There wasn’t much sense that the Nationals would be trading MacKenzie Gore, though that didn’t stop the Cubs, Yankees, and surely several other teams from at least checking in on the southpaw’s availability. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman adds the Padres to the mix as a team that wasn’t just interested in Gore, but was perhaps at the top of the list of suitors. As per Heyman, the Padres were “maybe the most aggressive pursuer” for Gore, and “made a real run” at trying to work out a trade with Washington.
Obviously there’s a lot of familiarity between the two sides, as San Diego drafted Gore third overall back in 2017 and the left-hander’s first 16 career MLB games came in a Padres uniform in 2022. That same year, the Padres included Gore as part of a now-legendary trade package sent to the Nats in the blockbuster deadline deal that brought Juan Soto to southern California. Gore, CJ Abrams, and James Wood have already broken out at the MLB level and Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana could still provide even more future help for Washington down the road.
Even with so much from this particular trade going right, however, the Nationals have yet to turn things around. President of baseball operations Mike Rizzo and manager Davey Martinez were both fired in early July, and the team ended up moving some short-term veteran talent at the deadline, rather than pursue any bigger-picture moves like trading Gore. Interim GM Mike DeBartolo said a couple of weeks ago that the Nats wanted to keep Gore and the rest of its young core together, and Heyman notes that there wasn’t any indication that even the Padres came close to getting Washington to actually considering moving Gore elswhere.
This year’s trade deadline saw Padres PBO A.J. Preller continue his reputation for bold moves, most notably the six-player swap that brought Mason Miller and JP Sears from the Athletics for a prospect package headlined by Leo De Vries. As one of the elite prospects in the sport, De Vries is the kind of trade chip that could start a discussion on virtually any player, and moving the young shortstop was probably necessary to convince the A’s to part with a controllable young closer like Miller. It could be that DeBartolo only would’ve budged on trading Gore if a true blue-chip young talent like De Vries was on the table, but it isn’t known if the Padres would’ve made such an offer.
The Padres ended up addressing their rotation by adding Sears and Nestor Cortes (who was activated today from the 60-day injured list) in separate trades, while dealing Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek to the Royals for catcher Freddy Fermin. Impending Dylan Cease was also heavily discussed in trade talks, and given San Diego’s interest in Sandy Alcantara and now Gore, Preller seemed to be exploring a scenario that would’ve seen Cease head elsewhere in one trade while another frontline pitcher with more control was added in another swap. Given all of the moving parts in this two-pronged plan, the trade with the Athletics may have been the relatively simpler solution, as the Padres were able to instead focus their resources on bolstering their already excellent bullpen.
Gore is under arbitration control through the 2027 season, and there has already been speculation that he might not be a long-term candidate to remain in Washington. Scott Boras is Gore’s agent, for one, but there’s also the possibility that the Nationals may not be ready to truly contend during Gore’s remaining two years, so trading him would be a logical move to add more pieces to the next competitive Nats roster. More rumors about Gore’s availability figure to swirl for months, though that will be a decision for whomever the Nationals hire as their next full-time president of baseball ops.
Empty
Your posts usually are! Good day, Cap
Was just kidding Gywnning! You guys won the trading deadline getting Mason Miller, no worries! Congratulations by the way! I hear Miller might start next season? Lmk.
Is this what happens when you’re broke and still try to compete?
Who’s broke?
Some of the troll for sure.
Only preller
Hol’ up… let me get this straight.
The Padres trade Gore away along with a haul of prospects to acquire Soto only to try and then give the Nationals ANOTHER haul of prospects for the prospect they traded?
Are we sure Preller knows what he’s doing?
Preller doesn’t know what he’s doing – but he’s had job security, and that gives some people the illusion that he does.
Preller is in charge of the team that sells out the ballpark almost all of the time and the team is in their winningest stretch over any 5+ year period.
Those two things equate to being the most successful the team has ever been.
People criticizing Preller have to discount those two very important points to make their case.
PadrePapi, add that the small market Padres have went from a team that received a revenue sharing check to one that pays every year.
Record revenue for the franchise
Record winning for the franchise
Record attendance for the franchise
Yup, Preller has no clue what he is doing.
