Big Payday Awaits Former Yankees Prospect

Michael King might want to get used to life on the West Coast. That's because the San Diego Padres have big plans for the former New York Yankees prospect, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.

"The Padres are hoping to find someone to stabilize their starting rotation," Heyman wrote Friday. "There’s no timetable yet on Michael King’s return. Regardless, he’s the one the Padres are hoping to sign long-term. They seem resigned to Dylan Cease leaving as a free agent."

King is making $4 million this season and his deal includes a $15 million mutual option for 2026 with a $3.75 million buyout, according to Spotrac.

King, who the New York Yankees sent to the Padres in December 2023 as part of the blockbuster dealfor All-Star slugger Juan Soto, is rehabbing his way back after being diagnosed with a thoracic nerve problem in his right shoulder which landed him on the injured list last month.

The Padres are saying King, 30, will be out at least through the All-Star break. But the right-hander believes his season isn't over, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune's Jeff Sanders.

“I’ve had days where I’ve been really, really frustrated with it and been really sore and felt like I didn’t get much activity that day," King said, per Sanders. “And then I’ll wake up the next day and all of a sudden (it’s) like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like I can pitch in a game right now.’ So it’s taking it step by step and knowing that it can fire when it fires, but obviously it’s that annoying process.

“I’ve got a ton of confidence that what we’re doing is the correct thing to do, and I’ve felt my body progress in great ways," King continued. "So I’m very confident that I will pitch by the end of the year.”

Before going down, King was 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 10 starts this season. Last year, 6' 3" hurler won a career-best 13 games while posting a 2.95 ERA in 31 appearances (30 starts). That propelled King to a seventh-place finish in voting last year for the National League Cy Young Award.

King made his big-league debut in 2019 with the Yankees. In 59 career appearances over seven MLB seasons, he has an impressive 3.13 ERA with 547 strikeouts in 477 innings pitched.

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