Gavin

Fien

Fien is on the move a mere six months after the Rangers made him the 12th overall pick in the 2025 draft. He played just 10 games afterwards, batting .220/.267/.341 in Low-A. Prior to the draft, he was often connected with the Red Sox, who picked 15th, making it no surprise that the Nationals, now being run by former Red Sox scouting VP Paul Toboni, targeted him here. Fien isn’t a lock to last at shortstop, but he has an advanced offensive approach that should make him a regular somewhere in the infield a few years from now. He just might not quite offer All-Star-type upside.

The Nationals are set to receive a package of five prospects in return: infielders Gavin Fien and Devin Fitz-Gerald, outfielder Yeremy Cabrera, first baseman Abimelec Ortiz and right-hander Alejandro Rosario. It’s a tremendous get for the Rangers as Gore will bolster the top of their rotation with a strong left-handed arm that they were solely lacking. The 26-year-old southpaw registered a 4.17 ERA and an 185/64 K/BB ratio across 159 2/3 innings with the Nationals in 2025. He’s under team control through the 2027 season.

The Dallas Morning News’ Shawn McFarland reports Fien will receive a $4.8 million signing bonus, significantly under-slot for the 12th overall pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, which carried a slot value of $5.7 million. The 18-year-old is light years away from making an impact, but he’s one of the more well-rounded prep shortstops in his draft class. It’s challenging to forecast his fantasy future at this stage of his development, but he feels like a classic better real-life than fantasy prospect at the moment.

Fien is considered one of the best prep bats in the class, and it’s thanks to how well-rounded his game is. While nothing projects to be plus in terms of his tools, everything has a chance to be average or slightly above, and that would make for a very valuable player. How that translates into potential fantasy success is another question. He doesn’t have the atypical power you see at third base so he may need to stick at shortstop, and he’s not likely to be among the league leaders in average. There’s plenty of time for him to develop and he was one of the best performers of the summer, but this seems like a better real-life prospect than a fantasy one at this stage.