MacKenzie Gore was a top prospect after San Diego drafted him third overall in 2017. He was destined for front-of-the-rotation stardom.
Funny thing happens to baseball prospects once they get called up. Cruel reality sets in. Gore didn’t escape it. He made it to the big leagues with the Padres in 2022 and was later one of the key pieces in their trade to Washington for Juan Soto at the end of the ’22 season, even though his rookie year wasn’t all that stellar: a 4.50 ERA, 1.471 WHIP and 84 ERA+.
His three seasons with the Nationals weren’t special either. A 4.15 ERA, 22-37 won-lost record, 1.391 WHIP and an ERA+ of 100, meaning he was right dead center in the middle of average.
Did somebody say affordable?
Enter the 2026 Texas Rangers. They traded five prospects for the soon-to-be twenty-seven-year-old lefty MacKenzie Gore, including Gavin Fien, their first pick in the draft last June. Also going to Washington are pitcher Alejandro Rosaro, infielders Abimelec Ortiz and Devin Fitz-Gerald, and outfielder Yeremy Cabrera.
That’s a lot of prospects going away from a farm system that is already devoid of depth. Time will tell if any of these prospects pans out.
Gore is in Jon Gray territory as far as his performance has been. A so-so pitcher who will have some good starts and some bad starts. While control has been his big issue, strikeouts haven’t been. He struck out 185 hitters last year, good for a tie for twenty-second best, tied with Jacob deGrom. Both Gore and deGrom started thirty games last season. That’s about where the similarities ended.
Gore is attractive to the Rangers because they are in fingers-crossed mode—not trying to lose, not trying that hard to win. Gore gives them a serviceable arm under control for the next two seasons for cheap. Evan Grant says this trade makes the Rangers rotatation significantly better, and he’s right in a sense. They needed another reliable arm to slot in after deGrom and Eovaldi, and Gore is that. Time will tell how significantly Gore impacts the rotation.
Good luck, MacKenzie Gore. Welcome to the Texas Rangers. Maybe they can unlock that potential the Padres and Nationals couldn’t. And thanks in advance for eating all those innings.