The Texas Rangers, reigning 2023 World Series champions, have significantly bolstered their pitching rotation with the acquisition of All-Star left-hander MacKenzie Gore. The move sees five prospects heading to the Washington Nationals, marking the most substantial step yet in president of baseball operations Paul Toboni's ongoing roster rebuilding efforts.
A source familiar with the transaction, who requested anonymity to the AP as the deal is yet to be officially announced, confirmed the swap on Thursday.
Gore is expected to fortify the front end of the Rangers' rotation, joining two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom – who was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 2025 – and Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi recently battled a rotator cuff strain and underwent surgery for a sports hernia, following an impressive 1.73 ERA across 22 starts.
The left-hander remains under team control for the next two seasons, with free agency not possible until after the 2027 World Series. He is set to earn $5.6 million in 2026, following a one-year agreement with the Nationals that bypassed arbitration.
Gore, who turns 27 next month, is 26-41 with a 4.19 ERA in four major league seasons, the past three with Washington. He was an NL All-Star last season, when he ended up going 5-15 with a 4.17 ERA and a career-best 185 strikeouts in 30 appearances, all starts.
He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres and was sent to the Nationals in the 2022 trade that included Juan Soto.
The players Washington is receiving from Texas are Yeremy Cabrera, Gavin Fien, Devin Fitz-Gerald, Abimelec Ortiz, Alejandro Rosario.
Fien is an 18-year-old shortstop who was taken out of high school in the first round of last year's draft.
Fitz-Gerald is a 20-year-old infielder, Rosario is a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, Cabrera is a 20-year-old outfielder and Ortiz is a 23-year-old first baseman and outfielder.
All five are considered among the top 20 prospects in the Rangers' system.
