On the hunt for more pitching to supplement a thin pool of starting options, the Rangers on Thursday landed a lunker of a starter in a deal with the Washington Nationals that nets them left-hander MacKenzie Gore.
Gore, who turns 27 next month, gives the Rangers a top tier trio in the rotation with Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, but it comes at the expense of five prospects: Shortstop Gavin Fien, the club’s first-rounder in 2025, infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald, infielder-outfielder Abimelec Ortiz, right-hander Alejandro Rosario and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera, the team announced Thursday. All five prospects were ranked among the Rangers’ top 20, according to MLB Pipeline, with Fien considered the No. 2 prospect in the organization.
Gore is in his second-year of arbitration and is under team control through 2027, but, given the uncertainty of the labor situation after 2026, the Rangers could be dealing for him for effectively one full season.
But he’s dependable by current metrics. He’s made at least 30 starts each of the last two seasons with Washington, compiling a 4.03 ERA over 326 innings. He’s averaged 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings and has a nearly 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk rate, a key metric in the Rangers’ evaluation process.
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Also, Gore is a lefty, and the Rangers believe Globe Life Field favors left-handers. As of Thursday morning, the Rangers only lefty in the rotation was probably Jacob Latz. The team had allowed Latz to prepare as a starter, but was not fully committing to him because he also holds high value as a late/multi-inning leverage reliever. The bullpen remains an area of work for the club. In the last week, it has signed both Jakob Junis and Josh Sborz.
As the rotation stands now, it includes deGrom, Eovaldi, Gore, Jack Leiter and either Kumar Rocker or Latz.
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