Nats trading MacKenzie Gore to Rangers for prospects, AP source says

All-Star left-hander MacKenzie Gore is headed to the Texas Rangers in a trade that sends five prospects back to the Nationals in the biggest move of new Washington president of baseball operations Paul Toboni’s roster rebuilding efforts, a person with knowledge of the swap told The Associated Press on Thursday.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced.

Gore gives the 2023 World Series champions a starter who should be able to help the front end of their rotation along with Jacob deGrom — a two-time Cy Young Award winner who was the American League Comeback Player of the Year in 2025 — and Nathan Eovaldi, who dealt with a rotator cuff strain and had surgery for a sports hernia after compiling a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts.

Gore is under team control for the next two seasons; he can’t become a free agent until after the 2027 World Series. He is scheduled to make $5.6 million in 2026 after a one-year deal with the Nationals that avoided arbitration.

Gore, who turns 27 next month, is 26-41 with a 4.19 ERA in four major league seasons, the past three with Washington. He was an NL All-Star last season, when he ended up going 5-15 with a 4.17 ERA and a career-best 185 strikeouts in 30 appearances, all starts.

He was the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft by the San Diego Padres and was sent to the Nationals in the 2022 trade that included Juan Soto.

The players Washington is receiving from Texas are Yeremy Cabrera, Gavin Fien, Devin Fitz-Gerald, Abimelec Ortiz, Alejandro Rosario.

Fien is an 18-year-old shortstop who was taken out of high school in the first round of last year’s draft.

Fitz-Gerald is a 20-year-old infielder, Rosario is a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher, Cabrera is a 20-year-old outfielder and Ortiz is a 23-year-old first baseman and outfielder.

All five are considered among the top 20 prospects in the Rangers’ system.