After MacKenzie Gore was traded to the Texas Rangers, details of an old trade offer between the Washington Nationals and Chicago Cubs have been reported.
With remaining free agents scrambling to find teams, and front offices trying to set their rosters in stone before Spring Training begins, it’s been an active week across Major League Baseball.
The New York Mets have made a flurry of moves, solidifying themselves as an even more serious contender in the National League. Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals finally pulled the trigger on a long-awaited blockbuster trade, sending left-handed starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers in exchange for five prospects.
The Nationals ultimately settled for a quantity-over-quality approach, landing five players with varying skill sets and upside — but notably, they did not receive a single Top 100 prospect in return for Gore.
The Chicago Cubs were one of the teams long rumored as a potential landing spot for Gore. Trade discussions reportedly began in the months leading up to the 2025 trade deadline and continued throughout the offseason, before Chicago eventually pivoted and acquired Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins.
Cabrera may have been the better fit anyway.
While he’s less proven than Gore, the Cubs had a clear need for a right-handed pitcher. Gore is a lefty, and adding him would have only made the rotation more left-handed heavy. Chicago already features Justin Steele, Matthew Boyd, and Shota Imanaga throwing from the left side. Balance mattered.
But after news broke that Gore was headed to Texas, MLB insider Bruce Levine shared a detail that made it blatantly obvious why the Cubs never pulled the trigger on a deal.
According to Levine, the Nationals were asking for four prospects in return — including Owen Caissie, the Cubs’ former No. 1 prospect and the No. 47 prospect in all of baseball.
The ask also included Jaxon Wiggins, a rapidly rising pitching prospect who could realistically make his major-league debut sometime in 2026.
That’s not just two high-level prospects with bright futures — it’s two premium prospects who are close to impacting a big-league roster. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of the Cubs moving Caissie for Cabrera, but at least that deal involved one core piece and allowed Chicago to retain much of its top-end farm talent.
The Nationals, however, were reportedly asking for the Cubs’ top hitting prospect, top pitching prospect, and at least two additional pieces.
That’s simply outrageous. A ridiculous request — and a very easy no.
Critiquing a front office for the moves they make is always fair game. Executives, players, media, fans — we’re all allowed our opinions, and not every transaction is going to work out. Teams get things wrong all the time.
But this is a perfect example of why it’s far more of a gray area to criticize a team for the moves they don’t make.
Especially when it comes to trades. You rarely know how unreasonable the other team’s demands might have been — and it always takes two to tango.
I can say with confidence that Jed Hoyer and the Cubs were absolutely right to pass on this deal.