CJ Abrams was sent to the minor leagues on Saturday, a day after he reportedly showed up for Friday’s afternoon game in Chicago off an all-night stay at a Windy City casino.
GM Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez both said it wasn’t a performance issue that caused the demotion, although Abrams was 0-for-3 in a game where he may have gone straight from the tables to the clubhouse?
“He got no sleep and he didn’t perform, and I actually love what Rizzo did,” EB said. “I don't care if you're an All-Star, send your ass down a Single-A.”
“You think he's gonna let that happen on his watch from a 23-year-old kid?” Cakes asked. “(Rizzo) had to be volcanic.”
Abrams was 4-for-5 the night before and 8-for-17 going into Friday, but yeah, not a good look.
“Look, you're a professional athlete, there’s curfews in place for reasons. You can't stay out until 8 a.m. for a 1 p.m. first pitch,” Bish said.
“I've done something similar where I've been up till two in the morning and I'm in here and ready to go at six, but this is not me running around the bases and taking at-bats in a Major League Baseball game,” Cakes, all-night poker player, said. “It's a different animal. I didn’t know CJ Abrams likes to chase the dragon, but you have to just take your medicine and hopefully learn your lesson from this going forward. Don't do it again; it’s not a great look, he's being publicly shamed and humiliated, and this should be a wake-up call for him. Like, next time he's near a casino, he's got to have a governor on.”
There have been arguments that this was poorly handled by Mike Rizzo, and it may affect contract negotiations in the future, but he’s under team control until 2028, so…
“It's fine. You can't let the inmates run the asylum,” EB said. “If we lose him, we lose him. I’m standing on principle. Who cares if I lose the guy that's gonna come up occasionally and perform on no sleep and not give me his full value? I’m over it. I think what Mike is doing is old-school; why give him cover? If we lose him, he's got to look in the mirror; it’s not Rizzo's fault, but the question is whether or not he was contrite.”
A caller chimed in that a friend of his saw Abrams at a casino at 6 am ahead of a 1 pm Nats game earlier this year, though, so the question is if the discipline was a result of a pattern?
“It makes you wonder how many times this has happened on road trips,” Bish said. “There's no way this was just the only time.”
“This can't be the first time that something similar to this has happened,” Cakes replied.
Take a listen to the entire discussion above!