NEW YORK — The Yankees have spent weeks framed as buyers who could not find a seller. A new name just changed that picture, even if the odds still say it stays a rumor.
With the Aug. 3 deadline approaching, the Yankees have widened their search beyond the catcher and bullpen help they have chased for weeks. They have now looked into a bigger swing, a middle-infield bat that would reshape the lineup.
The move would be bold. It would also be a gamble, because the player in question was not thought to be available, and his team has every reason to keep him.
That tension is what makes this one worth watching. The Yankees are chasing offense wherever they can find it, and they have set their sights on a target most rivals assumed was off the board.
The name behind the intrigue is one few expected to surface.
The Yankees check in on CJ Abrams
The player is CJ Abrams, the 25-year-old shortstop of the Washington Nationals. Reporting from The Athletic on Saturday indicated the Yankees have checked in on Abrams, with the Brewers expected to explore a run at him as well.
Abrams is a two-time All-Star in the middle of a career year. He would be the most coveted position player on the market if Washington chose to move him. That is a large if.
The Nationals are not shopping Abrams, and they have not decided whether to trade him at all. What has changed is their willingness to listen. Washington expects the offers this summer to be far more serious than the ones it brushed aside over the winter.
The stakes are clear on the Yankees’ side. Their offense has been among baseball’s worst since Aaron Judge went down with a fractured rib on May 31. A bat like Abrams would not just fill a hole. It would change the shape of the lineup.
Washington sets a high bar to even talk
The Nationals have been consistent in public about their stance. Earlier reports over the winter suggested Abrams was being shopped, a characterization that president of baseball operations Paul Toboni pushed back on directly.
“It’s not like we are calling other teams and looking to trade CJ,” Toboni said. “While we’ll always listen, we’re going to take it day-by-day.”
That posture has not softened much. Washington sits at 53-52 and two games out of a National League wild-card spot, close enough to justify buying rather than selling. Adding pitching around Abrams and the club’s strong offense could push the Nationals back into the race.
In other words, the Yankees are not dealing with a motivated seller. They are trying to pry loose a cornerstone from a team that still believes in October. The price would reflect exactly that.
Washington’s calculus adds another layer. Abrams is controllable through 2028, so there is no urgency to move him now. If none of the offers for Abrams or the club’s other trade chips stand out, the front office could keep the group and buy instead. That control is a reason to hold, not sell, and it drives the ask higher for any suitor.
A prospect stands between the Yankees and a deal
The biggest hurdle sits inside the Yankees’ own system. New York holds a strong belief in top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr., and the club has been reluctant to include him in any trade. A serious Abrams package would likely have to start there.
The fit on the field also carries a wrinkle. Abrams is an elite offensive shortstop, but his defensive metrics have graded poorly for two straight seasons. The Yankees could live with his glove at shortstop and shift Jose Caballero and Anthony Volpe into bench roles. Lombard Jr.’s debut may for the Yankees to Abrams to second base. Jazz Chisholm may play at third.
The bat is the draw. Through 100 games, Abrams is hitting .293 with 25 home runs, 79 RBIs and a .921 OPS, all career highs. He has surged in July after a quieter June, the kind of run that eases doubts about his consistency.
For a Yankees lineup starved for production up the middle, that left-handed swing would play anywhere, and it would play especially well in the Bronx. The question is whether the cost matches the need.
A long shot with a short clock
None of this means a deal is near. Speculative packages have already circulated, including a hypothetical five-player framework floated by outside analysts that would send prospects such as Spencer Jones to Washington. Those are projections, not reported offers.
What is real is the interest and the timing. The Yankees have done their homework across the market, and Abrams is now part of that board. Whether the Nationals set a price the Yankees will meet is the open question.
New York entered the weekend at 59-45, second in the American League East and about two games behind the Tampa Bay Rays while holding a wild-card spot. The Yankees lineup still needs a jolt, and the deadline is days away.
For now, the Yankees have made their interest known and the Nationals have agreed only to listen. The next week will decide whether a stunning twist becomes a deal or fades into the long list of deadline names that never moved.
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