Red Sox Linked To Nationals All-Star In Risky Potential Blockbuster

On Thursday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic linked the Red Sox to Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore, an All-Star this summer but an inconsistent performer throughout his young career, in a potential winter trade.

"Paul Toboni has taken over as president of baseball operations for the Washington Nationals and it’s only a matter of time before he starts shopping Gore," Bowden wrote. "Toboni’s old team, the Red Sox, seem like a good place to start. He’s so familiar with Boston’s prospect cabinet that I’m sure he’d find a strong return even if he can’t land the team’s very best prospects in a trade."

Gore had a 3.02 ERA at the All-Star break, but slumped hard in the second half, bumping that number all the way to 4.17 by season's end. He also finished the year with just 5.3 innings per start, which isn't exactly befitting of the No. 2 starter label the Red Sox should theoretically be chasing.

However, Gore has to be given some grace for not only pitching on a bad team for all these years, but a team that clearly has a huge problem developing starting pitching. The Nats' two qualified starters this year, Mitchell Parker and Jake Irvin, had ERAs of 5.68 and 5.70, respectively.

Still just 26 (the same age as Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello), Gore could be a building block in Red Sox rotations for many years to come. But making him the main pitching acquisition would also be a massive risk for Boston if he can't shake off the inconsistency.