RUMORS: The Chicago Cubs Are IN On Washington Nationals Ace MacKenzie Gore

RUMORS: The Chicago Cubs Are IN On Washington Nationals Ace MacKenzie Gore

Where there is smoke, there might be a fire because the Cubs are interested in McKenzie Gore and it’s a match made in heaven. You are Locked On Nationals, your daily Washington Nationals podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. And thank you all for making Locked On Nationals. Your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. And yes, I am your host Ryan Clair. You can catch me over on Twitter, Brianclair 11, and as well as our show page at L_s. And later on in today’s program, we will have a quick little preview of the Nats and Astros series. The Nationals did get a win in game one of the series. They’re taking up a beaten up Houston Astros team. So, we’ll have that discussion for you later on. And in the second segment, Josh Bell is on the trade market and his name, it’s in some conversations. But we have to start off with a guy who is a much bigger name and someone that we have spoken about on this show with McKenzie Gore. And the trade market is heating up for him. And the team is the Chicago Cubs. And I’ve said that I believe for over the last few weeks that I think it’s made it more possible to trade McKenzie Gore. The one team that we have really talked a lot about is the Chicago Cubs. And now you’re starting to see the reports come out with Jed Hoyer and the Cubs front office being enamored quote unquote with McKenzie Gore. The Chicago Cubs want a controllable pitcher. And that is what McKenzie Gore has. And not only are they trying to get a controllable pitcher, they want an ace kind of guy. And lo and behold, that’s our guy, McKenzie Gore. So, first and foremost, Jesse Rogers of ESPN did report that the Cubs are targeting McKenzie Gore at this time. The Athletic has also gone in on this situation as well. And the Nationals reportedly from Jesse Rodgers, they want a package surrounding former top prospect Matt Shaw, who is their current third baseman. But also, Nationals fans, I know what you’re thinking. We already have Brady House. this guy can also play second base. But I think this rumor is very true. And if you were to ask me today of just kind of like the odds of what I think and if I do believe that Mackenzie Gore will be traded, I would give it like a 51% chance at this point in time. Like yes. So at the end of the day, I actually anticipate a McKenzie Gore trade. And the reason why that is is because again, these rumors are not coming from nowhere. These rumors are coming from front offices, from agents. And honestly, I’m buying into them at this point. I think the Nationals realize that they kind of have to hit a reset button on this rebuild. And what screams reset is trading one of your better players. Now, for some people, that may sound backwards. For some people, you may think to yourself, “Well, we did that in 2022 by trading Juan Sodto.” But let’s face the facts. The Nationals have a long way to go in this rebuild. And one way to reset it and to kind of replenish this farm system is by getting top talent through the door. And in order to get top talent through the door, you have to draft and you have to develop, but you also have to make savvy trades. I think that this would be a savvy move for this front office. And before getting into any talks of prospects and what guys could be coming back here to DC, it just makes sense at this point in time because let’s be honest, even forget the fact that McKenzie Gore is your best pitcher. Mackenzie Gore is one of your best players and he was an all-star. Forget it for a second. This team needs more help and we are going to lose with McKenzie Gore most likely for the next two seasons. If I were a GM in this situation, knowing that the ownership is probably going to have one foot out the door and one foot in, knowing not really knowing what the future of this front office holds, not knowing what the future of the ownership holds, there’s a lot of things in limbo at this point. Trading McKenzie Gore at the end of the day gets you closer to winning next year. As backwards as that may seem, that’s how Nationals fans should think. And for a team like the Chicago Cubs, they believe that they can win the World Series this year. And is getting a Mackenzie Gore even put them over the hump there of beating the Dodgers? Probably not. as far as their odds. Their odds will still likely be stacked against them with a loaded team like the Dodgers who will be getting healthy here soon, but a guy like Gore would certainly help them get to that point and they have the horses in the stable to make this thing work. So, the Nationals, you could pull off this trade and all the reports are surrounding actually former Maryland shortstop Matt Shaw. The Nationals, according to Jesse Rogers, they want a package surrounding former top prospect Matt Shaw, their current third baseman, who if you