Michael

King

The deal, which was agreed upon on Thursday, is now official. The backloaded deal includes opt-outs for the 30-year-old hurler after each of the first two seasons. As long as he remains healthy, King should have a good shot at finishing as a top 30 starting pitcher for fantasy purposes in 2026.

The Yankees had been mentioned as a possible landing spot for King after the 30-year-old hurler spent his first five big league seasons with the club from 2019-2023. Heyman notes that while the Yankees are in the market for starting pitching, they simply had other targets. It’ll be interesting to see if they get more aggressive now that there is one fewer upper echelon option for pitching-starved clubs to chase after on the free agent market.

The deal is backloaded, so King will make $22 million if he opts out after 2026 or $45 million if he opts out after 2027. It’s a little odd he allowed it to be structured that way, given that he didn’t seem to have a shortage of suitors, but it suggests San Diego is where he wanted to be all along. The Yankees, Red Sox, Mets and Orioles were also thought to be interested in him. The 30-year-old right-hander finished seventh in NL Cy Young Award balloting back in 2024 but was limited to 15 starts this past season due to shoulder and knee issues, recording a strong 3.44 ERA — 4.42 FIP — and 76/26 K/BB ratio across 73 1/3 innings. He’s a top-30 range fantasy starter heading into drafts next spring.

Well, the Mets do love their converted relievers. King is one of the top starters on the free agent market, and the Mets are “hesitant to sign a starting pitcher to a long-term deal,” so that makes adding a pitcher like Framber Valdez less likely. King missed much of last season with a shoulder injury, and there are some durability concerns given his short track record as a starter; however, he posted a 2.95 ERA in 173 2/3 innings for the Padres in 2024 and has the raw ability to be a clear top-of-the-rotation starter.

It’s known that the Marlins want a closer, but they could also try adding to the rotation in free agency and then trading one of their current starters, presumably either Sandy Alcantara or Edward Cabrera, for offensive help. They might see King as a more realistic target than the other top starters, as he did open his career in the organization after being drafted out of Boston College in 2016.

It comes as a mild surprise that four players — Shota Imanaga, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff and Trent Grisham — accepted the short-term pact this cycle instead of testing the open market since only 14 of 144 players since 2012 previously accepted qualifying offers. Tucker, Bichette, Schwarber, Valdez, Cease, Suárez and Díaz were no-doubters here while there was some thought that Gallen and King might take the one-year deal to build up their values before hitting free agency next offseason.

The 30-year-old King was limited to just 15 starts this season due to a shoulder injury and has just one full MLB season as a starting pitcher, back in 2024, so there are some concerns about his durability. If not for those, Passan indicates that “King might be at the top of the free agent pitchers list.” Many teams view him as a nine-figure talent, but the expectation is that he will get a similar deal to Nathan Eovaldi’s three-year, $75 million deal from last offseason. That has many teams in the market for King, including low-revenue teams.

Passan adds that Kyle Schwarber, Bo Bichette, Framber Valdez, Dylan Cease, Ranger Suarez, Edwin Díaz, Zac Gallen, Shota Imanaga, Michael King, Trent Grisham, Gleyber Torres and Brandon Woodruff are the other dozen impending free agent to receive the tag prior to Thursday evening’s deadline. They have until Tuesday, November 18 to decide whether to accept the one-year deal or decline and become free agents. Only 14 of 144 players to receive a qualifying offer since 2012 have actually accepted it. It’s worth noting that players who were on multiple teams — Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suárez — along with players who have previously received a qualifying offer — Pete Alonso, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman — were ineligible to receive one this offseason.

King can either accept the offer and return to San Diego on the one-year deal, or decline it and become an unrestricted free agent. The 30-year-old right-hander declined his $15 million mutual option last week to hit the open market this offseason. He was limited to just 15 starts this past season due to shoulder and knee injuries after finishing seventh in NL Cy Young Award balloting during his Padres debut the previous year. He’s one of the more intriguing talents in the free agent pool this offseason given his combination of age and upper-echelon talent.

No surprise here. King will test the open market this offseason in search of a long-term deal after receiving a $3.75 million buyout. The 30-year-old right-hander — who finished seventh in NL Cy Young Award balloting with San Diego in 2024 — was limited to 15 starts this past season due to shoulder and knee issues but still posted a strong 3.44 ERA and 76/26 K/BB ratio across 73 1/3 innings. He remains one of the more intriguing arms in this year’s free-agent class given how effective he’s been since transitioning to a full-time starter with the Yankees back in 2023.