“We don’t have a rule that says, ‘You have to be there at 11 o’clock,'” said the president and director of baseball operations in Washington, D.C. Mike Rizzo told Audacy Sports Junkies: When asked about reports later this year that shortstop CJ Abrams was out all night at a Chicago casino before a day game at Wrigley Field.
Rizzo’s comments came after Abrams’ 2024 season came to an abrupt end in late September, with the infielder optioned out to Triple-A in a seemingly punitive move.
“This is Major League Baseball and we act like any major league franchise,” Rizzo said, explaining why there was no strict stay-at-home order. “Then they have to be ready to perform the next day at work. They monitor themselves and throughout the year they know what they need to be ready to play.” the GM told Junkies.
“I always say, and I’m very Pollyanna-ish at times, we really value the name on the front of the jersey more than the name on the back of the jersey, and that’s what we have here. “It’s a constant,” he continued.
“It’s about teamwork and being a great teammate and things like that.
“And when players aren’t up to those standards, we have to do something to get them back into Nationals, teammate, and big league mode. And in this case, that’s not the case. We felt it was justified.”
As for the details of the actual events that led to the decision to eject Abrams… Rizzo, like director Davey Martinez, declined to go into specifics or confirm reports circulating at the time.
“It wasn’t performance-based and we felt it was in the best interest of the players and the organization to do so,” Rizzo said.
“Just know, it wasn’t performance-based. That’s an internal matter. I’m not going to get into specifics or talk about specifics,” Martinez told Rizzo. He told reporters while repeating these words.
“This is an internal matter and we will keep it internal,” Rizzo added. “This is a family thing and we’re going to keep it within the family. Suffice it to say it’s not the end of the world for C.J. and it’s not the end of the world for the Nationals. It’s especially true for young players. In this case, it happens over time.
“And we love CJ, we care about CJ and we are in constant communication with him and his agent.
“And we still have a great relationship, and we felt that was what he needed and what the organization needed.”
Abrams earned his first All-Star selection with a solid batting average of .268/.343/.489 (in 89 games and 398 at-bats), 21 doubles, six triples, and 15 first-half HRs, but struggled after the hiatus. , the result is over. He played in 49 games in the so-called second half of the season, hitting .203/.260/.326 with 8 doubles and 5 home runs in 204 PA, and was later optioned to Triple-A, but was actually assigned to West Palm Beach. I was doing it. To finish the year.
“We have a standard with the Nationals. We’ve had it for many years,” Rizzo added. . But more often than not, these things are done in the best interests of the players involved. And certainly, in this situation, the interest in CJ Abrams was more on our minds than anything else, and we thought that was not the situation we wanted at the Nationals. ”