Out of everything that took place in what turned out to be one of the most wild and insane MLB Trade Deadlines in recent memory, a lot of starting pitchers not being moved might have been one of the most surprising things. Guys like Zac Gallen, Sandy Alcantara, and Mitch Keller, among others were expected to be dealt but wound up staying put with their current teams.
Of course, while the Washington Nationals were busy firing off deals left and right over about a 48-hour time span, their star lefty ace, MacKenzie Gore, ended up staying with the Nationals despite all of the media-driven commotion. But what was the reason for not dealing him?
In fact, in some of his first comments immediately following everything that happened within the deadline, Interim GM Mike DeBartolo revealed a lot of insight about why Gore stayed while holding lots of interest. Despite the fact the Nationals are certainly not closed off to deal Gore in the future, it sounds like the framework is in place for something to potentially happen at this time next year, or maybe even this offseason with regard to trading Gore.
Here were DeBartolo's comments on Gore, courtesy of Andrew Golden from the Washington Post,“Mackenzie, we value him very highly, obviously, as an All Star starting pitcher under team control for two more years. He’s a big part of our team, a big part of the club going forward. And again, in my position, you listen on anything that’s brought to you and you consider every scenario. Ultimately where we came out, we valued MacKenzie so highly and just thought it was better for the Nationals to keep him.”
Whether this is just code for "we didn't get the prospect package offered that we wanted" or they do actually believe that holding on to Gore for a little while longer makes sense, the reality is that neither of those situations are exactly surprising. It is surprising, however, that DeBartolo was this open to the media about publicizing that he took calls on his ace. Granted, with his club in a full-scale rebuild and the team possessing a great starter who is certainly not going to be extended before free agency as a Scott Boras client, it would not shock me at all if the Nationals deal Gore by this time next year for a boatload of talent that could help this team get closer to competing for a long time.
The reality of the situation is that, barring injury, DeBartolo or whoever takes his place in the front office of the Nationals this offseason should be able to find a list of suitable trade partners and packages from across the league, if they choose to go that route.
Did you want to see MacKenzie Gore be dealt? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.