As the New York Yankees focus on upgrading their rotation this offseason, they could turn to one of their former pitchers for help.
According to The Athletic’s Jim Bowden, the Yankees reuniting with free agent right-hander Michael King two years after trading him to the San Diego Padres as part of the Juan Soto and Trent Grisham deal is considered a realistic outcome.
“It sounds like a reunion with former Yankees starter Michael King, who was traded in the Juan Soto swap, is a real possibility,” Bowden wrote.
Rundown of King’s Time in New York
A 12th-round selection in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Miami Marlins, King was traded a little over a year after that to the Yankees in November 2017.
New York called King up to the big leagues for the first time on September 19, 2019, and he did not allow an earned run while facing the Texas Rangers in his debut just over a week later on September 27.
King remained with the Yankees through the 2023 season, posting a 3.38 ERA across 115 appearances and 19 starts with the team.
He was part of a five-player package that was sent to San Diego in exchange for Soto and Grisham, both of whom excelled during their brief time in New York.
Why a King Reunion Makes Sense for Yankees
King was among the top starting pitchers in the league during his first season as a Padre in 2024, finishing with a 2.95 ERA across 173 2/3 innings for San Diego, which earned him a seventh-place finish in National League Cy Young Award voting.
He remained effective when healthy this past season too with a 3.44 ERA and 76 strikeouts over 15 starts and 73 1/3 frames, but shoulder and knee injuries kept him off a big-league mound for right around half the year.
King is among the best rotation options available on the open market this offseason despite some potential durability concerns, and the Yankees have every reason to be heavily involved in this case.
New York is always going to shoot for the stars when it comes to acquiring talent, especially when it comes to starting pitching. That much is clear when considering that the organization has signed Gerrit Cole (nine years, $324 million), Carlos Rodón (six years, $162 million) and Max Fried (eight years, $218 million) to mega deals over the past six years.
With both Rodón (elbow) and Cole (Tommy John surgery) both set to miss the beginning of the 2026 campaign, the Yankees’ rotation will be a little thin to kick things off.
The club could use additional starters even outside of that, though, and their familiarity with King, and vice versa, makes for a logical pairing.
King, who excels at limiting hard contact (87.8 mph average exit velocity against in 2025) while also striking out hitters at an above-average rate (24.7 percent), is projected by MLB Trade Rumors to land a four-year, $80 million contract.
If that’s in the ballpark of where his value truly stands, the Yankees should do everything in their power to bring King back.
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