Potential MacKenzie Gore suitors are dwindling for the Washington Nationals

Last night a young NL East left handed pitcher who was drafted in the top 10 by the Padres out of high school got traded to the Yankees. No Nats fans, it was not MacKenzie Gore. Instead, the Yankees made a move for Ryan Weathers from the Marlins.

With the Yankees finding a southpaw for their rotation, the Nats options for a MacKenzie Gore trade are beginning to shrink. I entered the offseason under the assumption that Gore was getting moved. However, it does not seem like that is as likely anymore.

In my opinion, this would be the first real head scratcher of the Paul Toboni era. With the trades of Edward Cabrera, Ryan Weathers and Shane Baz, it is clear that the market is hungry for young pitching. This also feels like the perfect time to move Gore. He only has two years of control and he is healthy. A strong first half could push his market up slightly, but that is a big risk.

If Gore struggles or gets hurt, the market could very easily dry up. With Scott Boras as his agent and the Nats not being a winning organization right now, an extension feels highly unlikely too. Given the Nats timeline, a trade feels almost inevitable. With that in mind, I think the best move would be to pull the trigger now.

However, the Nats are starting to run out of teams that desperately need him. The O’s made a trade for Baz, the Cubs went for Cabrera and now the Yankees made a move for Weathers. Maybe the O’s and Yankees can circle back for him, but the desperation is not there anymore.

Ironically, the only contender that is truly desperate for starting pitching right now is the New York Mets. We wrote about the idea of trading Gore to the Mets the other day and the feedback was very mixed. Some of you were fine with the idea, while it was a non-starter for others. If the Nats want to get the best package possible, trading with the Mets might be the way to go.

It is pretty clear that the front office feels less urgency to trade Gore than I do. They trust their ability to develop pitching and think Gore has another gear to get to. I agree with them and think that they could help Gore a lot. Cutting down on Gore’s fastball usage seems like something they will do. However, I am not as sold on taking on that kind of risk.

There is absolutely a world where Gore makes some tweaks and has a great first half that raises his value. However, will contenders even bump up their prices for a good Gore first half? We have seen Gore start seasons strong in the past before collapsing down the stretch. Teams are probably going to be more excited about the idea of having Gore for the whole season, rather than the back half of it where he tends to struggle.

Despite the chances going down, there still could be a Gore trade coming. Just yesterday, Jon Morosi reported that the Nats were having conversations with teams about Gore. He did note that nothing was close though.

With pitchers and catchers reporting in less than a month, the clock is ticking on a MacKenzie Gore trade. It is still something I personally want to see. The Nats pitching staff is still rough with Gore and I like the idea of moving him for more controllable arms the new staff will have years to develop.

There are certainly teams still in the mix as well. The Yankees and O’s could circle back on Gore. A team like the A’s has a playoff caliber lineup, but needs pitching. Gore’s cheap financial price tag makes him a real option for them. Their rivals, the Giants, could also use more pitching.

However, a lot of the potential Gore suitors have found a lot of their answers. Besides the Mets, there aren’t many contenders overly desperate for pitching right now. This puts Paul Toboni in a tough spot. If he cannot get the package he is looking for, it makes some sense to hold onto Gore. However, you cannot get too greedy here. There is real risk to holding onto Gore. It can all blow up in your face if he struggles or gets hurt.

This is a high stakes decision. There is a reason Paul Toboni gets the big bucks and not me. The two trades Toboni has made this offseason have been quite exciting. I am curious to see what happens with Gore. Will Toboni make a trade, and if not, what kind of tweaks will he make to Gore’s arsenal. These are all questions we will have answers to before too long.