Washington Nationals Set to CAPITALIZE on Mackenzie Gore’s All-Star Value After Sonny Gray Move

Washington Nationals Set to CAPITALIZE on Mackenzie Gore’s All-Star Value After Sonny Gray Move

The trade market for starting pitchers has already started with Sunny Gray heading to the Boston Red Sox. And for Nationals fans trying to trade McKenzie Gore, you have to feel a lot better about what the return could be for the Allstar. You are Locked On Nationals, your daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. And thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. And I’m your Nats insider here, Ryan Clary, part of the Locked On podcast network where it is your team every single day. And also, Locked on Podcast Network is now the number one sports podcasting network in America. And later on in today’s show, we are continuing the game that we started yesterday with trade or develop. We’ve got a prospect, but we’ve also got a couple of young players, and I’m going to tell you why I would trade them or why I would develop them later on in the program today. So, we start off discussing McKenzie Gore, though, because yesterday, the St. Louis Cardinals traded Sunny Gray, the 36-year-old on a one-year left on his deal to the Boston Red Sox for a very good return. And just kind of reading the tea leaves there, you have to feel great about a McKenzie Gore trade. And now more than ever, it has been solidified that the Nationals are going to be trading away their all-star left-handed pitcher. But today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. And right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. So download the app today. I feel tremendous about the McKenzie Gore market. I feel incredible. All the good things possible. I feel them at this point. Yesterday, the Boston Red Sox, they made a trade for Sunny Gray that I think is very interesting and I think it means a couple of different things for the Nationals and Gore and especially with the Red Sox who were in on McKenzie Gore. I think that that trade yesterday was the best possible thing for Paul Tabone in this front office. You are trying to trade someone who is a very very talented pitcher who in my opinion with Gore has not reached the tiptop of his game yet. You are trying to trade someone who is about to enter the peak of his career. Sunny Gray yesterday he netted the St. Louis Cardinals a top five prospect. the number five prospect in the Red Sox system with Brandon Clark, who is actually a local kid here from Lowden County, played at Independence High School and went to Alabama. But that is a top five prospect within their system. And it’s not just a, oh, he’s like their number five prospect. He might be pretty good. That is an organization with the Red Sox who are very high on him. And they were not just going to let this guy go for anybody. So, they decided to move off of their left-handed pinching prospect with Brandon Clark. And then, not only that, they also traded away Richard Fitz, who has been a reliable starter for them this past year, solid out of the bullpen, and has really good numbers and is a 2021 sixth round pick. He’s right around 25, 26 years old, and he’s got a ton of control left that for Sunny Gray. And then also, the Red Sox inherited $20 million from the Cardinals, part of that deal. That is an incredible return for Sunny Gray. Like if you are the Red Sox today, you’re kind of wondering, you probably could have done a little bit more than Sunny Gray. And I love Sunny Gray. I think he’s a great player, but that’s not really what this is about at this point. This is about the return. And it kind of sets the stage for what could be coming in the starting pitcher market. There’s a lot of rumors out there, but at the forefront of them, it’s McKenzie Gore, the all-star left-handed pitcher. This really kind of sets the table for a nationals trade and hopefully this is something that could get done over the next few weeks. And at this point, I do anticipate this happening over the next month. And after seeing what the Cardinals got, that is easy work for the Nationals. Like this is an organization that right now with the Nats, they need talent. And when you are talking about talent and all the different guys out there, McKenzie Gore is one of your most talented players. He’s got two years of control left. He was just an all-star this year. And I think there’s a lot of people in baseball that believe that there’s a part of his game that has not even been touched yet. There is a real argument to make that Mackenzie Gore has not even reached his ceiling. Truly, that’s kind of what I think a lot of people believe in. And I think that a lot of GMs out there after seeing this move, this makes it way more aggressive for the Nationals to try to move off of him. And this is not like a dunking on a Sunny Gray moment here. Sunny Gray is a great pitcher. And I really like him. He’s a former all-star, someone who’s been in the Sai Young race before, like really solid number two, number three, number four kind of guy with the Red Sox. but also the Nationals. Not only did they give up two pretty solid prospects for Sunny Gray and Cash, they gave up that deal and those guys for just one year of Sunny Gray. I do believe there is a team option or a player option. There is an option of some sort for 2027, but that’s no guarantee. You are trading for one year of Sunny Gray and that was the price tag. How does that not make it feel even better for the Nationals out there? And I think with the impending lockout next season, maybe this is just might be the first domino to really get things going for GMs trying to be ultraaggressive out there. Maybe this is just the sign of the times and maybe this is just going to be the market. And maybe the play of the 2027 lockout that’s going to come next season, maybe we all kind of just have GMs try to go for it and try to win this thing. Maybe it just makes them more aggressive and that is why the Red Sox decided to give up two of some of their top guys in their system. Who knows at this point? But that’s