{"id":94656,"date":"2025-01-27T18:27:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=94656"},"modified":"2025-01-27T18:27:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T23:27:08","slug":"padres-could-trade-michael-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/27\/padres-could-trade-michael-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Report: Padres Could Move Michael King Before His Free Agency"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This offseason has been nothing short of a nightmare for San Diego Padres fans. The Friar Faithful, accustomed to the team&#8217;s aggressive pursuit of stars, now face an unsettling shift in strategy. With the future of the organization clouded by uncertainty surrounding the Seidler brothers, the Padres appear more inclined to trade key players or let them walk in free agency. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fan-favorite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/profaju01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jurickson Profar<\/a> has joined the Atlanta Braves, a reunion with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kimha01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ha-Seong Kim<\/a> feels unlikely, and ace <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/ceasedy01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dylan Cease<\/a> is reportedly <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/01\/23\/twins-padres-trade-talks-christian-vazquez\/\" target=\"_self\">on the trade block<\/a>. Now, according to a <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6090542\/2025\/01\/27\/mets-alonso-astros-bregman-dodgers-pirates-skenes\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Monday report from Ken Rosenthal<\/a> of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Athletic<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, another name can be added to the list of potential departures: breakout starter <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kingmi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael King<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Padres Have Discussed Michael King In Trade Talks <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/1eFq5I7BCn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/1eFq5I7BCn<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RtJneKzAmN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/RtJneKzAmN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 MLB Trade Rumors (@mlbtraderumors) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mlbtraderumors\/status\/1883939801730036148?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">January 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Michael King Trade Still &#8220;In Play&#8221; For Padres, Per Ken Rosenthal<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rosenthal\u2019s latest piece delves into the free-agent market, but the final paragraphs hold a frustrating update for Padres fans.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOne reason the open market remains clogged is that teams continue to discuss trades,\u201d Rosenthal writes. \u201cThe Seattle Mariners\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=castilu02,castilu01,castilu03,castil018lui,castil020lui,castil027lui,castil025lui&amp;search=Luis+Castillo&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luis Castillo<\/a> and San Diego Padres\u2019 Dylan Cease and Michael King, for example, are the starting pitchers who remain in play.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rosenthal also highlighted King\u2019s ongoing arbitration dispute, noting that an arbitration hearing \u201cappears likely.\u201d If it happens, it would mark the Padres\u2019 first arbitration hearing in a decade under general manager A.J. Preller. A Michael King trade now seems like an unfortunate possibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Padres and King Face Contract Stalemate<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">King, the centerpiece of the Padres&#8217; return from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=sotoju01,soto--004jua&amp;search=Juan+Soto&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Juan Soto<\/a> trade with the New York Yankees, emerged as a breakout star in 2024. The former reliever delivered an impressive 2.95 ERA (139 ERA+) with 201 strikeouts over 173 \u2154 innings. He also became a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/11\/16\/michael-king-flourishes-starter-san-diego-padres\/\" target=\"_self\">crucial anchor in the Padres\u2019 rotation<\/a>. Alongside Cease, King formed one of the league\u2019s most formidable one-two punches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Under the leadership of late owner Peter Seidler, King might already have secured a long-term extension to stay in San Diego. However, with the organization facing murky ownership uncertainty, any such deal seems improbable this offseason. King remains under contract through 2025 but is poised to hit free agency after that.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Should the Padres Trade King or Cease?<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Padres\u2019 rotation already faces significant challenges heading into 2025. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/musgrjo01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Musgrove<\/a> is expected to miss the entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and the team recently missed out on signing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=sasaki000rok&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-01-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Roki Sasaki<\/a>. Trading King, Cease, or both would only exacerbate their pitching woes unless the return includes a package of top-tier prospects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For a team in desperate need of arms, trading away two of its best pitchers seems counterproductive. The Padres may ultimately have no choice but to keep both King and Cease, even if it means losing them to free agency after the season, to remain competitive in 2025. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Still, with the trade market buzzing and the Padres\u2019 financial situation in flux, it\u2019s clear the team faces tough decisions. Whether King remains in San Diego or becomes the latest high-profile departure, this offseason will likely continue testing the patience of the Friar Faithful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: \u00a9 Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This offseason has been nothing short of a nightmare for San Diego Padres fans. The Friar Faithful, accustomed to the team&#8217;s aggressive pursuit of stars, now face an unsettling shift in strategy. With the future of the organization clouded by uncertainty surrounding the Seidler brothers, the Padres appear more inclined to trade key players or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5263,"featured_media":94660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1071,35],"tags":[1524,4455,1860,2133,1138,922,3111,28707],"class_list":["post-94656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-padres","category-mlb","category-news","tag-dylan-cease","tag-ha-seong-kim","tag-joe-musgrove","tag-juan-soto","tag-jurickson-profar","tag-luis-castillo","tag-michael-king","tag-roki-sasaki"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5263"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94661,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94656\/revisions\/94661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}