And based on the last 8 months of posts, without “financial flexibility” – LOL!
“Are we sure Preller knows what he’s doing?”
Yes
“The Padres trade Gore away along with a haul of prospects to acquire Soto only to try and then give the Nationals ANOTHER haul of prospects for the prospect they traded?”
This doesn’t matter in the slightest.
That a team traded for a star OF one season and then a young blossoming SP a few years later Isn’t weird at all
Just happens in this instance to be the same player.
The Dodgers, for example, let Kiké Hernandez sign with the Red Sox. Then traded for him. Then won a WS with him
Making an example of Kik’e returning to the Dodgers is lame. Hernandez wasn’t a Dodger prospect. He wasn’t traded to the Red Sox. He signed there as a FA. Ki’ke wasn’t a Dodger prospect. What my man is saying is that Preller looks stupid trying to reacquire a prospect that was already with the team. I agree 100% with his statement You’re ki’ke example is ignorant and foolish, just like the GM from down south.
db
Kiké and Gore are both players that left one team and then the team attempted to require them (The Dodgersc were successful. The Padres were not).
There’s nothing stupid about that.
Much stupider, IMO, to think there is something stupid about it.
The Padres look stupid for the Juan Soto deal. They basically got Michael King for all of those budding stars.
And Dylan Cease, a year of one of the top C’s Higgy, a guy in Vazquez that has had a lot of quality starts with control, Brito (yet to be seen), but ok, you change the facts to fit your vision.
Not to mention a deep run with a NLCS which that is the actual goal of a trade – increase odds of going deeper than you would have gone without the trade.
BC
“They basically got Michael King for all of those budding stars.”
Uh, no?
They also, you know, at minimum, got Juan Soto.
Is that how you’re going to spin it? They rented Soto for two seasons and got nothing from it. Then they had to trade him away either because they couldn’t afford him or he didn’t want to be there. Meanwhile, at least three of the players they traded for him are going to be stars in this league. It was a terrible trade for the Padres. One of the worst in history.
BC
“Is that how you’re going to spin it?”
Is that how who’s going to spin what?
It is 100% a fact that the Padres got Soto in that trade
Saying that they only got King is the misrepresentation.
Had the Padres won the WS, it would have been well worth it… That didn’t happen. At least they went for it.
Cease trade still happens without Soto just with a different headliner. Robby Snelling perhaps.
Gore >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Vasquez
Higashioka was alright but not “one of the top C’s”
@JuanUribeJazzHands Juan Soto is a Met.
JDDTR
Juan Soto was a Padre for 214 games and 936 PAs
It’s absurd to say that all the Padres got from the trade was Michael King.
It was still one of the worst trades in MLB history, Mr. quotation marks.
The Padres won after the trade. They won that season. Then they traded Soto and got Cease, King, Vasquez, Higgy, and Brito. For the Padres it was a GREAT trade.
BC
“It was still one of the worst trades in MLB history, ”
I haven’t said anything about that and don’t really care about that
It’s absurd to say that all the Padres got was Michael King is the point that I’m discussing.
“ Cease trade still happens without Soto just with a different headliner. Robby Snelling perhaps.”
Then we don’t get Tanner Scott and Brian Hoeing
See when you play revisionist history you screw up other deals they made. Which is why you don’t play revisionist history.
1.4 WAR with 17 hrs in 84 games – he didn’t get the primary job until Campy got hit on wrist. Pretty much speaks for itself for how well he produced.
“The Padres look stupid for the Juan Soto deal. They basically got Michael King for all of those budding stars.”
That is certainly the stupidest comment on this site today.
Obviously, the Padres got Juan Soto and Josh Bell in that trade initially. That season they went to the NLCS, something that would not have happened without Soto.
Then a year and a half later they got King, Vasquez, Higgy, Brito and the main piece in the trade that brought them Cease.
So “basically” they got Soto, Bell, King, Vasquez, Higashioka, Brito, and Cease in that trade. 21.1 WAR of performance so far, Vasquez and Brito are under team control through 2030, and the Padres will get two 4th round draft picks for King and Cease after giving them a Qualifying Offer.
