An All-Star arm heads to a contender. See which team landed the former top prospect and what the Padres surrendered.
One of the San Diego Padres' starting pitching targets, left-hander Mackenzie Gore, was swept up by the Texas Rangers in a 5-for-1 trade on Thursday. With one less option to fill in their starting rotation, general manager A.J. Preller will have some extra pressure as spring training approaches.
Gore, 26, spent the last three seasons with the Washington Nationals. In those three years, he posted a 4.15 ERA and 1.39 WHIP across 462 ⅓ innings. He was a first-time All-Star last season.
He’ll now join a Rangers rotation after being one of the MLB’s top trade candidates all offseason long. In return, the Nationals are receiving five prospects: shortstop Gavin Fien, right-hander Alejandro Rosario, first baseman/outfielder Abimelee Ortiz, infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald, and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera.
Fien was selected 12th overall by Texas in the 2025 draft, now becoming the No. 5 best prospect in the Nationals organization. Rosario (No. 11), Fitz-Gerald (No. 12), Cabrera (No. 17), and Ortiz (No. 24) now bolster the Nationals’ farm system in exchange for Gore only.
The Padres had been linked to Gore in trade rumors since the beginning of the offseason, but now, looking at the Nationals’ return, they never had the prospects necessary to make a deal happen. Gore actually started his career in San Diego, playing 16 games and making 13 starts in 2022. In those 70 innings, he posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.47 WHIP. He was selected by the Friars at the third overall selection in 2017.
Gore was sent to Washington in 2022 in the blockbuster deal that landed outfielder Juan Soto in San Diego. Soto spent a season and a half with the Padres, recording a 149 OPS+ and 7.0 WAR in the process.
San Diego never took Gore off of their radar after the trade, however, as they were one of the teams tabbed as most likely to make a deal for him this winter. Instead, the Padres continue their search for starting pitching help. Their current rotation is as follows: Nick Pivetta, Joe Musgrove, Michael King, and Randy Vasquez.
Gore’s southpaw arm would have provided much-needed value to a thin Padres rotation, but there’s no choice but for the front office to move forward and look elsewhere for help. With Preller’s resume, there’s likely to be a trade in the coming weeks that brings a starter to San Diego – it just won’t be Gore.