{"id":121531,"date":"2025-11-16T11:31:26","date_gmt":"2025-11-16T11:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531"},"modified":"2025-11-16T11:31:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-16T11:31:26","slug":"cubs-stalking-padres-ace-michael-king-in-shock-trade-heist-windy-city-dynasty-reborn-or-total-padres-robbery-%f0%9f%98%a4%e2%9a%be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531","title":{"rendered":"Cubs STALKING Padres&#8217; Ace Michael King in SHOCK Trade Heist\u2014Windy City Dynasty REBORN or Total Padres ROBBERY?! \ud83d\ude24\u26be"},"content":{"rendered":"<article id=\"article-3597755\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/wp.clutchpoints.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Michael-King-2.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"Apr 13, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres starting pitcher Michael King (34) throws a pitch during the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park.\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Chicago Cubs remain focused on pitching upgrades in the 2025 offseason, and a name generating buzz is former San Diego Padres starter Michael King. After declining his mutual option earlier this month to become a free agent, King has drawn interest from several clubs \u2014 and the Cubs appear to be among them.<\/p>\n<p>In a report co-written by The Athletic\u2019s Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney, the idea of the Cubs pursuing King has gained traction as the front office looks to strengthen its rotation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut after talking to baseball officials at The Cosmopolitan hotel, it\u2019s obvious that the Cubs are not simply hoping for internal improvements.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Cubs front office, led by President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer, has made it clear that pitching is the top offseason priority. Shota Imanaga has entered free agency after declining his player option. Justin Steele continues to rehab from season-ending elbow surgery. The Cubs aim to fortify both the rotation and bullpen with durable, high-upside arms capable of stabilizing the staff in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>The former reliever-turned-starter has drawn plenty of attention on the market, and his profile stands out for Chicago. The 30-year-old right-hander fits the Cubs\u2019 pitching model with his intelligence, work ethic, and advanced pitch sequencing. Those are qualities the organization has valued in past additions such as Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMichael King is another pitcher the Cubs have on their radar, viewing him as a starter with big upside when healthy. His work ethic, intelligence and feel for pitching are attributes that the Cubs previously targeted with free agents such as Jameson Taillon and Matthew Boyd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With Hoyer and Cubs GM Carter Hawkins emphasizing staff depth and swing-and-miss potential, King\u2019s free-agent profile aligns perfectly with the pitching targets the team hopes to land this offseason.<\/p>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Cubs have shown interest in this free-agent pitcher as they explore options to strengthen their rotation this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":121532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[282,624,1353,44,52,48],"class_list":["post-121531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-jed-hoyer","tag-michael-king","tag-mlb","tag-mlb-free-agency","tag-mlb-rumors"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Cubs STALKING Padres&#039; Ace Michael King in SHOCK Trade Heist\u2014Windy City Dynasty REBORN or Total Padres ROBBERY?! \ud83d\ude24\u26be - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cubs STALKING Padres&#039; Ace Michael King in SHOCK Trade Heist\u2014Windy City Dynasty REBORN or Total Padres ROBBERY?! \ud83d\ude24\u26be - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chicago Cubs have shown interest in this free-agent pitcher as they explore options to strengthen their rotation this offseason.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-16T11:31:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Rinrin-82.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"XuanTan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=121531\",\"name\":\"Cubs STALKING Padres' Ace Michael King in SHOCK Trade Heist\u2014Windy City Dynasty REBORN or Total Padres ROBBERY?! 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