Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams was relegated to the minor leagues. There was a good reason for this. 메이저놀이터
The Nationals announced on the 22nd (Korea time) that they would downgrade Abrams to Triple-A Rochester ahead of the away game against the Chicago Cubs.
According to local media such as “ESPN,” the relegation is not a performance but a disciplinary demotion related to out-of-game problems.
Abrams spent the night at a casino in the Chicago area ahead of Friday’s away game against the Cubs, according to media reports.
Abrams spent until 8 a.m. at the casino, according to Cody Delmendo of “CHGO Sports,” who was the first to break the news.
Washington played Chicago at 1 p.m. on the day. He went 0-for-3 with one walk and one strikeout. The team lost 1-3.
After learning that Abrams had been to the casino all night, the Washington club reportedly notified him of the relegation after the game.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said in an interview with The Athletic that he was aware of the situation, but said, “This is an internal problem,” drawing the line that it will be dealt with internally.
Coach Dave Martinez also declined to comment in an interview ahead of Tuesday’s game, saying, “I just want to say that it is not a matter related to performance. It is an internal matter. I will not elaborate on the matter.”
Triple-A ends its season this weekend. Formally, it is a Triple-A demotion, but Abrams will go down to West Palm Beach, Florida, where the club’s training facility is located.
Abrams has already spent more than 172 days on the Major League Baseball roster with one year of service time recognized, so service time will not be affected by the relegation.
Instead, he will not be paid for the rest of the season. According to ESPN, Abrams will not be paid around $30,000 due to the downgrade.
If Abrams thinks the relegation is unjustified, he can fight for unpaid salaries through the grievance process through the players’ union.
Abrams, one of the players recruited by Washington after giving up Juan Soto in the summer of 2022, has become the team’s main shortstop since last year.
In the first half of this season, he was selected as an All-Star with a batting average of 0.268 on-base percentage of 0.489 with 15 home runs and 15 steals, but in the second half, he was sluggish with a batting average of 0.203 on-base percentage of 0.260.