Michael King re-signed with the Padres for one reason other teams couldn't match

Everything pointed in the direction of Michael King signing with a team on the East Coast this offseason. He grew up on that side of the country. He played college ball there and began his MLB career as far away from Petco Park as possible.

But for Michael King, that surprisingly didn't pull him back onto that side of the United States. He has built a life in Southern California. Alongside his wife, Sheila, they have raised their daughter in San Diego. King has turned into a starting pitcher with the Padres, too. His entire life is different now than it was for him 5, 10, 15 years ago. And he loves that.

So when King considered where he wanted to play for the next few years of his career, he knew that he already had a great life in San Diego. Mix that in with the organization kicking into win-now mode, that made it a fairly easy decision for King to return on a three-year, $75 million deal.

Michael King returns to Padres with 'unfinished business' to take care of

“We have roots here. The foundation that we have, the atmosphere playing here is just second to none. The players that (A.J. Preller) has put together, the staff that he has put together made it so it was very familiar to me and very fun to be a part of," King said in an article posted by Jeff Sanders of SDUT.

“And I think we have some unfinished business, and I want to be a part of a championship team.”

King and Nick Pivetta are going to headline the starting rotation next year. That is a solid front two for San Diego. But then you look around at the rest of the roster. Fernando Tatis Jr. Manny Machado. Mason Miller. Ramon Laureano. Adrian Morejon. Sung-mun Song. This is a strong team on paper, so it's no wonder why King thinks this is a team that can win a World Series very soon.

That is always going to be a strong point for free-agent players. They want to win immediately. But, the Padres had one added layer to reeling King back. He has a family here, and the roots have been set in simultaneous to his career taking a turn for the better.