With Paul Toboni in Washington, could the Red Sox swoop in and land the Nationals' ace?

The Washington Nationals are a team loaded with young talent and are continuing their rebuild in the Beltway under the new leadership of former Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni.

If the Red Sox want to solidify their starting rotation by adding a legitimate No. 2 starter behind ace left-hander Garrett Crochet, Boston should be on the phone with the Nationals.

There is no executive in baseball who has a better familiarity with the Red Sox farm system than Toboni, who the Nationals hired away from Boston last month to lead its front office.

MacKenzie Gore is an intriguing option for the Red Sox, who already made a massive splash last offseason by acquiring Crochet and are poised to potentially do the same thing again by trading top prospects for one of the game’s best young pitchers.

With all eyes on the Twins’ Joe Ryan, Gore is 27 years old and in an eerily similar position to where Crochet was with the White Sox last offseason. The left-hander is under arbitration control through the 2027 season. Gore is a Scott Boras client, which doesn’t always bode well for getting a long-term deal done before hitting the open market.

He fits the mold of what the Red Sox have been wanting to target under chief baseball officer Craig Breslow: a premium trade asset who is young and controllable and offers a high ceiling.

The one-two punch of Crochet and Gore atop the Red Sox rotation would give Boston two of the best young southpaws in the game, and should the Sox make it back to the postseason, a lethal combo to begin any series.

Gore, who arrived in Washington in 2022 as part of the blockbuster deal that sent Juan Soto to the Padres, has ascended to ace status. He had an incredible first half for the Nationals, making the All-Star team. In 110 1/3 innings before the break, he was one of the league leaders in strikeouts with 138 to just 35 walks.

He looked like a blossoming ace, but began to regress in the second half. In 11 starts, he collapsed, posting a 6+ ERA and struck out just 47 batters to 29 was. His WHIP ballooned to 1.70 and opposing hitters feasted, hitting .288 against him. Once September rolled around, he landed on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation and then again later in the month with a right ankle impingement.

Overall, Gore posted a 5-15 record with a 4.17 ERA with 185 strikeouts in 159 2/3 frames. Despite the second-half dip in production, Gore is in the prime of his career and could benefit from a change in scenery.

High-end pitching will forever be in demand, and his asking price will not be cheap. If Toboni wants to trade Gore to get a Crochet-like package, he will likely pluck some of Boston’s best young pitching prospects in the process.

Both left-handers Connelly Early and Peyton Tolle have both contributed to the Sox last season and figure to be in the plans for the 2026 roster. For Early, the sample size is small, but he was displayed on the biggest stage, starting Game 3 of the American League Wild Card at Yankee Stadium.

The calm and cool 23-year-old has just four regular-season starts under his belt, but has shown flashes of dominance over that span. He posted a 2.33 ERA with a 1-2 record while striking out 29 batters and walking just four.

“After Game 3, I saw that kid in the dugout and I had no doubt this guy is going to contribute in the future,” said Alex Cora following the 4-0, Game 3 loss to the Yankees. “We talked a little bit after the game. The goal is to get stronger and to keep getting better. He had a taste of what it is to pitch in October and in Yankee Stadium in a win-or-go home game. What better experience for a kid to have? Moving forward, he’s going to be better and I’m excited about his future.”

Tolle had a breakout year, establishing himself as one of the minors’ most intriguing young arms before Boston promoted him for the playoff push. The big lefty has a fastball that jumps quickly on hitters, playing above its velocity, but lacks feel for his secondary pitches, which haunted him in the bigs. He will be a pitcher that Toboni would surely covet in any potential Gore-swap this offseason. The Nationals would continue to work on his development, focusing on improving his secondary arsenal will squash some question marks about his development.

If the Nationals want to grab a young hard-throwing starter to stash in their lower levels, look no further than right-hander Juan Valera. The 19-year-old had an up-and-down season, recording a 5.45 ERA with 24 strikeouts to 32 walks in 38 innings (10 starts). Valera offers a tantalizing fastball that sits at 98 mph and has topped out at 100 mph, impressive for a teenager. Then again, everyone throws 100 mph nowadays. He did spend time on the 60-day injured list with an elbow issue, which led to some inconsistencies with his numbers. At this stage of Valera’s career, it’s about development and not numbers in th lower levels of the Sox’ system.

In addition to Toboni in Washington, the Red Sox lost another key voice from their front office, who is very familiar with the inner workings of the farm system.

Former Sox director of amateur scouting, Devin Pearson, has also joined Toboni as an assistant general manager. Pearson had been with the Red Sox since 2017, rising quickly through the organization, working closely with Toboni during the Sox’ drafts. He was the assistant director of scouting under Toboni for the drafts; the club brought in Marcelo Mayer, Roman Anthony, Kyle Teel, Kristian Campbell, Early, and Tolle.

With both executives having an extensive knowledge of the Red Sox farm system, they could target specific players to add to Washington's young talent pool.

Boston is in a window to contend and needs to find a No. 2 starter to slot behind Crochet moving forward. Gore has had dominant stretches, but also regression. His underlying metrics slipped in terms of fastball velocity, walk rate, and hard-hit rate, relative to his 2024 season.

The Sox won’t be the only team pursuing Gore, the Cubs and Padres were rumored trying to trade for him at the deadline. The Phillies should never be ruled out because of Dave Dombrowski. Philadelphia could look to add Gore and lock him up long-term, with Zack Wheeler planning to retire at the end of his current contract with the club. The righty plans on hanging up his cleats following the completion of his contract at the end of the 2027 season. There is always the possibility of the Yankees lurking to make a splash to improve their rotation.

Boston has the resources, both in terms of players and finances, to execute a significant trade for either Gore or Ryan. According to Red Sox Payroll on X, the 2025 Red Sox’ payroll was approximately $248.6 million. The club is currently committed to $218.92 million in salary for 2026. With the first CBT threshold of $244 million next year, the Red Sox will start the offseason roughly $25 million below the tax, and they have needs in their rotation and have to address the Alex Bregman situation.

It won’t be cheap for Breslow to address the needs of his roster, especially coming off a successful season that was cut short in the American League Wild Card round.

The Red Sox need another high-end arm; Gore is cheap in terms of salary right now. They’ll need to extend him or even Ryan. Money should never be a factor in Boston, but that will likely be the case, and the Sox will likely be very creative this offseason.