In their first big move under new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, the Nationals are trading All-Star starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers, according to multiple reports. In exchange, they are acquiring five prospects, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
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Gore brings a talented arm to his new team, with a five-pitch combination that includes a mid-90s fastball and a standout curveball. However, he has frequently struggled to keep the ball in the zone, with a walk rate that would have been the sixth-worst among qualified MLB pitchers.
The deal is important for the Nationals given their recent history. Along with fellow All-Stars James Wood and CJ Abrams, Gore was one of the central components of Washington’s comeback in the Juan Soto trade, which signaled that the franchise’s previous window of contention was completely closed.
A comprehensive rebuild followed, with Gore destined to be one of the best starters on the Nationals’ upcoming playoff team. Control issues have prevented him from becoming anything close to a true ace in his first four MLB seasons, but his stuff has been good enough to record at least 180 strikeouts in consecutive seasons. He earned the first All-Star nomination of his career in 2025.
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However, the Nationals have failed to advance even a league-average team. Due to a completely broken player development process, the franchise has yet to win more than 71 games since its World Series title in 2019. That dysfunction led to general manager Mike Rizzo and manager Dave Martinez being fired during the 2025 season, and Toboni then took over and hired 33-year-old Blake Butera as manager.
Trading Gore essentially means the Nationals’ post-Soto rebuild has failed, if the firing of their general manager wasn’t evidence enough.
You don’t trade pitchers like Gore if you think you’re close to the playoffs, which the Nationals clearly aren’t. Some young talents have become true MLB players, like Soto’s trade trio of Gore, Wood and Abrams, but many others, perhaps most notably Dylan Crews, the 2023 second overall pick, simply haven’t reached that point yet. This reflects a structural problem that Washington is trying to fix under a new administration, but it is a long-term process.
So the team traded Gore for players who will hopefully help them in the future with Toboni and Butera.