look at his numbers right now, they’re unoverwhelmingly good. But then again, over the last two weeks, things have clicked. He’s only played in a roughly around 70 games this season. And again, there’s a lot of room for grow to grow for Matt Shaw. But obviously, it’s not just going to be Matt Shaw. And I think this is where things kind of get a little dicey to say the least. The Nationals are going to want much more than this. And they should, by the way. And the Chicago Cubs, quite frankly, they should pay up. If I’m the Washington Nationals, and if I’m Mike the Barlo at this point, let’s say you do want Matt Shaw, a major league ready young guy controllable for the next six plus seasons who went to college up the road here in College Park. you should want to get Matt Shaw and that makes sense. Honestly, I did not really anticipate him to be in a deal like this. But if the reports are true that they want Matt Shaw in this deal, then add him to the equation here. So for Nationals fans, the return that I think we should be talking about is number one Matt Shaw and then their number one prospect Owen Casey, their number two prospect Moises Ballisteros, a catcher/verirst baseman prospect who’s already in TripleA at 21 years old. And then also another pitcher. Now in this hypothetical, I threw in Kate Horton. Kate Horton is a major league ready arm. He has an RA amount in mid-3re. He’s had 13 games this season and the Nationals should be asking for sky-high prices like that. I don’t think they could pull all of that off there, but just for the fun of it, I think the Nationals should be asking for that. You are getting a controllable arm for the next two and a half years. Someone who has strikeout potential and swing and miss potential that he has proven for the past few seasons. And by the way, the Cubs don’t really have that. They have a ton of left-handed pitching, but none of their guys have the swing and miss potential of a McKenzie Gore. The Cubs need this move as much as the Nationals do as well. This move just makes sense for both sides of the party here. And in getting in a return package, if you can pull off a Matt Shaw, a major league ready talent will be your third baseman or second base of the future. If you can get an Owen Casey who has the potential to be an all-star caliber hitter in the outfield, you should be able to get that. And then on top of that, answering your question over at first base or the catcher position long term with Moises Ballister, you should be able to get that as well. And the beauty of this is those three guys, the three main guys in this deal are all major league ready. you would be able to see them in this lineup plugged in tomorrow. Casey and Baliseros may take a little bit more time, but still you could easily see them in the year of 2025. If I am Mike Dearlo at this point, I am begging Jed Hoyer to make this move. I am begging the Chicago Cubs to try to trade for McKenzie Gore. This move makes sense for both sides. And I cannot get over the fact that the Nationals making this move is a good thing. And this would get the Nationals closer to contention in my opinion. And honestly, it really isn’t even that big of a debate. Having guys like Baliseros, who is a 21-year-old catcher, first baseman prospect who can crush the ball from the left side of the plate, who has uh 50 grade power at this point, but a 60-grade hit tool. And then you have an Owen Casey type who is 23 years old, who has developed within the Cubs organization. He was traded from the Padres’s to the Cubs a few years ago. And now you’re starting to see a lot of different things out there surrounding like an Owen Casey kind of move. The Nashville should be all in on this, but here’s where I think they separate a little bit. It’s going to be the return. The Cubs are going to want to keep their top guys and the Nationals are going to want to get their top guys. It’s going to be a game of chess between Darlo and Jed Hoyer. and Jed Hoyer is one of the top executives in all of baseball. So, it’s kind of one of those things where you’re kind of dealing with a voodoo doll at this point. You don’t really want to mess with those things. But still, if the Nationals can pull off a move like this, the end goal, which is everyone’s end goal, is to win games and win games more common and faster and especially when you’re in a rebuild. This gets the Nationals to that goal and this makes the Nationals better. And while you may have to worry long term about who’s going to be your ace and what’s going to happen, especially with the injury to Travis Sakura yesterday, then yeah, that’s a debate that we can have for a different day. But spreading the value out, getting another top outfielding prospect in the system, getting another great catcher/firstman prospect in the system, then getting your long-term answer at second base and/or third base. This makes this a no-brainer decision for the Washington Nationals. And if they can pull