There have been rumblings for around a week indicating the San Diego Padres could look to trade starting pitcher Michael King before the 2025 season begins.
With these rumors in mind, there are plenty of teams around the league who could use the services of such a talented pitcher.
Bleacher Report’s Zachary Rymer recently suggested the Atlanta Braves could be a potential landing spot for the Padres right-hander. Atlanta has the top prospects to get a deal done.
Here’s the deal pitched by Rymer that would send King to the Braves:
- Atlanta Braves receive: RHP Michael King
- San Diego Padres receive: LHP Wandy Peralta, cash; San Diego Padres get LF Jarred Kelenic, RHP AJ Smith-Shawver
“Atlanta broke its silence by signing Jurickson Profar, an erstwhile Padre, to a three-year, $42 million deal last week,” Rymer wrote. “Per Mark Bowman of MLB.com, the next step may be to ‘add some insurance’ to the rotation. It’s about time. Though Spencer Strider’s return from elbow surgery will likely happen early in 2025, there are still holes where Max Fried and Charlie Morton used to be.
“A trade for King would fix that and would promise to transform Atlanta’s rotation into one of the better units in MLB. Indeed, a rotation consisting of him, (Chris) Sale, Strider, (Reynaldo) López, and (Spencer) Schwellenbach is one that could go out and win a World Series.”
King recently settled on a deal with the Padres where he’ll be paid $7.75 million in 2025 and has a mutual option worth $15 million in 2026.
This kind of deal indicates the Padres plan to work him into their 2026 payroll.
With that in mind, it’s increasingly unlikely San Diego will opt to trade King. Trading pitcher Dylan Cease seems a bit more likely to me.