kind of the way that I feel. And I think after having this gray move, seeing the lockout coming next year, the teams in the mix for left-handed pitching, you have to feel great about a return for McKenzie Gore at this point. Now, I want to talk about this because we’ve spent a lot of time on the Red Sox and kind of drawing those connections there. Does this take the Red Sox out of the sweep stakes for McKenzie Gore? My first thought was yes. I thought it did, but now as I’ve kind of thought about it, the Red Sox are getting $20 million. So, they’re not really taking on that much of a salary. It’s right around $16 million. And the way that the money goes for Mackenzie Gore, you’re not worrying about that. That’s like 89$10 million, whatever it is for McKenzie Gore in 2026, but you’re not really worried about that part for Gore. What you’re worried about is the service time left, and he’s got two years. That’s kind of what you’re trading for. and you expect him to take that step up next season and you expect him to kind of have that growth of not necessarily a Garrett Crochet where you’re a al a sai young contender but you certainly expect him to be a very good pitcher and a very consistent one and hopefully they’re number two that’s kind of the dream for the Red Sox. So initially I thought that that would take them out of it but as I’ve thought about it you didn’t really give up one of your premier prospects. You’re not giving up all too much in your system. You’ve got a great farm system that is loaded with talent, especially when it comes to pitchers. Although, it does kind of take some of the bullets away. And I do think that are they more likely to go absolutely allin and give us the best absolute package for McKenzie Gore? I think there’s definitely a debate there. They probably aren’t going to be willing to give up everybody this off season, especially for guys who like a 36-year-old Sunny Gray and then a 27 26-y old McKenzie Gore. I just don’t think that’s feasible for what the Red Sox should be trying to do. They’ve kind of had some spending issues the past few seasons and I don’t know if they’re going to be all in on free agency yet again. But I’m not going to rule them out just yet. I did knock them down just a little bit from this move because I think there are more teams out there that really might prioritize a frontline starting pitcher. And I think Sunny Gray, this might just be their ultimate offseason play. And Sunny Gray is a great consolation prize. Like I’ve always loved Sunny Gray. We can talk about the numbers. I saw some people are talking about how they’re comparable numbers with Gray and McKenzie Gore, but I think Mackenzie Gore at this point is a lot better than Sunonny Gray. And I think that McKenzie Gore is looking up while Sunny Gray is looking down as he’s 36 years old. So I don’t think that this takes the Red Sox out of Mackenzie Gore market. I do think it makes it a lot more difficult for them to try to acquire him though. And if they do go after him, I mean again, we talked about it with Gabby from locked on Red Sox this past week. It’s going to take a lot and the Red Sox are going to have to bring up a package front line by Christian Campbell, maybe a Connelly early and someone else and maybe the Nationals throw in like a Robert Hassel a third to net a couple of those guys back from Boston. But I certainly think that it makes it a lot harder and I think it’s going to make it just way more difficult for the Nationals or for the Red Sox to try to trade for him. I do believe that they will be in it, but will they have the sources and the resources to actually go out there and make that happen? Because I’ve got my eyes set on a couple of different teams. The Chicago Cubs are still one of them for McKenzie Gore. The Red Sox are also, but I’ve got a sneaky team as well, the Seattle Mariners, that actually on tomorrow’s show, I’ve got the breakdown of what exactly I want from the Seattle Mariners. And I think this is a deal that I would say yes to and at this point that is the deal that I want for the Washington Nationals. So that’s on tomorrow’s show. Stay tuned for that on the Thanksgiving. But next we get into the segment that we were still talking about just yesterday. Trade or develop? Why would I trade this top prospect or why would I develop this top prospect? And also it goes for some of the young Washington Nationals players. And we’ve got a couple of different things to tackle, but I want to tackle the first player, Luis Garcia Jr., right after this. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. And even if you miss the start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will score next to fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets into a same game parlay for a shot at a larger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making that late push. For instance, last night I had Alex Sar over on the rebounds. I also had the over on the Wizards game, but the Wizards won. And yes, it was more exciting to watch a Wizards win. They snapped their 13game losing streak. You saw Alex Arar go over on the rebounds and you saw a Wizards win and you saw the over on the bet for the night. It’s that easy with our friends at FanDuel. So, make sure that you have fun with our friends at FanDuel. And right now, FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Head to fanduel.