As the Washington Nationals look to figure out a way to navigate throughout the 2026 MLB offseason after finishing the 2025 season with a 66-96 record, one way that is becoming clear for them to revamp the team for the future is to trade MacKenzie Gore.
Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel went on to back this up in a recent report by saying, “New Washington president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has held discussions with multiple teams about Gore, but the ask is understandably high. Gore’s impending free agency after 2027 complicates things somewhat.”
It is clear that MacKenzie Gore no longer fits their rebuild timeline, and they need to move on. Trading him also gives them the value in return that they need to propel the team forward. As the 2026 MLB Winter Meetings get underway, there is a team looking for pitching help that makes sense to trade for Gore, and that is the Texas Rangers.
Washington Nationals Trade MacKenzie Gore to the Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers have shown they are going to be making trades this offseason as they already traded Marcus Semien to the New York Mets in exchange for Brandon Nimmo. Their goal this offseason is to figure out a way to shed payroll. While this is the case, they still will be looking for ways to field a competitive roster in 2026.
For the Rangers to have any shot at being competitive in 2026, they need to fix their pitching depth. While the Rangers had a dominant front-end duo of Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi that helped lead the team to have the best ERA, they need to have more quality starters, especially left-handed starters.
One way in which Texas can achieve this is by trading with the Washington Nationals for MacKenzie Gore. Just last season, Gore had a 4.17 ERA, and 1.35 WHIP with 185 strikeouts. His entire career hasn’t been great, but he has shown the necessary growth between 2024 and 2025 to truly be considered a top trade target. With adding in that 2024 season, Gore has had 4.03 ERA with a 1.387 WHIP, and 366 strikeouts.
With MacKenzie Gore still having upside having been in the league for just four seasons, he is the ideal trade target for the Rangers as they look to improve their rotation for the future.
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