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Rangers get: LHP MacKenzie Gore
Nationals get: SS Gavin Fien, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B/OF Abimelec Ortiz, IF Devin Fitz-Gerald, OF Yeremy Cabrera
Cody Stavenhagen
Rangers: B-
Nationals: B+
As it stands, Chris Young’s resume leading the Texas Rangers resembles that of a pitcher with dominant highs and perplexing lows. Young has a World Series title to his name. He made trades for Jordan Montgomery and Max Scherzer that helped raise that banner. Another trade he made that year — sending Cole Ragans to the Royals for Aroldis Chapman — was helpful at the time but has already aged poorly.
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Last winter, efforts to bolster a suddenly weakened offense mostly failed. Signing Joc Pederson was a flop in Year 1. Trading for Jake Burger didn’t produce the intended result. The Rangers ranked 26th with a .684 OPS last season. They stayed afloat into the second half only because of a pitching staff featuring Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi. The Rangers led baseball with a 3.49 ERA, playing in a park that inexplicably turned into a pitcher’s paradise.
After shuffling deck chairs and trading Marcus Semien for Brandon Nimmo and cash earlier this winter, this deal feels like a double-down on Texas’ newfound pitching strength. The best thing about Gore is the fact he is controllable for two seasons. Does that justify the five-player package Texas sent Washington in return?
No prodigies are going to the Nationals, but this still feels like a steep price. Fien was a first-round pick just this past summer. Rosario has high upside on the mound. Fitz-Gerald could be underrated on prospect lists. Ortiz and Cabrera round out a trade that sends five of the Rangers’ top 18 prospects to another club.
Gore was an All-Star last season, but the success of this trade hinges on whether he can more fully realize his potential. He finished the year with a 4.17 ERA and 3.74 FIP. He’s also a young lefty who can generate strikeouts in bunches, and there are few more valuable commodities in the game.
This is an aggressive trade from an aggressive executive. In an attempt to reshape the Rangers’ identity, pitching might have emerged as the answer. The Rangers need this to be one of the deals that worked.
Andy McCullough
Rangers: B+
Nationals: B-
In the first major move of Paul Toboni’s tenure as Nationals president of baseball operations, Toboni built a branch on the Juan Soto tree. MacKenzie Gore was one of three prized prospects acquired from San Diego in exchange for Soto back in 2022. While shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielder James Wood still have a place in Washington’s present, Gore has been flipped for five new farmhands as Toboni attempts to rebuild and refurbish the fading franchise. He will need to do a lot more dealing to return the Nationals to contention in the National League East.
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Toboni bought in bulk, starting with a pair of young infielders. The headliner is Fien, who last summer was chosen with the 12th pick in the draft. His size may force him to move from shortstop to a different position, but he hits the ball hard and makes consistent contact, which would bode well as he ages. Fitz-Gerald, a fifth-rounder in 2024, played well in his professional debut last season. He bounced around the infield in the Arizona Complex League, but some evaluators expect him to settle at second base. He’s a switch hitter with power from the left side.
Ortiz clubbed the baseball at Triple-A Round Rock last season, while splitting his time between first base and right field. He did most of his damage against right-handed pitchers. Cabrera held his own as a 19-year-old in the Carolina League last season, although his ceiling is limited by his undersized frame.
The most intriguing prospect is the lone pitcher in the deal. Rosario, a 24-year-old right-hander, entered last season at No. 64 on Keith Law’s top-100 list, but he never took the mound. Rosario experienced what Rangers general manager Chris Young told FanGraphs was a “common elbow injury.” Young indicated that the Rangers hoped Rosario would return by 2027. Rosario piled up encouraging strikeout numbers in 2024 as he dominated both levels of A-ball with his four-seam fastball and splitter. But when he will pitch again is unclear.
In all, it’s an intriguing but somewhat underwhelming return for Gore — at least, for the Gore of the first half of the 2025 season, when he posted a 3.02 ERA and made his first All-Star team. There isn’t a top-shelf prospect coming back to Washington. Time will tell if Toboni got it right.