The 31-year-old right-hander stated, “San Diego’s been—been incredible for me, and it’s all the way across the country from home... But now I feel like I have a—a second home on the West Coast, so it’s been awesome. And yeah, I hope to—hope to continue.” King holds a $28 million player option ($5 million buyout) for the 2027 season. He’s almost certain to opt out of that and land a multi-year deal with a much higher AAV. While the Padres will almost assuredly love to bring him back, there’s going to be plenty of competition for his services on the open market and they’ll need to ante up in order to put themselves in the mix.