MacKenzie Gore was caught off guard by the trade last August which brought the lefty and four other high-end prospects (plus Luke Voit) to Washington, D.C., and sent Juan Soto and Josh Bell to San Diego.
He told reporters shortly after joining the Nationals it was an emotional few days as the reality of the trade set in.
“San Diego has kind of been home since I was 18,” the 24-year-old 2017 1st Round pick by the Padres said, “so it was an emotional day, but I was excited going with teammates and going closer to home [in North Carolina], so there’s a lot of positives, but yeah, it was an emotional day.