“Hopefully by the end of it I can have all 30 teams calling me”
The Yankees didn’t want to lose Michael King. They tried not to. But the Padres had made it clear: no Michael King, no Juan Soto.
The hindsight results of the trade would look a lot different had the Yankees managed to keep Juan Soto in the Bronx, but he’s in Queens now, and Michael King is boasting an unbelievable 2.09 ERA seven starts into the season.
On Tuesday night, Michael King will take the mound in the Bronx, only this time, he’ll be doing it in a Padres uniform, bringing a 4-1 record and 2.09 ERA into a marquee start against his old team. For anyone keeping score, that’s a better ERA than anyone in the Yankees’ rotation, removing Max Fried, who is already off to an All-Star start to the 2025 season. Not bad for someone who spent most of 2023 pitching out of the bullpen in pinstripes.
“I mean, of course, once you get to free agency, that’s what I’ll start thinking about,” King said when asked about the possibility of returning to New York someday. “I’ve got to focus on winning today… hopefully by the end of it I can have all 30 teams calling me.”
They probably will, and the Yankees had better be one of them.
Because right now, New York’s pitching depth is paper-thin. Gerrit Cole is on the shelf. Luis Gil is out for another 6-8 weeks at least. So, beyond Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt, the rotation drops off a cliff: Will Warren has been ineffective, Carlos Carrasco is a placeholder, and Marcus Stroman’s currently on the IL with a name that carries no optimism whatsoever.
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This isn’t what the Yankees planned. But it’s the reality, and it makes watching King thrive in San Diego a special kind of gut-punch.
Boone admitted back in December 2023 that the Yankees fought hard to keep King out of the Soto deal. “In a lot of ways, [we were] trying to keep Michael King out of the deal,” he said. The Padres didn’t blink, and now they have a 28-year-old right-hander looking every bit like a long-term rotation piece. His ERA in 2024 was a rock-solid 2.95. In 2025, he’s taken another leap, becoming a legit ace.
Meanwhile, the Yankees are stuck trying to win with a bullpen that collapses under pressure and a rotation held together by hope.
San Diego has a $15 million mutual option on King for 2026, but let’s be honest, if he finishes this season anything like he’s started it, that number’s getting laughed out of the room. He’s going to test free agency, and when he does, he’s going to get paid. The Yankees could bring him back. This time, it won’t cost them their farm, just their checkbook. And they’d have more than just baseball logic working in their favor.
King’s from Rhode Island. His wife’s from New Jersey. They used to live in Manhattan. The appeal of returning to the East Coast is real, and for a pitcher approaching 30, those personal ties may matter just as much as an extra few million from a team out West.
The Yankees talk a lot about money as if they don’t have it. Hal Steinbrenner has made it a hobby. But this team still prints cash, and there’s no excuse not to be aggressive when someone like King hits the market. Not with the way this rotation looks.
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Yankees fans are already dreaming about Kyle Tucker in pinstripes. But if King keeps doing what he’s doing, his name should be floating just as high on that offseason wish list.
Before Monday’s game, Boone couldn’t help but acknowledge what King has become: “a beast,” he called him.
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