The San Francisco Giants finished in the most mediocre way possible in 2025, ending with an 81-81 record. They’ve made upgrades to their offense this past year, but now they need to find some pitching depth.
Fansided’s Christopher Kline believes the Giants can find some depth by trading for Washington Nationals All-Star starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore. Gore would become the third option in San Francisco and may finally be able to take the next step.
“The Giants should put in a competitive bid for Tatsuya Imai, but it's unclear if Buster Posey actually has the necessary freedom to spend at that level. Trading for MacKenzie Gore qualifies as a strong alternative. The 27-year-old has a couple years of control left and some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in MLB…Robbie Ray is a free agent next winter, so building in contingency plans is the smart move. He forms an incredible one-two punch with Logan Webb (for now), but rotation depth is a point of weakness for San Francisco. Gore gives them a third postseason-level arm, leaning heavily on his fastball-curve combo to produce an 80th percentile K rate last season,” Kline wrote.
This past season, Gore posted a 4.17 ERA with 185 Ks and a WHIP of 1.353 over 159 innings pitched. However, Gore was a solid ace in the first half of the season, with an ERA of 3.08 and 138 strikeouts.
Putting Gore in a position to actually contend may bring out the best in him, especially where he has less pressure to be THE man of the rotation. If he has time to grow in the backend of the rotation, it may help him become a frontend starter quicker.
Hopefully, the Giants get negotiations started, as many other contenders may have the same idea.
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