Starting pitcher Michael King is a free agent this winter, although the San Diego Padres have extended him a qualifying offer.
King has until Nov. 18 to decide whether to accept the one-year, $22.025 million offer. If he chooses to decline, he will be free to sign elsewhere, though the Padres will not walk away empty-handed and will receive a compensatory draft pick if he doesn’t return to San Diego.
The righty was acquired by the Padres through the Juan Soto trade, where San Diego traded the multi-time All-Star to the New York Yankees instead of risking losing him in free agency or giving him a huge contract.
King has been a revelation for the Padres, pitching 247 innings and posting a 3.10 ERA while being valued at 5.2 bWAR.
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He was competing for the Cy Young award early in the season, but a left shoulder injury sidelined him for months, and he lost his rhythm after returning.
Even after an overall disappointing 2025 season, King is likely to turn down his qualifying offer, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post
“Michael King (Padres) and Zac Gallen (Diamondbacks) are expected to reject their Qualifying Offers, and both are candidates to come East. King is from Rhode Island and Gallen the Philly end of New Jersey,” Heyman wrote.
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His overall body of work and age (30) should earn him a multi-year, nine-figure deal that gives him financial security for the coming seasons.
The Padres are already speaking like they are moving on from King, and their other free agent starting pitcher, Dylan Cease.
“Every year, every team in here is talking about starting pitching,” Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller said to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“But especially with [Michael] King and [Dylan] Cease in free agency and [Yu] Darvish’s injury, it’s probably our top need going into the offseason.
“We’ve had just very limited talks so far. That’s what these meetings are for … to kind of get a little bit more sense of what is out there.”
It might be possible that either King or Cease returns if their market doesn’t develop as expected, though early indications suggest that the Friars will be exploring cheaper alternatives.
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