrams, the Nationals have also added multiple quality shortstops to their farm system that would make it conceptually easier to give him up.

"Abrams is 25, has two years of club control beyond this season, and franchise-talent shortstops don't materialize out of nowhere," Passan writes. "At the same time, Eli Willits -- the No. 1 pick in last year's draft -- looks as if he's going to move through the system very quickly, and with the previous year's first-round pick, Seaver King, at Triple-A and on the doorstep, a ready-made replacement is there."

The tough part of the Nationals dealing Abrams would be continuing down a path that feels a bit too much like rebuilding. The Nats have tried and tried to dig themselves back up after their downfall following the Soto-led World Series.

It hasn't gone quite according to plan, but Abrams playing this well was part of the hope. It both makes him a trade candidate, and it makes him very tough to give up.

Plenty of other teams will be paying attention, because they could certainly use him.

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