At 62-43, the Chicago Cubs are tied with the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central and for the best record in the National League. Clearly, this Cubs team is very good, but with that being said, it has holes, particularly in the starting rotation. Chicago must use the trade deadline to improve in that area.
Shota Imanaga is a proven frontline arm, and Matthew Boyd has excelled in his first season with the Cubs, but who else is there that they should trust in October? Jameson Taillon is probably a fine No. 4 starter, and Cade Horton has shown flashes of brilliance, but the Cubs could really use another frontline arm. That's where MacKenzie Gore, a pitcher the Cubs have targeted according to ESPN's Jeff Passan, comes in.
So #Cubs fans…would you be okay with trading Matt Shaw for MacKenzie Gore??? Thoughts @thekapman @Brett_A_Taylor @BleacherNation @Michael_Cerami @CubsZone @CHGO_Cubs @SamOlbur @WaddleandSilvy @joe__obvious @cody__cubs pic.twitter.com/PbwyF2hdQU
— Matt Leicester (@mleicester23) July 28, 2025
Acquiring Gore would be costly and is certainly unlikely, but the Cubs certainly have the pieces to pull it off. Adding Gore, an All-Star starting pitcher who has a 3.52 ERA and is tied for third in the NL in strikeouts, to this rotation could make the Cubs clear-cut World Series favorites. If the Washington Nationals were to actually entertain trading Gore, Chicago has the pieces to get a deal done.
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MacKenzie Gore would be dream deadline addition for the Cubs
It'd be hard to envision the Cubs landing anyone better than Gore, a 26-year-old budding superstar with two additional years of club control. He's already a star, and is only getting better. Making the jump from the lowly Nats to the competing Cubs could help his development, too.
Yes, it'd be incredibly costly, as the mock trade below suggests, but the time for the Cubs to make a major splash is right now. The 2025 season is the only year in which they're guaranteed to have Kyle Tucker on their roster, and considering where they are record-wise, why not go all-in? Taking a big swing on Gore would also give them a bit of a cushion, given his additional club control.
Without further adieu, here's what a Gore trade to Chicago might look like.
Any Gore deal figures to start with Matt Shaw, a player Passan says the Nationals want. Giving up on Shaw, a 2023 first-round pick who has just started to get hot at the MLB level, would be incredibly tough for the Cubs, but to get a starter like Gore, it could be worthwhile. Giving Shaw up would be a lot, but Chicago would have to part with much more to get a young, cost-controlled starter like Gore.
Next, Owen Caissie, the Cubs' No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, would almost certainly be involved. Caissie has a ton of potential, but if the Cubs intend to keep Kyle Tucker around long-term, he doesn't have a clear path to playing time in Chicago.
Rising prospect Jaxon Wiggins would be the third player to head to Washington in this deal. Wiggins is Chicago's best pitching prospect, and he could be MLB-ready by sometime next season. It'd hurt to give him up, but with Gore, Imanaga, Horton and Justin Steele all locked in, the Cubs can afford to do so and still have a lethal rotation.
The last piece is Jack Neely, a reliever prospect who can help give the Nationals bullpen some upside. Neely didn't look great in his cup of coffee in the bigs last season, and he hasn't pitched well in Triple-A this season, but he's got potential and can get a chance in the Majors with Washington that the Cubs can't really afford to give him.
Cubs are one of few teams that Nationals should entertain trading MacKenzie Gore too
Trading Gore should be a non-starter for the Nationals, unless they're blown away. But the Cubs are one of few teams that can conceivably do just that.
Shaw has had a disappointing rookie year, but he's shown flashes of stardom since the All-Star break, and he can be their third baseman of the future. Caissie joining an outfield consisting of Dylan Crews and James Wood would be absolutely electric for the next decade or longer. Wiggins has immense upside and can be a strong starter for Washington for a while. Neely is a worthwhile flier to take given the state of Washington's bullpen.
Trading Gore would be a brutal outcome, but this is a ton that the Nationals would be receiving. They could come to regret the All-Star left-hander, but everyone thought they made a mistake trading Juan Soto away. Trading Gore away could lead to similarly outstanding results if they make this deal with the Cubs.