While the Washington Nationals are surrounded by rumors for the offseason, there are a few players that some have speculated could be traded, such as MacKenzie Gore. With Gore and the Nationals being engulfed in trade rumors, MLB insider Jeff Passan would float the idea of a potential package, including the pitcher.
In Passan's latest column about previewing the offseason through the winter, one area was talking about how there are teams that are looking into the price for shortstop CJ Abrams. Saying that there is an anticipation that Gore is traded, a deal with him and Abrams “would be tough to beat.”
“Teams are gauging the cost to acquire Washington shortstop CJ Abrams,” Passan wrote. “It's not quite Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to the Dodgers in 2021, but a Gore/Abrams package would be tough to beat.”
“Executives anticipate Gore will be dealt,” Passan continued. “This is where the specter of an extended lockout is muddying the market. Gore has two years until free agency. Teams will want to price the uncertainty into any potential deal, and that could force new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni to wait until the trade deadline.”
Nationals trading MacKenzie Gore is not a certainty
As trade offers to the Nationals for Gore could be plenty from other teams, there are people in the baseball world who are pumping the brakes on a deal. One such as Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon, who would explain why a Gore deal might not happen.
“Washington lefty MacKenzie Gore, under club control for two more seasons with a projected arbitration number of $4.7 million, would seem a more obvious candidate to move,” Rosenthal and Sammon wrote. But even with Gore, who plays for a rebuilding club, there is an argument to wait,” Rosenthal and Sammon wrote.
“Gore, who turns 27 in February, is one of the Nats players new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni believes might find ‘another gear,'” they continued. “The interest in him at the trade deadline, when free-agent alternatives are not available, should be even more intense. And naturally, the Nats think Gore might benefit from working with their new pitching coach, Simon Mathews.”
Washington looks to improve after finishing 66-96.