@69th rounder, 420th HOFer Bryan Hoeing has pitched 8 innings this year for an astouding WAR of 0.1. Tanner Scott is a Dodger. Big whup.
Still made it to the nlds riding their arms last season to the tune of 93 wins.
Been a while since Red Sox actually mattered, since their cheating scandal actually.
While you hate your GMs decisions ours have given us chances since 2020. And they look likely to contend next year. Womp womp
CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jairo Iriarte and Steven Wilson (if you count Dylan Cease then I’m including the last 2) have also been worth 21.1 WAR in the majors since the first Soto trade went down. And are cheaper and controlled longer. Bartolo’s comment was fine. Yours, not so much.
Since the trades that sent them out of SD* went down.
Typically, teams don’t trade away their prized prospects and then attempt to reacquire them a few years later.
And because they haven’t gone to the World Series with Preller at the helm, again, are we sure he knows what he’s doing?
Give it 3-4 years, maybe they’ll be looking at trading back for De Vries.
sr15
“Typically, teams don’t trade away their prized prospects and then attempt to reacquire them a few years later.”
So? Atypical doesn’t mean bad.
“Give it 3-4 years, maybe they’ll be looking at trading back for De Vries.”
Maybe
“And because they haven’t gone to the World Series with Preller at the helm, again, are we sure he knows what he’s doing?”
Seems like a dumb way to judge whether an F/O knows what they are doing? Can only two F/O’s a year know that they are doing? I don’t think so.
@sedona
Preller constantly has new pieces in his “dead” farm system to add to his major league roster, and that roster is working on its fourth playoff appearance in six seasons.
I’m glad the Pads didn’t work out a deal for Gore, since he’ll be a Boras free agent in two seasons. But ask Mike Rizzo how much he thinks Preller knows what he’s doing.
Happens all the time. Every seasons some team trades for a player that used to be part of their team.
In this case, Heyman is full of it. Preller went out and did exactly the 3 things he said he would do before the deadline. He said that he would get bats, improve the bullpen, and if possible, acquire an upgrade at catcher. The results, 2 big bats, a reliever no thought was even available, and a catcher. Laureano, O’Hearn, Miller, Fermin. Sears and Cortes were throw-ins to provide back of the rotation depth because he traded away the Padres 5th and 6th starters.
Ask Mike Rizzo…
Mike got fired after sustained losing and general franchise malaise and ineptitude.
Preller is so good at identifying outstanding amateur talent that he can trade away valuable prospects every year.
Preller is leading a perennial contender.
Rizzo is trying out his favorite lawn chairs.
You must not follow baseball very much because this quite literally happens all the time.
As a Cub fan, I can think of several notable instances, Epstein trading Rizzo to the Padres for Gonzalez, then trading for Rizzo when he came to the Cubs. Cubs traded Paredes and Candelario in the same trade and brought both back in separate deals.
I don’t think any GM/PBO does it more than Preller though. Hell, I bet he trades for Profar again at the end of the year.
Why do these people even try to follow baseball and then attempt to discuss baseball in a rational manner when they are so very bad at it, whiffing right and left ?? Maybe cars racing around in circles is more their style. Something a little less nuanced and straight forward for their tastes. Maybe WWE.
Preller values proven MLB talent over prospects. He puts competitive teams together now and worries about the future later. There is a method to his madness and most Padres fans like it.
And Gore has not been that special. How about trade for Devries lol
@VegasSDfan How is 3.80 ERA and on pace for 4.2 WAR “not that special????????”
How bout this trade – the Padres would only have to give up Juan Soto i think – for – McKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood, and Robert Hassell III. Think they would go for it?
Oh and that trade helped solidify sold out stadium for years now. There is value in that.
Maybe if you’re a casual
If only our Pobres would ever have the draft positioning to acquire these types of talents…
So you want the Padres… to be worse? Didn’t we suffer through enough losing seasons for like… forever until 2019-ish?? Are you not happy as a perennial contender nowadays??? Blink twice if you’re having a brain aneurysm, walls!
Over your head yet again, huh, Rymming?
I’ve never heard of a padres fan that wanted to go back to that 2015-2019 disaster era
It’s because he’s not a fan, sad, yet continually posts with a sarcastic undertone that maintains that he actually *is* a fan. Strange shtick if you ask me… but whatevers!
