Padres’ Michael King can force Yankees to confront true cost of Juan Soto trade

Juan Soto gave the Yankees exactly what they needed. He launched 41 home runs and helped take New York to the World Series. Then he bailed and signed with the Mets. The Padres’ return for that trade is still working. On Sunday afternoon, King will take the mound against the team that traded him away.

He’s scheduled to start the series finale against the Yankees, with Gerrit Cole lined up for New York. That’s about as subtle as it could possibly get. The Yankees’ longtime ace will oppose the pitcher they surrendered to rent Soto for one season.

Michael King gives the Juan Soto trade a living, breathing payoff

King stopped being “the main piece in the Soto trade” a long time ago. He became the starter the Friars wanted after the Yankees used him primarily as a multi-innings reliever.

Across three seasons with the Padres, King has worked 409 innings with a 3.10 ERA. He enters Sunday at 9-9 with a 3.11 ERA and 141 strikeouts over 162 innings this year. He is also coming off consecutive scoreless starts, covering 13 innings against Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

The Yankees knew King could pitch. They had watched him dominate in relief and as a flash starter. They just simply decided one season of Soto was worth surrendering the opportunity to find out how good King could become.

Padres turned one disappearing superstar into years of pitching

King is the headline, but the rest of the trade is still relevant, especially in this series. When San Diego sent Soto and Trent Grisham to New York in December 2023, the return included King, Randy Vásquez, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe and Kyle Higashioka. Vásquez has been up and down, but mostly reliable. Brito is also back on the Padres’ roster. Thorpe became part of the package used to acquire Dylan Cease. Higashioka is no longer with the club, but provided big moments before his departure.

Replacing Soto was never going to be the assignment. The Padres needed to turn his final year of team control into players who could keep helping long after he left.

Soto was brilliant with New York. We’re not going to argue over who won the trade. And Trent Grisham is still producing meaningful home runs despite slashing .211/.308/.395 over the 2026 season. The Yankees paid an enormous price and reached the World Series. That was the gamble. 

Sunday gives King the chance to make that value painfully visible. Outdueling Cole would not produce a final verdict on the trade, but it would put the bill directly in front of the Yankees.

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