off the move with those three guys, Matt Shaw, Owen Casey, and Moises Balisteros, you better make this decision and you better be on the right side of history because this is one of those deals where it’s going to be gone in the off season. You’re only going to have two and a two years of control this off seasonason in 2025. Entering 2026, I feel as if there is a 51% chance that the Nationals do trade Gore. And again, where there is smoke, there is a fire. And I think the Nationals might be on to something by trading Mckenzie Gore. But the Nationals are not just in on trading Mackenzie Gore. They will be trading Josh Bell. And if they don’t, what are we doing? But good news for you guys. I’ve got some destinations for Josh Bell. And if you’re a team out there wanting to be sold on a DH who has been crushing the baseball in the month of July, I’ve got your guy for you. But until that, I will tell you guys all about him after this. And yes, today’s episode is brought to you by Game Day Hugh. And so is this hat that I am wearing for Nationals fans like me. This one hits the mark. Game Day Hue makes clean, no logo gear with team inspired colorways for every pro and college fan base. It’s all about letting your colors speak for you. No giant logos, just smart, versatile style that works on game day on the course or anywhere in between in between. And I love rocking this on the golf course, whether I’m golfing in 95° heat or maybe it’s a nice cool summer breeze. 75° here in the summer of DC. You cannot beat a day on the course with that. Well, what if I told you you can with my hat with game day hue? It keeps me cool and also makes me looking cool for all the fellow golfers out there. Someone actually asked me where I got this the other day because I had my nationals bag, but also had my nationals hat with me with game day hue. They’ve given me all the color gears and of course a golfing glove as well that does rep the red and the white colors for the Washington Nationals. So, right now you can get 15% off with code MLB15 at gamedayhw.com. That’s gamedayhue.com. The code even stacks on bundle deals. So, now’s the time to load up. So, let your colors talk because colors speak louder than words. That’s gamedayh.com code MLB 15. 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 yes, we are free and available wherever you get your pods on Apple, Spotify, and of course the video version over on YouTube. Again, just look up Locked on Nationals. And yes, we got to sell you Josh Bell. And for Nationals fans, this is a terrible time for you because again, we’re in the cell mode yet again. Last year, the Nationals didn’t necessarily sell off the way that I thought they could, but they did move off of Lane Thomas, who is a fan favorite here in town. The lane train was shipped up to Cleveland, and they got a really good haul for him in return there. But now, this time around, you’ve got another guy, and that’s Josh Bell. I think Josh Bell is as good as gone at this point. And two months ago, if someone were to ask me, “What are the Nationals going to do with Josh Bell?” I would have said, “Oh, well, they’ll DFA him obviously when someone else is ready. Maybe it’s Yandi Morales who gets to call up. Maybe it’s another guy in the system.” And the Nationals have not done it. They have stuck by him. And this July, he has gone absolutely bonkers. And looking at his splits right now in the month of July, in 20 games, he is batting .33, a 425 BP, and a 493 slug. has a 918 OPS. In that time frame, he’s got five doubles. He only had five doubles in the first three months of the season. Keep that in mind. Only five doubles. And now in this month, in 20 games, he has five doubles. He’s got two home runs. He has been crushing the baseball at this point. He has walked 10 times, which he did do in the month of May and April combined, but still Josh Bell has been a completely different hitter. and you’re not going to get back some huge package. No one is anticipating that at this point in time, but I do think the Nationals will get back something decent. And I’m talking like a middle tier prospect from a team that might be desperate for a DH. And again, Josh Bell is a clubhouse leader, someone who has been there in the postseason. He has done it with the San Diego Padres’s in the past. And yeah, teams are always going to be looking for a switch hitter, DH. That is just the market of where baseball is at this point. And again, similar to bullpen help, you’re gonna be someone looking for a big bat off the bench or you’re going to be looking for someone to replace a DH who could help you make an October run. So, the teams that I have in mind for Josh Bell at this point right now, I’ve got teams like the Mariners. If you look at the Mariners depth chart and kind of what they have as far as DH’s go, they have Jorge Plano and they have Donovan Solano, neither of those guys have been separators. And yes, while Jorge Blanco is a well-known name and