Insider Says Nationals Will Use MacKenzie Gore to 'Kick-Start Their New Era'
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It's been a while since Wasington Nationals ace MacKenzie Gore was mentioned in trade rumors.
At the beginning of the offseason, speculation ran rampant that new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni was going to use the left-hander to get building blocks back for the future. And since Gore would be one of the best starting pitchers if made available, the expectation is the Nationals would get a solid return.
No one quite knows if Toboni will be willing to ship out the only proven starting pitcher he has on this roster, but the belief is he will at least shop Gore around to see what types of offers he will get. And now that the General Manager Meetings are set to take place, the trade rumors are starting to resurface again regarding Gore.
"The Nationals have a whole new front office, new coaching staff and new ideas. They are expected to use Gore, who has two more years of club control, as the trade bait to kick-start their new era," reported Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY.
Why Would Nationals Feel the Need to Trade MacKenzie Gore?
Every time a potential Gore deal is mentioned, everything comes back to Toboni ideally wanting to boost this farm system. Fans might be wondering why that is such an important thing and why that would cause Washington to trade their best pitcher. But there are multiple factors that will go into this decision, including the fact Gore might never reach his full potential as a starter.
First, it is important for Toboni to rebuild this Nationals pipeline. Despite tearing things down and going with a youth movement after winning the World Series championship in 2019, the previous regime did not do a good job of stocking this organization with premier, young talent.
Toboni and his front office have to address that, and there would be no better way to do so than by trading Gore this offseason while he still has two years of club control remaining and will likely fetch a hefty return.
The other side of the coin is that this might be the peak value for the lefty. Despite his high ceiling and prospect pedigree constantly getting discussed whenever Gore's name is brought up in a potential trade, the fact of the matter is he has a career 4.19 ERA and ERA+ that's two points below the league average of 100 across 105 appearances (102 starts).
Moving him now would ensure Washington gets back a loaded return to "kick-start" this new era of Nationals baseball.
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Brad Wakai graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Journalism. While an undergrad, he worked at the student radio station covering different Penn State athletic programs like football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and other sports. Brad became the Lead Contributor for Nittany Lions Wire of Gannett Media where he continued to cover Penn State athletics. Currently, Brad is the Publisher for Washington Nationals On SI and covers multiple teams across the On SI network. He is the host of the sports podcast I Said What I Said, where he and his co-host discuss topics across the NFL, College Football, the NBA and other sports. You can follow him on Twitter: @bwakai