ESPN
Jan 22, 2026, 03:34 PM ET
The Texas Rangers have acquired All-Star left-hander MacKenzie Gore in a five-for-one trade with the Washington Nationals on Thursday.
In exchange for Gore, who turns 27 in February, the Nationals received a handful of prospects from the Rangers, including 18-year-old third baseman Gavin Fien, who was the 12th overall pick in last year's amateur draft.
Gore, who has two years of team control left, will make an estimated $4.7 million in 2026 and could help the front end of the Rangers' rotation. After an All-Star first half for the Nationals in 2025, he slumped to a 6.75 ERA in the second half and finished the season at 5-15 with a 4.17 ERA and 185 strikeouts in 159⅔ innings over 30 starts.
"We're at a moment right now in time where we have a team we believe is capable of winning, and winning a championship," Rangers general manager Ross Fenstermaker said. "And when you add a player of MacKenzie Gore's status, it's not that you look past what you're giving up, but you're excited on what you're bringing in and what that does to the clubhouse, what this does for our fan base, what this does for excitement around the club."
Gore was the No. 3 pick in the 2017 draft but didn't find big league success until 2024. Gore has been solid the past two years, ranking 23rd in pitcher WAR in that span, but hasn't quite made the jump to front-line starter that some envisioned years ago.
Gore throws at least 80% fastball/slider to lefties and at least 80% fastball/curveball to righties, so developing a fourth viable pitch shape could be key.
Overall, he is 26-41 with a 4.19 ERA in four seasons.
"Our goal is to help him put together a complete season," Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young said. "But we anticipate, with knowing the person, the competitor, the desire to be great, he fits all the criteria of great starting pitchers and we're excited to help him."
In addition to Fien, the Nationals will receive right-hander Alejandro Rosario, first baseman Abimelec Ortiz, shortstop Devin Fitz-Gerald and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera in the deal.
"We see high-end talent with this return, but we also see intriguing depth," Washington president of baseball operations Paul Toboni said. "We did see untapped potential with MacKenzie, so we baked that into basically the level of return that we wanted."
ESPN's Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel contributed to this report.
