Padres wisely balked at Nationals’ lofty MacKenzie Gore asking price

The San Diego Padres apparently could have traded for former top prospect starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore from the Washington Nationals at the 2025 trade deadline.

Gore was reportedly made available by the Nationals ahead of the deadline. However, it appears San Diego balked at Washington's asking price. That may have been a good thing. AJ Preller is a GM known for making big, bold trades at the deadline. This time, his bold move might have been showing restraint and not making the biggest move.

Padres right to walk away from Nationals’ steep MacKenzie Gore trade talks

Of course, he did trade a huge prospect package to the Athletics for closer Mason Miller, but the price for Gore would have been even higher.

"The Nationals, with an interim GM, were only going to trade Mackenzie Gore if they got an A-plus trade and asked for (Leo) De Vries plus four others," wrote Jon Heyman for the New York Post. "The Padres were said to have made the best offer, but it wasn’t enough."

Of course, San Diego did ultimately trade De Vries and three other prospects to the Athletics for Miller and J.P. Sears. However, that trade makes a lot more sense than a potential Gore deal.

First, Miller is under club control through the 2029 season. Gore is only under control through 2027. The Padres also got Sears out of the deal with Miller. While Sears was not good in his initial stint in San Diego, he is also under control through 2029.

While Gore is a starting pitcher and is probably better than Miller at his peak, it's not by as much as you might think. Over the past three years, Gore has been worth 5.7 bWAR for the Nationals, while Miller has been worth 5.1 bWAR for the Athletics and Padres. Plus, Miller is younger and could still be converted into a starter. San Diego has successfully converted Seth Lugo and Michael King from relief ace to elite starter, and it would not be surprising to see them do it again with Miller.

At the end of the day, San Diego got a younger player with two more years of control and more upside in Mason Miller, and for a package that only took four prospects instead of five. Perhaps we'd feel differently if Gore had a better second half of the season, but right now, it seems clear. The San Diego Padres made the right call, not trading the farm for MacKenzie Gore.

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