Gore remains a National amid frenzy of MLB trade deadline moves

MLB fans were clamoring for action ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline. They got it. All-Stars and Cy Young winners were dealt to new homes as contenders prepared for a playoff push and rebuilding clubs looked to the future. 

The lowly Nationals found themselves in the latter group. Led by interim general manager Mike DeBartolo, the team hosted a deadline fire sale. Closer Kyle Finnegan is now a Detroit Tiger and rotational outfielder Alex Call is a Los Angeles Dodger in a pair of trades on Thursday. 

Washington received pitchers Josh Randall and RJ Sales from Detroit in exchange for Finnegan. 

Randall, 22, was a third-round pick for Detroit in 2024 and was listed as the organization’s 15th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline. He has split time between Single-A and High-A, maintaining a 3.92 ERA. 

Sales, also 22, was a 10th-round pick last year and has spent this season in Single-A, producing a 2.71 ERA.

Finnegan dominated trade rumors for three straight summers. Now, with the 33-year-old set to become a free agent in the offseason, interim general manager Mike DeBartolo pulled the trigger. 

The closer saw it coming. 

“The chatter’s always been out there, but I understand how the game works. And this year is probably the most likely scenario,” he told MASN this week.

Finnegan notched a 4.38 ERA across 40 appearances this year. He earned a save in 20 of his 26 opportunities, recording 32 strikeouts with 14 walks. 

He’s the fourth pitcher dealt by the Nationals this week. The team traded relievers Luis Garcia and Andrew Chafin to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday before shipping starter Michael Soroka to the National League-contending Chicago Cubs.

Call joined that group less than an hour before the 6 p.m. deadline. DeBartolo sent him to the defending champion Dodgers for a pair of pitching prospects: Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Linan. The minor leaguers were the 16th and 20th-ranked prospects in the Dodgers’ system, according to MLB Pipeline. 

The decision to trade Call broke a running trend for DeBartolo and Washington’s front office. Most of the now-departed players were veterans on expiring contracts, primed to test free agency in the offseason. 

Call, 30, is under club control through 2029. The steady bat found himself in a logjam of Nationals outfielders, though, losing playing time to up-and-comers like Dylan Crews, Robert Hassell III and Daylen Lile.

By the time the deadline passed, the Nationals had shipped out six Major League players.

But starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore — likely Washington’s biggest trade chip — is still a National. DeBartolo reportedly received several offers from interested teams, but none matched the high price he had in mind for the 26-year-old All-Star. 

“In my position, you listen on anything that’s brought to you and you consider every scenario,” DeBartolo said. “Ultimately, where we came out, we value MacKenzie so highly and just thought it was better for the Nationals to keep him.”

Gore is under club control through the 2027 season. 

DeBartolo entered the trade deadline with a clear strategy: retain young players, ship out veterans on expiring deals for prospects. The Nationals traded five of the seven players entering free agency, retaining only designated hitter Josh Bell and infielder Paul DeJong. 

“Nothing came together,” DeBartolo said of trade talks for Bell and DeJong. The executive said he wanted to give the veterans a chance to join a contender.

The rebuilding Baltimore Orioles had a similar plan. The once-promising squad shipped players like Cedric Mullins to the New York Mets and packaged sluggers Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano in a deal with the Padres. 

Baltimore also sent pitcher Charlie Morton to Detroit in a last-minute trade.

Postseason contenders like the Mets, Padres, Tigers and AL East-leading Toronto Blue Jays were key players in Thursday’s frenzy. The Blue Jays bolstered their starting rotation by trading for 2020 Cy Young winner Shane Bieber from the Guardians. 

In Thursday’s most surprising moves, the Houston Astros reunited with shortstop Carlos Correa. The 30-year-old waived his no-trade clause with the Twins to return to the franchise that drafted him with the first pick in the 2012 draft.