With spring training approaching, the 2026 MLB season is almost here, and the Boston Red Sox are being urged to make a key move to strengthen their roster. Boston has leaned on the trade market this offseason, acquiring players like Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras to boost the team.
This offseason, the San Francisco Giants were looking to make a deal for Washington Nationals‘ CJ Abrams. However, The Athletic’s Andrew Baggarly reported on Jan. 23, citing a major-league source, that the potential trade eventually stalled.
Nonetheless, with the Nationals appearing open to dealing Abrams, former MLB general manager Steve Phillips believes that the Red Sox should pursue the second baseman.
“The Red Sox need to pivot, call the Washington Nationals, Paul Toboni, who left Boston, and go get CJ Abrams to play second base,” Phillips said in a Feb. 3 video posted by MLB Network Radio. “That’s the move for the Boston Red Sox. He’ll be a great second baseman. He’s a bad shortstop. He’ll be a very good second baseman. That’s the move they need to make right now.”
Since making his Nationals debut in 2022, Abrams has posted a batting average of .250 with 461 hits, 57 home runs, 199 RBIs, and 271 runs scored in 477 games for Washington, per StatMuse.
CJ Abrams Is Good Alternative for Boston
After losing out on Alex Bregman, who left after one season in Boston to sign with the Chicago Cubs, Phillips believes Abrams would be an ideal alternative for their lineup.
“[The Red Sox] were in on Bregman,” Phillips added. “They were in on [Bo] Bichette [and] were in on Eugenio [Suárez]. They were in on [Nolan] Arenado [and] were in on [Brendan] Donovan. Didn’t get any of them. Now go get C.J. Abrams; play him at second base. You’ve got protection if you need it at shortstop.
“That’s where I go next. You’ve got a connection there like Chaim Bloom has had with the Red Sox. Toboni has that relationship with the Red Sox, too. He knows who he likes, what he wants. I think relationships matter in these deals, and I think that’s the next pivot for Boston.”
Willson Contreras Ready for Red Sox-Yankees Rivalry
Moreover, Contreras is one of the new faces on the Red Sox, arriving via a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals. Contreras will be part of the Red Sox’s rivalry with the New York Yankees and recently spoke with NESN, sharing what he intends to bring to the rivalry and revealing that whenever the Red Sox standout faced New York, he had a different mindset.
“I think I’m looking forward to that,” Contreras said in a video posted by NESN on Jan. 14. “Whenever I played the Yankees with the Cubs or St. Louis, my mindset was different. I was like, we have to win. And now that we have to win, we have to play really good baseball.
“I know the Yankees are a really good team, and they have good players, but I’m not coming to Boston just to like the Yankees, because that’s not going to happen. They’re probably going to start hating me whenever we play against each other. But I’m going to play with fire. I’m going to play with emotions and show them that we can win.”
Red Sox Hit With Massive Take on Nationals’ CJ Abrams