Go Pads… and M’s for that matter! Let’s dance in October 😎🤙🏼
Lmao and Preller defenders say they won the Soto trade.
I think I’m the biggest Preller defender on this site (I could be wrong, so I’ll settle as “one” of the biggest) …and they’d clearly “lost” the Soto trade, imo. I’d much rather have Wood, CJ, Gore, Jarlin than the run we made with Soto. I “blame” Seidler for the Soto trade though, and therefore chalk it up to history, Harambe. Doesn’t matter what we think, the deed was done.
Agree. It was an overpay.
As a dodgers fan, I often wonder why fans of other teams get upset when a team goes all in.
Is it because their team has never done it that way, so they can’t understand it. Are they jealous the GM and owner try their best? Because I hear a lot of “gotcha!” and “I told you so!” from fans of teams that aren’t winning.
Padres tried their butts off to win a world series. They came damn close, and would have also beaten the Yankees last year if they made it. Then everyone would be pissed their team didn’t trade and try like the Padres.
They hate on the dodgers because of the payroll, and income the team has, and I get that.
But the Padres? They are technically a smaller market team doing their very best every chance they get, and I respect them for that. And as long as they fall one game short of the dodgers, I’m happy.
You can’t win if you don’t try.
*hat tip*
Thanks for respecting our perspective, ADF. Cheers amigo, you’re one of the greats.
Every year, you’ve got about ten teams opening their season with no shot of competing. There’s only so much complaining that their respective fans can do about their team. It’s a lot of hopeless, coping fans out there trying to drag other teams and their fans down.
Colorado was a historically bad team. But in a year or two they should be good.
Pirates fans are in a bad spot because their business model relies on being cheap and getting paid by revenue sharing.
Ray’s and Brewers find their best way to win, and just beat up the dodgers (Brewers, not rays).
Cardinals used to be that team, but in unsure of their working philosophy these days.
The Marlins won a couple world championships while tearing down their team in between those championships. Admittedly a tough way to do things but they have two championships.
You can’t win if your don’t try.
Would have been nice to see him on a real team. Free Gore!
Leave Al Gore alone. He’s still tracking down manbearpig.
Glad they didn’t…
I can’t quit you
Headline in 2028: Padres made real run at Leo De Vries
I am going to call B.S. on that rumor from Heyman. The Padres GM told everyone what he was going to do before the deadline. He said he was going to gets 2 bats with at least one being a RHB, improve the bullpen, and if possible add a catcher. He got two bats with one being a RH power hitter, one of the best controllable relief pitchers, and a solid defensive catcher.
Would Salas and every single other top 10 organizational prospect be enough for gore? I wonder if this interest was before or after the miller trade
Didn’t they trade Gore in the first place… hmmm… how did Soto pay off for them? They just dumped him on the Yankees, didn’t they?
I will never understand their front office… just like the Mets who unloaded Verlander and Scherzer and cried for pitching the next two years and they sign this clown Montas.
Still shocked by devries trade. He has potential to be next tatis/acuna/soto/julio that kinda level talent
Padres have no farm left. Traded anyone with talent & their “top” prospect is 18 & has missed the entire season with injury. Somehow i think sd will refresh their system quickly. They always do somehow
Don’t get to attached to this year’s draft signings. They will be traded within the next 12 months. Preller isn’t into player development. Let the other teams do that.
I don’t think DeVries has that kind of upside. I definitely don’t think he’ll be the next Tatis.
When Tatis was 18 in A-ball (same age & level) he .281/.390/.520 with 21 HR’s.
DeVries has hit .245/.357/.410 with 8 HR’s. The season isn’t over so he should hit a few more homeruns but that is a lot less power, .239 iso vs .165.
I think the chances of him hurting anything remotely like James Wood are pretty darn slim. Wood had already shown the beast mode before being dealt:
2021 (18) – .372/.465/.535 (101 PA)
2022 (19) – .337/.453/.601 (236 PA)
In a lot of years DeVries wouldn’t be considered a #3 prospect having a good not great year at that age.
Desperately wanted this kid in a Red Sox uniform this year.