he has had some success this season, Josh Bell, in my opinion, gives you a very similar profile as Palano does. Although again, I do think that these this recent surge of Josh Bell will kind of put him in that situation because again, a switch-hitting hitter with Palanco and a switchhitting bat with Josh Bell who it’s much better from the left side of the plate as his splits have definitely indicated that so far this season against right-handed pitching. Josh Bell this season has batted 253 with a 431 slug. If you need to go against a ton of right-handed pitching, which the Nationals do by the way, or not the Nationals, the Mariners do by the way, then they should be in the market for this. And again, I don’t think his market just stops there at this point. I think a team like the Padres’s even who traded for him back in 2022 from the Nationals in that Juan Stoodto deal, I think they could be in play for a bat like a Josh Bell at this point. The Nationals are going to have suitors for this guy and the Nationals should absolutely trade him away. But to get back to our main point of this, I think the Mariners, for the Nationals here, even you’d be looking at a decent return. And for a loaded system like the Mariners, you should be all over this. Maybe you were looking at like their 25th best prospect or their 26th best prospect. And that’s kind of the area I expect the Nationals to be in. And one guy I’ve kind of pinned here a little bit is actually their 29th prospect, Charlie Balinsson, who is a 25-year-old fourth round pick back from last year’s draft. He has been a main bullpen save for them down in the minor leagues. He is up in double A. He’s got a 34A erra in double A this year for them. And I think that this makes all the sense in the world because again, we have talked about having waves of talent in this building. The Nationals simply do not have that prospect wave. They do have some guys in there like Sakura that we have talked about a lot on this show. There are guys deeper down in the system like El Dickerson. You have Eli Willlets. Now, Nationals, I think, crushed the draft with a lot of prep right-handed pitchers and also some bats in there as well, but you are going to have to have these kind of waves of prospects. And I think someone like a Balencon, who has been a primary reliever at this point, he’s got good stuff, by the way, and he’s now in DA Arkansas for the Mariners. This just makes sense for the Nationals. And if you were to pull off a move like that, sign me up for it. Because again, the Nationals, they need talent in this system and they need talent that can also help you out maybe sometime next season, which I do think balancen can do that for this team. The Nationals need talent and trading away Josh Bell at this point makes all the sense in the world. I don’t think anyone is debating that at this point. But as far as his market goes, we just have to see kind of what happens with guys like Euinio Suarez. Who misses out on the bigname guys, who misses out on your big time DH’s and who ends up selling and who ends up buying, we don’t really know at this point because there really hasn’t been a market that has taken shape for a Josh Bell at this point. But I think teams and internally know that they won’t be getting the bigname guys. That’s maybe when they get desperate. And if you need a left-handed bat to come in here and face right-handed pitching in order for you to win and kind of platoon your DH position, then Josh Bell is your answer. And I do think teams will be calling for it. And by the way, at 6:01 p.m. on Thursday when the trade deadline is at 6:00 p.m. Thursday, if Josh Bell is still a Washington National, what are we doing? Seriously. because Josh Bell should absolutely be traded when everything is all said and done. But thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. So next, let’s talk about this Astros Nationals series. The Nationals did get the win in yesterday’s game two to one after Brad Lord did it again. I mean what an incredible start from Brad Lord. So, we’ll have that discussion after this. 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 yes, I am your host Ryan Clary. You can catch me on Twitter, Ryan Clary Lebanon, as well as our show page at L_s. So, yes, the Nationals did get the win in Houston yesterday. It was a very exciting, eventful game for the Washington Nationals. But we got to start off discussing Brad Lord real quick. Brad Lord has been in the rotation now for the last few weeks here, and it makes all the sense in the world. And this guy has just been incredible for the Washington Nationals. Over his first two starts since being back in the rotation, he faced a very good Reds lineup. He went four innings pitched there. You have six hits and one earned run. And then against a pretty beaten up Astros team, he did have five and a third innings pitch, only one earned run, one hit, one walk in yesterday’s game, only two strikeouts, but