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports but a partner of the NBA. Trade or develop, that is the game that we are talking about yesterday. And yesterday we got into a lot of different players. We got into Elijah Green, Robert Hassel III, Christian Vicero, a couple of different guys in that mix as well. But now I want to get into a couple of guys on this Nationals roster, including Luis Garcia Jr. I’m going to tell you why I would trade Luis Garcia Jr. right now. I think Luis Garcia Jr. has kind of already peaked. I feel as if that that 2024 season was his best year and I think that’s kind of the best of what it will be for Garcia. And I like him. I like the product. Like again, if you get 2024 every single season, that’s a winning player and that’s someone that you can really rely on. But I think at the forefront of a Luis Garcia trade, we are thinking about the inconsistencies of him and general managers out there, they will likely be seeing that same thing. So, at this point, I’ve seen it with Luis Garcia Jr. I have seen the lack of defense. I have seen the lack of production. I have seen the lack of consistency overall defensively and certainly offensively as well. I think that the Nationals, if I was Mike Rizzo this past like last year’s offseason after 2024, the first thing I would have done was try to trade Luis Garcia. And I think that there was a lot of people just a few days ago that expected him to be non-tender, including myself. And I think that right now it might be safe to say that there is no lock or no guarantee that Luis Garcia Jr. will be on this opening day lineup. And not saying he’s going to be downgraded to Triple A or to a bench spot, but do not rule out the possibility of a Luise Garcia Jr. trade. Let’s say the Nationals do want to move CJ Abrams over to second base because if you were to pick between Abrams and Garcia, I think it’s pretty easy to say that Abrams has a much longer future here in DC than Garcia. And let’s say Tabone and Butra, they believe that he’s not a shortstop, which is a very realistic option, and they want to move him over to second base. That leaves Luis Garcia Jr. kind of fighting for a position. And at $7 million, is he worth to ride the bench for? I don’t think so. I mean, he’s got this high contact rate, which is a solid attribute of his, and it is something that I do value in some sense, but also the inconsistency of what he has been like, what are you at this point? You’re not a powerhitting second baseman. You are a contact hitter. The exit vos are not too special. The barrel percentage is okay. Like I just want to know what consistency there is with Garcia’s game and I’m not able and really willing to bet on the fact that Luis Garcia Jr. is going to turn it around. I give baseball players about a good three years before it’s really time to judge them. Garcia has had that at this point. I’ve seen it enough with him and I really the past few years like then again I’m not trying to knock the guy but this is just the reality of it but like there were some work ethic issues with him and again he did break out in 2024 and I think he got Mike Grizzo’s message but don’t forget in 2023 this was someone who was sent down for not really getting himself prepared and kind of being out of shape and I’m not saying that’s the issue now like he certainly seems to be in pretty good shape but those work ethic things don’t necessarily go away and I think that that kind of goes to show you kind of the player that we are working with Luis Garcia Jr. and I like him again I think he could be valuable elsewhere I just don’t see Luis Garcia Jr. as the long option for me over at second base. And at this point, I am willing to trade him. And I would not be surprised if that is one of the Nationals big plans for this off season. We’ve talked about a McKenzie Gore deal plenty and often. We’ve talked about a CJ Abrams deal plenty and often, but maybe the second most likely guy to be traded might be your second baseman, Luis Garcia Jr. Trade or develop Nationals 2024 first round pick. Siver King. If this was June, the middle of June in 2025, I would say trade. But right now, I say develop. Siver King was when he was first drafted by the Nationals inside the top 10. I was kind of excited because I’m like, “Oh, the Nationals are cutting a deal with a player.” Meaning that they cut him in the they drafted him inside the top 10 at number 10 overall, I believe, out of Wake Forest. and he wasn’t supposed to be a top 10 pick. He was supposed to go later on in the first round, but that’s what a lot of analytically driven teams use in ways to kind of develop prospects and save money to get prep guys and prep bats and prep arms later on in the draft. And the Nationals used that pretty wisely and they selected Siver King. I like the thought of it, but at that time I was like, well, here’s the problem. You got to develop him. He’s a very raw prospect and the Nationals are not a player development team. So I did not feel good about that move at the time. Fast forward under Paul Tabone, under Devin Pearson, Justin Horowitz, and the rest of this front office, Mike Debardlo, I feel really good about Siver King. I’m not telling you that he is going to be a superstar, but I am telling you it is well worth it to develop Siver King and the Nationals should not even consider trying to trade Sver King at this point. We just saw the dream at the Arizona Fall League. You saw a little bit of pop. You saw him hit for average. You saw him steal bases. You saw him play really good defensive shortstop. The defensive stuff has been there and the base running has been there. He is a very high IQ kind of player coming from division 2, transferred into division one with Wake Forest, one of the best programs and made himself into a first round pick in this past year’s MLB draft. And Sber King is now someone that I think should be on everybody’s radar. And I think that he is the prospect at this point that I am willing to go out and say if the Nationals can do this player development thing right, which I think they will get correct, Siver King might be the biggest beneficiary of Paul Tabone. That’s how I feel about him at this point. I truly do believe in that because Siver King, similar to guys like Elijah Green in the past. They were big projects, but they have a ton of tools, great defenders, good contact rate, solid exit vos, has a little power, can run the bases, high IQ. He’s got everything that you want. But also, these are tools that need to be refined and need to be developed. and the Nationals have not been able to develop those kind of guys for nearly a decade at this point. And so now you have that player development system here. And not just in the front office, but also with guys in this coaching