MacKenzie Gore proving Rangers right to trade 5 top prospects for his services

Approaching 20 games into the regular season, it's not Jacob deGrom or Nathan Eovaldi leading the starting rotation, it's the new fella.

Acquired this offseason in a blockbuster trade with Washington, MacKenzie Gore made his fourth start as a Ranger on Tuesday against the Athletics. Despite surrendering six walks in only 4.2 innings of work, he still managed to only give up two runs and keep Texas in the fight.

For the season, Gore is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 11 walks and opponent batting average of .167 in 21 innings of work.

Gore's addition was well worth the price Rangers paid

When the trade broke in late January, a lot of baseball fans weren't surprised as Gore's name has floated around the trade block over the last few seasons. What was surprising was the return the Washington Nationals got for the 27-year-old lefty.

Texas ended up sending five top prospects to the Nats with the big piece being the Rangers' 2025 first round pick and second ranked prospect in shortstop Gavin Fien. The other pieces included right-hander Alejandro Rosario (No. 6), infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald (No. 12), outfielder Yeremy Cabrera (No. 16) and first baseman Abimelec Ortiz (No. 18).

Gore was a former third overall pick and had been involved in several high-profile trades since he was drafted in 2017. The first was as part of Washington's deal with San Diego to send Juan Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres in exchange for Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood and three others.

It was a rough start to Gore's career and with one year left on his rookie contract entering the 2026 season, it seemed like a big package of young talent to surrender by Texas that many categorized it as a fleece by Washington.

Early on it seems like Gore's been worth it all. He's finally been given room to breathe, not being the ace of the staff surrounded by deGrom and Eovaldi. That has given him space to not only learn but also lean into what makes him special without the extra added pressure.

Besides continuing to pitch meaningfull innings for the Rangers this season, the only thing that could make the Gore trade extremely valuable would be extending him to a team friendly deal that keeps him in Arlington longer than one season.

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