still Brad Lord is just one of those guys who just simply gets the job done. And luckily enough for the Nationals, they got mowed down by Framber Valdez. Six innings pitched, 12 strikeouts, only three hits allowed. I mean, he’s one of the best pitchers in baseball at this point. Just incredible season so far. But the Nationals going up against a practical JB Houston Astros team because I mean they’re 60 and 47 in the season. They’re first in the AL West at this point, but they have a ton of injuries right now that is just absolutely crushing them. And a guy that, yes, I know Nationals fans love to talk about this that a guy I wanted, Christian Walker in yesterday’s game. We all saw him and you’re like, “Oh my god, this guy is quite literally having an awful season.” Nathaniel Lo, who is not having a very good season either for the Nationals, he even is doing better than what Christian Walker has been for them. So tough go for the Astros in yesterday’s game. The Nationals did get it done winning 2-1. And yes, the Nationals, they might be a playoff team. No, I’m kidding. They’re 44 and 62. They are fifth in the NL East. And that is their expectation for this time. But today’s game again, 8:10 Central time for the or 8:10 Eastern time going up against this pesky Houston Astros team. And by the way, I saw everyone talk about it, how it brings back memories of the 2019 World Series. That’s all great and fun, and I’m all here for nostalgia about 2019. But sometimes, like in the thick of where we are right now, I’m just like, I can’t look at this. Like, this is just awful because it reminds me of what we used to be. I don’t want to hear that. No one wants to hear that. I know about the foul pole in right field or the fair pole, whatever you want to call it. Let’s not talk about it. We understand it’s Houston. The Nationals had a great run in 2019 in that building, winning four out of four games in Houston. Incredible, incredible run by the Washington Nationals. But come on, I’m tired of it. I We are in the thick of this rebuild. I love 2019. It’s appropriate to bring it up at times, but in the week that you’re about to trade or might trade McKenzie Gore. Not right now, guys. Mike Rizzo is just fired. Dave Martinez was just fired. The Nationals have nothing remaining from 2019 besides this ownership group. I’m good about talking about the nostalgia of 2019 at this point in time. But you do have Michael Sro on the bump tonight who is an Atlanta Brave then and he has been another guy who will likely be traded and we’ll talk about his trademark on tomorrow’s show, but he is more than likely making his last start as a Washington National and hopefully he delivers a good one because he has kind of been this project for the Nationals and they have done really well in my opinion. He is coming off his last three starts looking really good in my opinion. again dating back for his last three starts. the first one on July 10th going four innings pitch only two earned runs and then his start prior to the last one against the Padres’s he went five innings pitch with one earned run and now against the Reds in his last start five and two/3 one earned run only two hits allowed and in that game also struck out six Cincinnati Reds which I thought was a really good start by Soka one of his better starts as a Washington national but the trademark for Sroka is certainly going to be there. Whether it’s going to be as a fifth starter, whether it’s going to be in that Trevor Williams role where he can kind of fill in in a pinch to be a starting pitcher, go a couple of innings or come out of the bullpen where he showed to be a really big bright spot for the White Socks in 2024. But the Nationals again, more than likely, Michael Sroka’s last start tonight going up against the Houston Astros and Jason Alexander who is just at this point a filling guy. He has an 814 erra this season. Nats, take advantage of this. You’re playing against a beaten up Astros team. All their fans are complaining about it and as they should. I mean, they are having awful luck at this point in time. But the Nationals, maybe you get hot, maybe you win 20 straight games. You never know. I’m just kidding. But thank you all for making Lockdown Nationals your first listen every single day as we are free and available wherever you get your podcast. So again on tomorrow’s show we will have a trade market speculation for Michael Soka if he even makes it to the start tonight before he gets traded. So we’ll have that discussion for you. But until then I’m Ryan Clary from Locked on Nationals. Have a good one. Go Nats.

If MacKenzie Gore were to be traded by this deadline, the team that makes the most sense is the Chicago Cubs. The Nats want a package surrounding 3B/2B Matt Shaw, but the Nats will need MUCH more. We also discuss Josh Bell’s quiet, but interesting trade market. Which teams make the most sense for the slugging DH?

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