Nationals Starter Could Be Yankees Rotation Fix

According to ESPN's Kiley McDaniels, Gore is expected to be elsewhere by the end of the season.

"Teams expect Gore to be wearing a different uniform by the end of 2026," McDaniels writes. "They just aren't sure whether a deal will happen now or at the trade deadline in July. New Washington president of baseball operations Paul Toboni has held discussions with multiple teams about Gore, but the ask is understandably high. Gore's impending free agency after 2027 complicates things somewhat."

Gore may not be as well-rounded a pitcher as Skubal or King, but he comes with a year more of control than his Boras brethren and is a safer bet to finish a season than King, who, despite his all-world talent, has always had trouble staying on the field.

As far as an Imai comparison goes, it's hard to say who will be the better of the two until he comes stateside and starts getting in games. So far, Gore is more of a sure thing.

If the Yanks do go out and trade for Gore, he would slot in as a middle-of-the-rotation starter, potentially with some upside. In 532.1 career innings since 2022, he has pitched to a 4.19 ERA. He also has a 4.61 ERA and 4.02 FIP, so that 4 ERA isn't an aberration for him.

Gore is dependable but not quite a frontline starter. His best quality is his dependability, though. He made 27 starts in 2023, 32 in 2024, and 30 in 2025.

One of Gore's issues is that he doesn't have a great fastball. He threw the heater 49.3% of the time, and opposing batters hit .294 off of it with a .483 slugging. The pitch also had a 47.8% hard hit rate.

Gore's slider is his best pitch, and if he has any upside, it's because of it. Hitters hit .195 off of it with a .305 slugging. They also had a 31.4% hard hit rate.

Trading for Gore means you're trading for his upside. His 27.2% k rate last season was in the 80th percentile. The issue are the walks. He was in the bottom of the league with a 9.3% walk rate. That put him in the 28th percentile.

Gore is the pitching version of the Jazz Chisholm trade from 2024. Here is this player with all the talent in the world, but they haven't found the best version of themselves in the environment that they're in. The big hope for the Yankees would be crafting him into the type of pitcher the Padres envisioned when they drafted him in 2017, and the Nationals had in mind when they traded their homegrown superstar outfielder, Soto.

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