SAN DIEGO -- The Padres needed starting pitching this winter, and in the end, they didn’t have to look very far to find it.
Right-hander Michael King has signed a three-year deal to return to San Diego -- worth $75 million in total, with opt-outs after each of the first two seasons. The team announced the signing with a press conference at Petco Park’s auditorium on Friday afternoon.
“We have some unfinished business,” said King. “I want to be a part of a championship team. And that was the No. 1 pillar that I set [in] teams that I wanted to go to. It needs to be a team that is going to win.”
With King on board, the Padres sure seem capable. Their rotation picture is certainly much clearer.
Per MLB.com's Mark Feinsand, who first reported the deal, King will receive a $12 million signing bonus, paid out across the three seasons, with a $5 million salary in 2026. He is then owed a $28 million salary in ‘27 with a $5 million buyout should he opt out and a $30 million salary in ‘28 (with no buyout).
Essentially, the deal will be worth $22 million for one year, $45 million for two or $75 million for three -- depending on if King opts out and when.
“In the starting-pitching rotation, we were in a spot that we had some holes to fill,” said general manager A.J. Preller. “As we sat down and prepped out the starting pitchers that were out there, Michael was somebody that we had as very top priority.”
King, of course, spent the past two seasons in San Diego, where he blossomed into a front-of-the-rotation starter. He’d spent the first five seasons of his career mostly pitching in relief with the Yankees. But after landing with the Padres in the Juan Soto deal, King posted a 3.10 ERA in 46 appearances (45 starts). He was solid across three playoff outings as well.
“Feeling the playoff atmosphere and pressure in San Diego was something I want to feel every year for the rest of my career,” King said.
Earlier this offseason, King declined a one-year, $22.025 million qualifying offer, meaning the Padres would have received Draft pick compensation had he signed elsewhere. That would have been small consolation for the departure of one of their best arms. Instead, they guaranteed King $75 million -- or essentially the cost of that qualifying offer if he were to opt out after one season.
King’s return is a major boost to a rotation in dire need of one. Already this winter, right-hander Dylan Cease had departed in free agency, joining Toronto on a seven-year deal. (The Padres will receive Draft pick compensation for that deal.) Yu Darvish, meanwhile, will miss the entire 2026 season following elbow surgery, and is evidently still mulling his future on the mound entirely.
But with the 30-year-old King back on board, the Padres suddenly appear to have four-fifths of their rotation filled out. Last season, Nick Pivetta was the staff ace and started Game 1 of the postseason. He’s been mentioned in trade rumors but is far, far likelier to return. Meanwhile, Joe Musgrove is expected back from Tommy John surgery.
“Front of the rotation, in any order … [it’s] those three leading it,” Preller said. “And then a lot of competition after that.”
As things stand, here’s what the Padres’ rotation could look like.
- Nick Pivetta
- Michael King
- Joe Musgrove
- Randy Vásquez
- JP Sears
That rotation features depth concerns. Sears struggled last season, and the options behind him are thin after the Padres’ recent trade sprees, which sent a handful of upper-level starting pitching prospects elsewhere. Clearly, there’s still work to be done.
But that work might come on the fringes -- perhaps a No. 5 starter and a depth option or two. (San Diego also signed former Guardians right-hander Triston McKenzie to a Minor League deal on Thursday.)
In King, the Padres found the big arm they needed to fit near the front of their rotation. And the upside is tremendous. King has been one of the best starters in baseball when healthy. He essentially began his transition to the rotation late in the 2023 season with the Yankees before the trade. In 64 career starts, King owns a 3.35 ERA with 10 strikeouts per nine innings. His deep arsenal clearly plays as a starter -- where he can blend two distinct fastballs, plus changeups, cutters and sweepers that all feature very different movement profiles.
For nearly all of King’s tenure as a starter, he has been excellent when he’s on the mound. But he dealt with two notable injuries during his 2025 season -- first a nerve issue that compromised the strength of his right shoulder, then a left knee injury as he built back up toward a return later in the season. He missed most of four months, and when he rejoined the club in September, he didn’t look like himself.
“Obviously, injuries stink,” King said. “I was not happy with my lack of innings. They trusted me to be the Opening Day starter. Opening Day starters go 200 innings. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to do that. Unfortunately, we were bounced in the first round of the playoffs. I think that plays a lot into the competitive nature in me.”
It’s possible those injury concerns ended up hurting King’s market in free agency. But no one is more familiar with King than the Padres, and they’re elated to be bringing him back.
King’s deal comes as something of a surprise -- the first major move of the offseason in San Diego after rumors had King linked with a handful of teams on the East Coast. The Padres followed the King deal by coming to an agreement with infielder Sung-Mun Song from Korea, though that deal is not yet final.
They could still use another bat and at least one more starter, but after spending big on King, it’s worth wondering whether they’d need to clear salary elsewhere to address those other needs. Of course, Preller always seems to be up for a trade, so perhaps that’s the route they’d go down.
In any case, the first major domino in the Padres’ offseason has officially fallen -- and their rotation picture is suddenly a whole lot clearer.