Padres avoid worst-case Michael King outcome by beating Yankees to a reunion

For a few days there, San Diego Padres fans were staring down the kind of offseason twist that makes you irrationally mad at math.

Not due to Michael King being unworthy of that kind of money. Nor due to San Diego having no way to bring him back. The worst possible team to land this deal was simply sitting in front of them, and that would be none other than the New York Yankees swooping in for a reunion and taking off with the cleanest "we're good" spin out of all possible teams.

The Padres closed the door instead.

Padres’ biggest offseason win might be keeping Michael King from New York

San Diego retained its rotation ace by signing Michael King to a three year, $75 million dollar contract with opt-out clauses available at the end of 2026 and 2027. So the Padres essentially secured what they needed in terms of an anchor for the rotation and got the exact type of contract Michael King obviously wanted: financial security now and the ability to walk away if he wants later.

It's an easy to recognize "win-win" in this area of San Diego.

The most important aspect of this situation is: King had turned down the Padres' QO (Qualifying Offer) and was seeking a long-term contract in free agency. The rumors were quick to point to large markets with the obvious, typical competition — Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, etc., as the best fit.

Had he finished this offseason with a Yankees cap on his head, it wouldn't have been simply "the Padres lost their #2 starter." It would've been a complete about-face in the baseball narrative:

• The Yankees trade King away in the Juan Soto deal.
• Soto walks after one season.
• The Yankees potentially get King back anyway, without surrendering another prospect.

That’s the kind of outcome that lives in Padres fans’ heads rent-free. But San Diego didn’t let it get there. And they didn’t do it with a wish and a prayer — they did it because King has earned “keep this guy” status since arriving. In 2024, he made the full-time starter leap and posted a 2.95 ERA in 30 starts, finishing seventh in NL Cy Young voting.  Even in an injury-limited 2025, he was effective when he pitched (15 starts, 3.44 ERA). 

MLB.com called it a “critical signing” for a rotation that needed an arm exactly like King. No argument here.

The Padres didn’t just re-sign a good pitcher. They avoided the cruelest version of the story — and for once, the baseball gods didn’t get the last laugh at San Diego’s expense.