MLB insider's perfect Yankees trade deadline fit has a huge price and checkered past

The New York Yankees have alternated between underwhelming hauls and total overhauls in recent trade deadlines. If the intel and prevailing wisdom is correct this time around, they'll be shooting for the stars again this season — much like last summer, when they built an entire bullpen on the fly and it (mostly) didn't take.

According to MLB insider Robert Murray, the ideal solution to the Yankees' problems this year is CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals (a team that, it must be noted, is above .500 and on the edge of the NL Wild Card race).

Semi-contention has never stopped the Nationals from retooling before, and ex-Boston front office henchman Paul Toboni isn't going to let an early leap forward detract from his grand plan. But Abrams, a potential infield solution for a group that includes Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, Jose Caballero, Ryan McMahon, and an injured George Lombard Jr. on the fringes, isn't going to come within the realm of cheap.

Is that high price — Abrams is controlled through 2028 and playing at an All-Star level once again — something the Yankees will be willing to pay, as they also try to renovate their bullpen again, find a right-handed catcher, and potentially focus their assets on Tarik Skubal so they can bump current starters into late-inning roles? Not to mention Abrams' ... interesting history, featuring an all-nighter at a Chicago casino at the tail end of a lost 2024 season, resulting in an aggressive and punitive demotion. Is Abrams now mature enough to handle a playoff pressure cooker? Did his immaturity come out only because of the deadened roster he couldn't be bothered to waste his skills on? Will he be sparked by crucial moments down the stretch? And will the Yankees even get a chance to find out as Washington sets their price?

If Yankees trade for CJ Abrams, how does the infield shuffle?

If the Yankees pull off a blockbuster Abrams trade, consider the "Jose Caballero vs. Anthony Volpe" debate moot; the Yanks will roll with Abrams at short, Chisholm Jr. at second, a Ryan McMahon/Amed Rosario platoon at third, and Caballero as the utility option of their dreams. Volpe, likely, will be dealt away, either as a subordinate piece of the Abrams trade package or in a separate deal. He'll probably be a little bit better and more comfortable wherever he lands.

Abrams, it must be noted, has a second-percentile fielding run value and has been a whiff-prone (27th percentile) offensive player this season. If/when Chisholm Jr. moves on in free agency, he'd shift to second, while Lombard Jr. would be ready to take over short and ... well, third base would still be an issue. It's not perfect.

An Abrams deal, while largely unlikely, would feel like a spiritual cousin to the 2024 Chisholm Jr. trade. Maturity concerns, the sense that a player receiving significant attention in a smaller market is "overrated" because of the chatter, followed by ... a bonkers debut that immediately justifies the (tinier-than-expected) cost.

Main difference here? The Nats won't be settling to rid themselves of their "problem child" — who, by the way, is hitting .286 with 17 bombs. The Yankees, with limited resources to deploy and myriad needs, would probably be better served overpaying someone else.

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