The Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals connected on a blockbuster trade involving lefty pitcher MacKenzie Gore. After missing the playoffs with a .500 record in 2025, Texas made a big swing for a new lefty starter. They gave up five prospects, including their 2025 first-round pick, to land Gore. How did both the Rangers and Nationals fare in the deal?
This is the second time Gore has been a part of a blockbuster trade in his young career. He was part of the package that went from the San Diego Padres to the Nationals for Juan Soto during the 2022 season. Gore debuted for the Padres that season, making 14 starts and three relief appearances. In three seasons as a starter for the Nationals, he has a 4.15 ERA in 89 starts.
The Rangers had the best team ERA in the league last year and are coming back with an even better rotation. The Nationals are headed into another rebuild with a bevy of prospects. What grades do both teams get?
The Rangers take a big swing with Mackenzie Gore
In 2023, the Rangers won their first World Series in franchise history. Despite missing the playoffs in consecutive seasons, they are returning much of that championship core on offense. Pair that with what could be the best rotation in baseball once again, and the Rangers are putting together a playoff-caliber roster.
The Rangers gave up a lot to land Gore, but he will be part of the team for the next two seasons at a low salary. They already have an expensive roster with Corey Seager and Jacob deGrom on big deals. But the failure of the last two teams has been the lack of production from those on low-money contracts.
Cashing in prospects to keep a championship window open is a fine process for the Rangers. There is no guarantee they make the dance, especially in the difficult AL West. But the Gore move helps them compete with the Seattle Mariners, who have a great pitching staff.
The Rangers are going for it, so this gets an A.
Why are the Nationals rebuilding again?
Remember when the Nationals won the World Series? They had two highly-paid aces on the team in Max Scherzer and World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg. Trea Turner and Soto were young stars, and Howie Kendrick was the veteran hero. Then, that entire core disintegrated, and they torpedoed to the bottom of the standings. They traded Turner, Scherzer, and Soto for prospects and started rebuilding.
Now, without making the playoffs since, the Nationals are headed for another rebuild. The simple answer to why is that a new brain trust was hired this offseason. 35-year-old Paul Toboni was hired as the President of Baseball Operations in September, bringing in Blake Butera, the 33-year-old manager, and Ani Kilambi, the 32-year-old general manager. There is a youth movement in the Nation's Capital, and they are taking that to the field as well.
The Nationals get a B+ for this trade. For any team to be competitive and make the playoffs, they need great starting pitching. They had something in Gore that they do not have in any other player on their team right now. But the haul of prospects they got back was carefully curated by Toboni, who scouted many of the players during his time with the Boston Red Sox.
Nationals fans must trust the new front office to get this team back to the postseason. But if ownership is not willing to spend, it will be a moot point, and these prospects will be right back out the door in five years for other prospects. The Nationals have proven they will spend in the past. They must do so in the immediate future.
