Washington Nationals Demote All-Star CJ Abrams To Minors After Late Night At Casino

During the season, athletes of all sports will go to casinos to party. But very rarely do you see guys get punished for staying out and enjoying the nightlife.

The Washington Nationals decided to break this trend, but they did so with good reason.

CJ Abrams is the team’s shortstop, and was the squad’s only All-Star selection this year. During a series in Chicago this weekend against the Cubs, he spent time at a casino in the Windy City, but stayed up really, really late into the morning hours before Friday’s game, which started at 1 p.m. CT.

In fact, some reports indicate that he was up until 8 a.m., barely leaving time for him to arrive at Wrigley Field to prepare for the game (he led off and went 0-3 in a 3-1 loss). Given his off-the-field behavior, the Nationals decided to send him to the minors as discipline.

"I just want it to be known it wasn't performance-based," Nationals manager Dave Martinez told reporters Saturday. "It's an internal issue. I'm not going to give specifics."

Abrams will be on his way to West Palm Beach, FL, which is the home of the Nationals minor league complex.

Frankly, I think this was a good decision. Abrams is only 23, so he is still understandably immature. But the Nationals are trying to build a franchise around him, and they need him to, for lack of a better term, grow up. Plus, the Nationals are out of playoff contention, so this move doesn’t affect their season outlook by any means.

Hopefully, Abrams uses this as a growing moment and becomes an admirable leader for Washington in the years to come.