The Washington Nationals have an ace in the form of lefty MacKenzie Gore.
But there's a chance Gore won't be around long enough to helm the rotation when the Nats return to real contention.
That's how The Athletic's Jim Bowden views things, and so he advises the Nationals to trade Gore right now, before his value decreases.
"One of the biggest trade pieces (Paul) Toboni has to dangle is lefty MacKenzie Gore," Bowden writes. "Gore has two years of control left, but it’s unlikely the Nationals would keep him past his arbitration years, so trading him now makes the most sense."
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The new president of baseball operations, Toboni inherits a lot of young talent. It's just a matter of piecing it all together in a way that wins more baseball games.
A Gore trade would feel like a near-term downgrade, but it'd be a move made to play the long game.
James Wood, Dylan Crews and C.J. Abrams should be around for the long haul, along with a handful of other promising pieces just now arriving in the major leagues.
Gore's peak timeline is just a little bit ahead of those guys.
As a front-line southpaw with two years of control left, Gore could command a serious prospect price from a contending team.
It'd be the type of deal that might work out well for everyone in the end. It'd be a bold move for Toboni to really pull the trigger on a Gore trade, but Bowden suggests it'd be worth it, and he's got a point.
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