Michael King – San Diego Union-Tribune

MICHAEL KING

Position(s): Right-handed starting pitcher
Bats / Throws: Right / Right
2026 opening day age: 30
Height / Weight: 6-foot-3 / 210 pounds
How acquired: Via trade with the New York Yankees in December 2023; re-signed in December 2025.
Contract status: Will make $5 million in 2026 as part of a three-year deal that included a $12 million signing bonus; he also has a $5 million buyout against a $28 million player option for 2027 and a $30 million player option with no buyout for 2028.
fWAR in 2025: 0.8
Key 2025 stats: 5-3, 3.44 ERA, 76 strikeouts, 26 walks, 1.20 WHIP, .224 opponent average, 73⅓ innings (15 starts)

STAT TO NOTE

6.11 — King’s ERA over five starts after returning from the nerve issue that sent him to the injured list in mid-May. At the time, King had a 2.59 ERA as he looked to build on his first year in the Padres’ rotation.

TRENDING

Down — As difficult as it is to trade away a player like Juan Soto, the Padres did well to acquire multiple years of both King and RHP Randy Vásquez among the players fetched in the package from the Yankees. Especially considering how King came out of the gate as a full-time starter in 2024. He won 13 games, posted a 2.95 ERA over a career-high 173⅔ innings, ranked in the top 1 percentile in average exit velocity (85.7 mph) and finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting. King even turned in one of the better postseason starts in franchise history — 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BBs, 12 Ks to beat the Braves in Game 1 of the 2024 NL Wild Card Series — to position himself as the staff ace heading into 2025. Toward that end, King got the nod on opening day and looked like he was penning the same sort of season when a nerve issue surfaced after an awkward night of sleep in Atlanta in May. The kicked off several weeks of discovery as the Padres and King partnered on figuring out the issue: a pinched/irritated long thoracic nerve. King breathed a sigh of relief that there was no issue with a muscle or ligament. It simply took time to get the nerve firing again. Once it did, King started ramping up to rejoin the rotation — but perhaps too quickly. King allowed two runs in two innings in his return to the mound on Aug. 9 and then missed another month with left knee inflammation, something he began to feel while working his arm back into shape. King returned in time to make four starts in September, but he was shaky at the Mets (3 IP, 8 ER, 4 HR), was not missing enough bats and wild around the zone, leading the Padres to give the Game 3 start in the NL Wild Card Series to Yu Darvish and his compromised elbow over King. King still pitched behind Darvish’s short start, striking out three in a scoreless frame before handing the ball off to the rest of the bullpen in a loss.

2026 OUTLOOK

King had hoped to land a long-term deal in free agency, but the injury-shortened walk year limited his market, and of the interested teams this winter, he found a returning to familiar San Diego to rebuild his value the most lucrative/enticing option. While his official salary will pay him $5 million this year, because of his signing bonus and buyout, the deal is worth $22 million for one year, $45 million if he opts in for a second year and $75 million if opts in for the third year. The Padres will be happy if a repeat of his 2024 season leads King to re-test free agency after the season; he will have turned in an ace-caliber season. The risk is being on the hook for so much money if his health falters a second straight year, but the Padres are betting on a pitcher they’ve come to know well.

Michael King smiles during a news conference after the Padres re-signed him to a three-year, $75-million contract at Petco Park on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025 in San Diego, California. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
ROSTER RANKINGS

5. RHP Michael King
6. RHP Mason Miller
7. OF Ramón Laureano
8. SS Xander Bogaerts
9. LHP Adrián Morejón
10. RHP Jeremiah Estrada
11. RHP Jason Adam
12. 2B Jake Cronenworth
13. RHP Joe Musgrove
14. RHP Randy Vasquez
15. OF Gavin Sheets
16. LHP JP Sears
17. RHP Yu Darvish
18. RHP Bradgley Rodriguez
19. RHP David Morgan
20. C Freddy Fermin
21. LHP Wandy Peralta
22. C Luis Campusano
23. LHP Yuki Matsui
24. INF Sung-Mun Song
25. RHP Matt Waldron
26. OF Bryce Johnson
27. RHP Ron Marinaccio
28. RHP Bryan Hoeing
29. LHP Kyle Hart
30. RHP Jhony Brito
31. INF Will Wagner
32. OF Tirso Ornelas
33. RHP Garrett Hawkins
34. RHP Miguel Mendez
35. RHP Daison Acosta
36. RHP Ty Adcock
37. RHP Alek Jacob
38. INF Mason McCoy

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