staff with Blake Butra and his player development background. Michael John’s who’s great base running and defensive kind of guy. like you have got the backing of coaches and also the front office now that makes you feel different about how this front office can operate and I think Sber King at this juncture with the nationals he is the guy to really follow this season. I feel as if for Siver King going into 2026 he’s kind of like the guinea pig for this Nationals front office. like he’s kind of your test rab or your test bunny or test rat, whatever you want to say for 2026 and kind of how to follow how the Nationals really utilize player development. He’s going to be the guy that I think is a great case study. My eyes are going to be on Sver King. If Siver King really gets it going this season, if you start to see eye popping numbers and improvements, and less strikeouts, more walks, running the bases, well, playing good defense, then I think that that is a good sign for where the Nationals are headed as an organization. If he fails, maybe he just doesn’t have it. I don’t think it’s fair to say that, oh wow, like the Nationals are just going to be a bad player development team yet again. I don’t think that’s going to be the case. But if Siver King can really turn it around this season, then we’re going to be having a good time here for the next couple of years right here on Locked on Nationals and under this new regime here in Washington DC because Seaver King has always had the talent, but it’s always been about whether or not that this team and this organization can do something with that talent and can you make that talent into consistency? And I think that’s going to be the big question under Paul Tabot with Siver King here. So I would develop Siver King. I would no longer trade him. I want to see what this guy can do. And most certainly, I’ve said it, don’t be surprised if at some point if he really breaks out this season, don’t be surprised if he is in the Washington Nationals lineup come later on this summer. Thank you all for making Lockdown Nets your first listen. Next, I’ve got one last guy on this Major League roster, and this is one that I’m still wrestling with in my head, but we’ll talk about that after this. Jacob Young, trade or develop the Nationals center fielder, kind of the fourth outfielder at this point, a gold glove finalist. And this is a tough one, but I think that I am leaning towards keeping him and developing him. Although I kind of think we have seen the ceiling of Jacob Young. I think that the Nationals like listen when you’re in this rebuild you try to decipher like which role is which and which guy is for real which is someone who will be in the rotation or in the starting outfield or who’s going to be your second baseman who’s going to be your extra infielder off the bench like you have roles that you are trying to figure out and I think it is safe to say that Jacob Young has found his role here I don’t feel too great about his bat long term term. I’ve made that very well known here. And if Jacob Young could just be even a tick below average hitter, then this is someone that we’d be talking about being your everyday center fielder because he is that good defensively. But unfortunately, that has not been the case. There is no power. There is no extra base hit threat. There really is. He’s not a good base runner for his speed even. I would expect that to change this season. But there are still a lot of questions surrounding his game. But the one thing that we have solidified here with Jacob Young is the fact that he has got blazing speed and he is a terrific center fielder. In my opinion, a top three defensive center fielder in all of baseball. That’s how good that he is roaming around in center field. That fourth outfielder spot, here’s what I want ideally in this order as well. A great defender, checkmate. He’s got that done. One of the best center fielders in all of baseball. and someone who is fast and can run the bases. Now, he can run the bases and he has the potential to be a really good base runner, but the last few seasons, nobody has been picked off more than Jacob Young. And I truly do believe in that. But I also believe in the fact that that is coachable. And I think that the Nationals, under Michael John’s, under this coaching staff with Blake But and the player development staff, I do feel good about the Nationals really coaching them up because it’s clear and obvious through these um hirings that Paul Tabone and Blake Buter have made. They recognize that the Nationals were a bad base running team. And Tabone has made that very clear throughout his time, whether it be in his intro press conference or to the media. like he wants to clean up these small mistakes. And in my opinion, without saying it, the small mistakes that he was talking about was the defensive miscues number one, but also the base running. I mean, the base running by the Nationals was atrocious. And I think that was in a lot of part of it comes with David Martinez and Herardo Parra being like the base running coordinator and doing all sorts of different things. like it just was not good from the get-go with the Nationals and it hasn’t been good for the last few seasons now and in fact it probably got worse in 2025. But I think that that is going to be something that will be cleaned up and I think Jacob Young will clean that up. And as of right now, there is a role for Jacob Young. And I think that role can really expand as time goes on. Like if he does get the ability to start hitting a little bit and making these bunts and coming in as a late game defensive substitution and being a pinch runner, like that is a big deal to me. And I do think with the game the way that it’s changing, Jacob Young could be pretty valuable coming off the bench for this team and I think he will have himself a really nice role moving forward. But thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen. I will catch you guys in the flip side and happy Thanksgiving. I will catch you on tomorrow’s show. Have a good one. Go Nets.

