The Nationals have agreed to trade left-hander MacKenzie Gore to the Rangers for a package of five prospects, including Texas’ first-round pick from last summer’s draft, in Paul Toboni’s first blockbuster deal since becoming the club’s president of baseball operations.

The trade, which was officially announced late this afternoon, sends Gore to Texas with two years of club control remaining and makes the 26-year-old burgeoning ace the first player acquired in the Juan Soto megadeal of 2022 to be dealt away.

As was the case in the Soto deal, the Nats receive five prospects in return for Gore, though this package does not include as many highly rated players.

The return from the Rangers features shortstop Gavin Fien (a 2025 first round pick), right-hander Alejandro Rosario (formerly a top-50 prospect who is expected to miss the entire 2026 season following Tommy John surgery), infielder Devin Fitz-Gerald (drafted in 2024 out of high school), outfielder Yeremy Cabrera (20-year-old signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2022) and first baseman Abimelec Ortiz (23-year-old who posted a .953 OPS in 41 games at Triple-A last season).

Those five players’ most recent rankings among the Rangers’ top prospects, per MLB Pipeline: Fien (No. 2), Rosario (No. 6), Fitz-Gerald (No. 12), Cabrera (No. 16) and Ortiz (No. 18). None made Pipeline’s overall Top-100 list, though that organization has yet to update its rankings for 2026.

"It wasn't necessarily important to us that we need a smaller package but really high-end talent, or a really big package but less than high-end talent. We were open-minded through it all, and this ultimately was the package that we felt most comfortable with," Toboni said in a Zoom call with reporters. "Just generally speaking, we see high-end talent in this return, but we also see intriguing depth. For us, I think there are a number of ways the ball can bounce in the future. And we can look up in however many years and we have three, four, five really good players who have come out of this."

The specter of a Gore trade had loomed for a while, dating back to last summer, when interim general manager Mike DeBartolo considered offers for the lefty prior to the July 31 deadline. In the end, DeBartolo didn’t receive an offer he deemed good enough and decided to wait for the offseason, at which point Toboni was hired as the permanent replacement for ex-GM Mike Rizzo.

Toboni acknowledged throughout the winter he would consider dealing both Gore and shortstop CJ Abrams, but that the asking price would be high. It took several months, with spring training now set to begin in less than three weeks, but he finally found an offer he was willing to accept.

"If you asked me a week ago was this going to happen, I probably would've said no," Toboni said. "But over the course of the last week, momentum built, and we finally got to a spot where it made sense for us."

Though he was inconsistent, Gore was unquestionably the Nationals’ most accomplished starter the last two seasons and earned the first All-Star selection of his career last summer after a dominant first half that briefly saw him lead the majors in strikeouts. Often plagued by poor run support from his teammates, the lefty wound up going 22-37 with a 4.15 ERA, 1.391 WHIP and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings over 89 starts with the club.

Gore, who turns 27 next month, agreed earlier this month to a $5.6 million contract for this coming season. He’ll still be arbitration-eligible in 2027 before then becoming a free agent. With the Nationals still prioritizing long-term goals over short-term success, it became increasingly unlikely Gore would still be around when the team is ready to win again.

An already-thin rotation, though, now looks even thinner as spring training fast approaches. The Nats will be counting on 2020 first-round pick Cade Cavalli to lead a staff of starters that could also include right-handers Brad Lord, Jake Irvin and Josiah Gray, plus left-hander Foster Griffin (the only major league free agent signed to date by Toboni).

"I think we've got to be honest with ourselves," Toboni said. "The truth is – and I don't think this is a mystery to the fanbase, the media or anyone – we lost 96 games last year. To turn it around in one year and make the playoffs ... not to say it can't be done, but it's a challenge. What we want to do is make sure we build this really strong foundation, so when we do start to push chips in, we can win for an extended period of time. That fits with that strategy for us. Our hope is that we can hopefully achieve our potential, whatever that is, this year. And then hopefully beyond this year win for years to come."

Note: The Nationals announced another transaction this evening, claiming reliever Gus Varland off waivers from the Diamondbacks and designating catcher Riley Adams for assignment.

Varland, 29, has appeared in 42 big league games with the Brewers, Dodgers and White Sox, going 2-1 with a 4.82 ERA and 1.736 WHIP. He He missed much of the 2025 season recovering from a lat strain.

Adams, who has been the Nats' primary backup catcher since his acquisition from the Blue Jays in 2021, could remain in the organization if he clears waivers. The split contract he agreed to last month guarantees him a $1 million salary if he's in the majors and $500,000 if he's in the minors, according to a source familiar with the terms. Though he has the right to refuse an outright assignment and become a free agent, he likely wouldn't be guaranteed as much money on a minor league deal with another organization.