Former MLB Exec Says 'It's Only a Matter of Time' Before Nationals Shop Their Ace
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The noise surrounding the Washington Nationals trading their ace MacKenzie Gore this offseason keeps getting louder.
After the 2025 campaign concluded, the Nationals hired their new president of baseball operations. It's not clear exactly what Paul Toboni is going to do during his first winter in charge, but a full rebuild could be coming for this franchise.
If that is the route Washington wants to take, then it makes sense why Gore would be on the trade block considering he has two more years of club control and had a breakout performance in 2025 despite not finishing the year strong.
I laid out the case here why I think it would be a mistake to trade Gore. While more pieces to bolster this rebuilding process would be welcomed, shipping out a rising star pitching is normally never a good idea.
Still, the smoke surrounding this potential fire is start to get thicker and thicker. And this time, it's former MLB executive Jim Bowden who stated his belief that Gore will at least get shopped around this offseason.
Nationals Expected to Shop MacKenzie Gore This Offseason
"Paul Toboni has taken over as president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals and it's only a matter of time before he starts shopping Gore," Bowden wrote in a piece for The Athletic (subscription required). "... He's controllable for two more seasons, so the best time to trade him to maximize the return would be this offseason. It makes sense that his name is popping up everywhere."
Gore came in at No. 5 on Bowden's list of "the top 10 MLB stars most likely to be traded this offseason," which is fairly low considering the other names that were ahead of him like Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, Hunter Greene and Jarren Duran.
mack back pic.twitter.com/CyQch9FwOU
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) August 10, 2025
Still, the statement made by the former MLB executive that should catch the eye of Nationals fans everywhere is when Bowden stated, "it's only a matter of time before [Toboni] starts shopping Gore." That's a signal that the new executive could be ready to further tear things down in Washington before building everything back up.
While that would be a hard pill to swallow for many in the fanbase, at least there would be a new direction led by a new regime that feels like they have a plan in place for getting the Nationals back to being competitive.
It just so happens that plan might not include Gore leading this rotation in 2026 and beyond.