Washington Nationals set the stage for blockbuster moves as the starting pitcher trade market heats up. Could Mackenzie Gore’s potential trade yield a franchise-altering return after the Sonny Gray deal? Ryan Clary explores how the Nationals can maximize their assets, spotlighting trade buzz around stars like Mackenzie Gore and Luis Garcia Jr.—whose consistency and future are both questioned. With the Cubs, Red Sox, and Mariners emerging as possible trade partners, will the Nationals find their perfect fit? Ryan Clary assesses which young talents should be developed or traded, including first-round pick Seaver King and Gold Glove finalist Jacob Young. Key topics include Washington’s revamped player development system under Paul Taboni, new coaching hires, and the strategic role of defensive and base-running improvements. Can these changes jumpstart the Nationals’ rebuild and redefine the future for key prospects and role players? Get a sharp take on Washington’s offseason strategy and what lies ahead.

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00:00 Mackenzie Gore Trade Outlook

05:05 Gore’s Untapped Potential in Baseball

08:30 Red Sox Pitching Plans Uncertain

11:01 “Trade or Develop Prospects?”

16:57 Nationals’ Trade Or Develop Debate

20:06 “Seaver King: Nationals’ Test Case”

22:51 Jacob Young’s Role Evaluation

25:38 “Jacob Young’s Expanding Role”