The Texas Rangers and the Washington Nationals have agreed to a trade that will send left-hander MacKenzie Gore to Texas, the teams announced Thursday. The return to the Nats is five prospects, headlined by infielder Gavin Fien, a top draft pick last summer. Abimelec Ortiz, Devin Fitz-Gerald, Alejandro Rosario and Yeremy Cabrera are also headed back to Washington.
Gore, 26, made his first career All-Star team last summer. In parts of four big-league seasons, he compiled a 4.19 ERA (98 ERA+) and a 2.64 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His contributions have been worth an estimated 6 Wins Above Replacement, per Baseball Reference’s calculations.
The Rangers no doubt are hoping to get even better pitching from Gore heading forward. At minimum, he’s a relatively young southpaw with four average or better pitches and some track record of big-league competency. He’s also under club control through the 2027 season.
Gore, the No. 3 pick in the 2017 Draft, was acquired by the Nationals as part of the trade that sent superstar outfielder Juan Soto to the San Diego Padres. The Nationals also fetched shortstop CJ Abrams, outfielders James Wood and Robert Hassell, and pitcher Jarlin Susana in that deal. (They also added first baseman Luke Voit, though he’s long since departed the organization.)
Trading Gore is the first major roster move orchestrated by new Nationals lead executive Paul Toboni (he earlier this winter traded reliever Jose A. Ferrer to the Mariners for former first-round pick Harry Ford). Toboni was hired earlier this winter away from the Boston Red Sox. He’s subsequently spent most of his time and energy assembling new front office and field staffs, with the latter being built around Blake Butera, the youngest manager Major League Baseball has seen since 1972.
Spring training is still a few weeks away, but the Rangers’ rotation now looks something like this:
As for the return to the Nats, Fien was the Rangers’ first-round pick last summer. Here’s the CBS Sports report on him:
Fien, the 12th pick in last summer’s draft, was viewed as one of the top prep bats in the class. He already possesses a promising amount of strength and plate discipline and he should benefit from adding more muscle to his 6-foot-3 frame over the coming years. The question with Fien is whether or not that added weight will cause him to move off shortstop, thereby putting more onus on the development of his bat.
Ortiz, who turns 24 next month, is a first baseman/right fielder. He spent time between Double-A and Triple-A last year, hitting .257/.356/.479 with 25 home runs and RBI in 130 games.
Fitz-Gerald is a 20-year-old infielder who played in 31 games in rookie ball and 10 in Class A last season after being a fifth-round pick in 2024. In those 41 games, he hit .302/.428/.482 with seven doubles, six home runs and eight stolen bases.
Rosario is the second-best prospect in this haul. The 24-year-old right-hander appeared in 18 games between Class A and High-A last season. He had a 2.24 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 129 strikeouts against just 13 walks in 88 ⅓ innings.
Cabrera, a 20-year-old outfielder, hit .256/.364/.366 in 102 games at Class A last season with 12 doubles, three triples, eight homers and 43 stolen bases. He’s spent most of his time in center field.