“The Miami Marlins are active in the closer market, talking with free-agent right-hander Michael King and other starting pitchers, and are also weighing upgrades at first and third base,” according to a Monday morning report from Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. Rosenthal had reported earlier this offseason that the Marlins might “double down on their rotation as a strength,” but this is his first time linking them to a specific pitcher.
Fun fact: King was involved in the very first trade of Bruce Sherman’s ownership tenure. On November 20, 2017, the Marlins dealt him to the New York Yankees in exchange for Garrett Cooper and Caleb Smith. King made his major league debut in 2019 and was used primarily as a reliever by the Yankees.
More recently, he was named Opening Day starter for the San Diego Padres in 2025. Through 10 outings, he was on an All-Star trajectory (2.59 ERA in 55.2 IP). However, he was limited to only five starts after Memorial Day due to right shoulder inflammation and left knee inflammation. He pitched one scoreless inning of relief for San Diego during the National League Wild Card Series. He turns 31 next May and has never previously been a free agent.
Since moving to the rotation, King’s average sinker velocity has sat around 93 mph, which is below average for a righty. However, his changeup is one of the best in baseball. His strikeout rate has steadily declined from a high of 33.2% in 2022 to 24.7% this season.
The Padres extended a $22.025 million qualifying offer to King earlier this month. He rejected it, anticipating that he’ll be able to garner a multi-year deal at a similar average annual value.
It would be extremely out of character for the Marlins to be the highest bidders for King. In two previous offseasons with Peter Bendix serving as their president of baseball operations, the club has only guaranteed a total of $8.5 million to MLB free agents (Tim Anderson and Cal Quantrill). “People familiar with their plans” tell Ken Rosenthal that this willingness to add veteran talent is borne out of the opportunity to be a legitimate postseason contender coming off a 79-win campaign.
However, Rosenthal and Drellich remind us that in 2025, the Marlins fell far short of the spending thresholds outlined by the collective bargaining agreement. They were expected to receive “roughly $70 million if not more” from league revenue sharing alone, yet finished with a luxury-tax payroll of approximately $85 million. As a result, they could face a greivance from the players’ union this offseason if this frugal behavior persists.
The Chicago Cubs are among King’s other suitors, according to The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney.
Regarding the closer market, the only high-profile name who was come off the board so far is Raisel Iglesias, who re-signed with the Atlanta Braves on a one-year, $16 million deal.