Padres Sign King to Three-Year Deal

Michael King Signs Three-Year Deal to Return to Padres

By JJ Misiewicz

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

December 18, 2025

Right-hander Michael King has signed a three-year, $75 million deal to return to the San Diego Padres, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. The deal also includes player options for 2027 and 2028.

Reliever Roots

King, before heading out to the west coast, was originally dawning pinstripes as a member of the New York Yankees. He made 115 appearances over the course of five seasons in the Big Apple, with only 19 of those coming as a starter. During his last season with the Yankees, he tallied nine starts, pitching to a 2.23 ERA in that stretch.

As a reliever, he allowed a 22% hit rate, a 5.5% walk rate and 2.4% home run rate. He tallied 19 goose eggs, while giving up six broken eggs for a 3.2 GE/BE ratio. King went scoreless in 28 of his 40 outings out of the bullpen for a 70% scoreless outing average. This put himself bang average among the American League average of 70.5%

King was one of several pieces that got sent out to the Padres for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham after the 2023 season. After the departures of guys such as 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, the Padres decided to convert King into a starting pitcher. Safe to say, it was a better decision.

King’s Conversion

In his first full year as a starter, King excelled in his new role. Pitching 173 2/3 innings, he’d pitch to a 2.95 ERA and a 3.33 FIP, as well as a 1.192 WHIP. This impressive campaign helped King finish seventh in NL Cy Young voting. He struggled, however, with injuries in 2025, missing nearly four months due to two major injuries. Firstly, an injury to his long thoracic nerve that sidelined him for three months. While rehabbing, King also suffered a knee injury caused by overexertion.

Nonetheless, in 15 starts King pitched to a 3.44 ERA, with hit, walk and home run percentages of 24.7%, 8.4% and 3.9% respectively.

Padres First Big Move

The Padres were one of the few teams to really not make any big moves so far in free agency. After losing Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Padres seemed destined to lose King as well. King had been linked with teams such as the Yankees and the interest kings of baseball, the Boston Red Sox.