The reason Rangers' MacKenzie Gore has a logical contract to sign after Texas trade originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Texas Rangers made a big trade this offseason, acquiring MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals.
Before long, they might have to make a contract extension decision with the strikeout-happy southpaw.
Gore has two more years of club control, so a deal doesn't need to be reached immediately. But that is part of why the Nats were willing to trade him. He didn't fit their timeline as well as he fit the Texas timeline.
The Rangers, though, actually have an opportunity to fit him within two contention windows.
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The first one includes Nathan Eovaldi and Jacob deGrom. Then they could keep him around longer, if he gets an eventual extension.
That's what MLB.com's Mark Feinsand wrote about in a new article on Thursday.
"Texas dealt five prospects for Gore this offseason, paying a hefty price to add the 2025 All-Star to its rotation," Feinsand wrote. "Gore is under control for two more seasons, putting him on track to become a free agent at the same time as Jacob deGrom and Nathan Eovaldi, who will be 39 and 37, respectively. Even if Jack Leiter and Kumar Rocker take big steps forward, securing Gore beyond 2027 would help Texas in its transition post-deGrom/Eovaldi."
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Gore was a former top prospect for the Padres who was traded away from San Diego in the deal for Juan Soto.
Then he developed into the star that got traded himself for a big prospect haul. It's the full-circle of baseball development.
All that's left is for the Rangers to get the fully formed version of Gore to be a stalwart in what has the potential to be a really good pitching rotation. If that happens, they might find it worthwhile to keep him around for a long time.
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