As the Winter Meetings start to pick up, this week's subscriber mailbag gets into MacKenzie Gore trade proposals, more trade ideas involving this year's Cy Young winners, the trade value of Nick Pivetta and Anthony Santander, and much more.
Steve asks:
Assuming that MacKenzie Gore has not been traded as I write this, would either of these two deals be likely to work for the teams involved?
1. Gore and Luis Garcia, Jr. to the Giants for Bryce Eldridge and Carson Whisenhunt? or
2. Gore to the Red Sox for Triston Casas and Connelly Early?
Your thoughts?
Gustav asks:
Who’d say no in a Gore & Abrams for Sheehan, Freeland, Ferris & Hope?
Gore, 27 in February, has two more years of team control remaining. He's had a couple of 3-WAR type seasons in 2024 and '25, but they came with extreme volatility.
The lefty made 32 starts in 2024. He had a 14-start stretch in the middle where he posted a 6.18 ERA, 19.8 K%, and 11.4 BB%. That 8.3 K-BB% was the fourth-worst in baseball among qualified starters during that June 3rd-August 17th period. Before and after that, Gore pitched like an ace. His velocity was up early in the season, spiking to 96.6 miles per hour from the beginning of the year through July 1st. It was a full mile per hour slower from that point on.
Similarly, Gore entered a July 20th start against the Padres this year with a 3.02 ERA, 30.5 K%, and 7.7 BB%. His was back in ace form, and earned his first All-Star nod. From that point forward, though, Gore posted a 6.75 ERA, 20.7 K%, and 12.8 BB% over his final 11 starts. This stretch was a bit more concentrated into three or four blow-ups. Gore's velocity was back down to 95.3 this year, but was relatively consistent game-to-game.
A run through Gore's injury history:
- 2018: IL time with blisters and fingernail issues
- August 2019: rested for 26 days to manage workload
- 2020: no minor league season; pitched at Padres' alternate site
- 2021: Started year at Triple-A; moved to Padres' alternate site in June after struggling with blisters; remained there to work on his delivery. Finished the year with two Double-A starts.
- 2022: Made MLB debut in April when Blake Snell got injured. July 26th: landed on IL with elbow soreness. August 2nd: traded to Nationals. Made four minor league rehab starts for the Nats.
- 2023: Exited July start with a blister; made the following one. Removed from August 16th start due to a blister; returned a week later. September 9th: season ended due to blisters.
- 2024: Avoided IL and known blister issues.
- 2025: Exited May start due to leg tightness; made his next one. August 30th: went on IL for shoulder inflammation; ended up going 16 days between starts.
The blister issues didn't seem to pop up after 2023. Gore has never undergone Tommy John surgery. His 2022 elbow soreness and his 2025 shoulder inflammation seemed minor.
So Gore's injury history is not bad, but he's been a pitcher of extremes the last two years. It's difficult to value that, but I'm sure just about every organization would like to bring him in and try to smooth things out.
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