Everyone loves to swap things for other things, sometimes a good swap brings better things than what you had. Sometimes the trade makes you lose things you wish you had not gotten rid of. One time I sold a table saw at a garage sale, didn’t think I needed that anymore. I had $75 marked on it, I paid I think $200 but it was used. A guy offered me $40 and I took it. The next day I needed a table saw and was mad about it and have been ever since. Have you seen how much a good table saw is now? That was a bad trade.
The Rangers today made a trade too. They sent 3B Gavin Fien, SS Devin Fitz-Gerald, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B Abimelec Ortiz, and OF Yeremy Cabrera to the Washington Nationals for LHP MacKenzie Gore.
Gore was an All-Star last year, but his career ERA is 4.19 with a record of 26-41 and a WHIP of 1.401. In 2025 he had a fairly typical year for him with a 5-15 record, a 4.17 ERA, 159 innings and a WHIP of 1.353 with 185 strike outs against 64 walks. He projects the same numbers this year. He is age 26 and a former 1st round pick by the Padres. He can become a free agent in 2028. His biggest claim to fame so far besides the All-Star selection is that he was traded by the Padres to the Nationals along with several others for Juan Soto and Josh Bell.
On paper that is a very nice middle to late rotation arm which the Rangers do need this year and he is controllable with a nice high ceiling for improvement with good coaching.
What did the Rangers give up with those 5 players?
• Gavin Fien, a 1st round draft pick #12 overall in 2025 from California drafted out of high school. His carrier so far at Hickory in the farm system has only seen 10 games and 41 at-bats. However, the organization must have seen something to develop to draft a DH/SS in the first round.
• Devin Fitz-Gerald, was a 5th found pick in the 2024 draft. Another high school player Played with Hickory and the Rookie league in 2025 for 41 games and 139 at-bats. Nice batting average at .302 and 6 home runs in those 139 plate appearances. Certainly, appears to be a high upside guy but at age 20 probably 4-5 years away from becoming anything. However, he is rated as the #6 top prospect in the Rangers organization.
• Alejandro Rosario, at age 24 another 5th round pick from 2023 from the University of Miami has been working his way through the farm system. Rosario was injured in 2025 which slowed his growth but he is still ranked as the #11 overall top prospect in the organization. The injury knocked him down but formerly he was the #3 prospect. Might turn into a pretty good pitcher if he returns to 2024 form and already at AA Frisco.
• Abimelec Ortiz, a Puerto Rican 1B, or OF, age 23, the #18 prospect on the top 30 list and already at AAA. He was very impressive early but has slipped a bit last season. This guy has a lot of potential.
• Yeremy Cabrera, one of the highly touted Dominican Republic signers only age 20. Potentially a significant outfielder, and a lefty both throwing and hitting. Since, 2022 he has progressed through the Rangers farms system but seems to have stalled. He is a guy that forecast to be a contact hitter with a high OBP, and high average guy and less of a home run hitter. However, the thing to keep in mind is that age 20 and already with the organization since 2022 he had solid future potential.
The bottom line as always is that it takes a long time to evaluate trades. The Rangers wanted an arm now and clearly the Nationals wanted to rebuild their farm system. Personally, I see this as 2 players too many in the trade and think they could have gotten more for less. Giving up a 1st round pick, a strong prospect arm recovering from surgery, and a #18 prospect should have been plenty. Giving up all of that is just a price too high and potentially mortgages the future of the organization.
Maybe Gore, is more than a #4/5 starter but that is not what his numbers show. The team did have a need but they also need hitters because that is what hurt the team so much last year. My guess is that money is the biggest issue, again because of the upcoming CBA expiring the desire to reduce overall spending. They get Gore for $2.89 million a year for two-years. That is cheap for a 5th starter but the reality is they are giving up a lot for him.
I still want my table saw back and that $40 is not even a deposit to rent one now. I think the Rangers just made another Harold Bains for Sammy Sosa trade personally.
