The New York Yankees snapped a three-game losing streak in emphatic fashion with a 12-3 win over the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night. They also said hello to an old friend: current Padres righty Michael King, who faced his former team for the first time since being included in the trade for Juan Soto two winters ago.
A reliever for most of his time in New York, King broke out as a starter late in 2023 after injuries forced him into the rotation. That breakout has continued in San Diego, where King has pitched to a 2.80 ERA over 218.1 innings and finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting last season. While no one could second-guess the decision to acquire Soto — even given what we know now — that's the sort of production that New York could really use on its own beleaguered starting staff right about now.
As it just so happens, King is set to become a free agent at the end of this season. And one of his former teammates is already doing everything he can to give the Yankees a leg up on a reunion.
“Just being able to complete with him, play with him, was a lot of fun,” Yankees righty Clarke Schmidt, who delivered six strong innings on Tuesday, said afterward. ““We’re both very competitive. It’s like playing one of your brothers in the backyard.”
King and Schmidt came up through the Yankees system together; the former was acquired in a trade with the Miami Marlins just months after the latter was taken in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft. And while he stopped short of tampering, Schmidt wasn't shy expressing a preference: "Hopefully somewhere down the line we can reunite."
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Clarke Schmidt doing everything he can to lure Michael King back to the Yankees
You can't blame Schmidt for wanting the chance to share a clubhouse with someone with whom he spent formative years as a pro. It also happens that this sort of familiarity might help the Yankees close the deal once King hits the market this winter: The cash-strapped Padres don't figure to be involved in the bidding, and we know that New York will be interested given just how many question marks they have in the rotation both now and moving forward.
King spent three years in the Bronx as a reliever for the Yankees before his trade to San Diego, becoming a multi-inning weapon for Aaron Boone. New York figures to be in the starting pitching market this winter, with Gerrit Cole's status up in the air as he rehabs from Tommy John surgery and precious little depth behind Max Fried, Carlos Rodon and Schmidt.
King's going to command something in the nine-figure range, even at age 30, based on how great he's been since getting the chance to start full-time. And he should have plenty of suitors, including some of the biggest spenders in the sport. He figures to be more in-demand than other names like Zac Gallen and his teammate Dylan Cease, meaning the Yankees are going to need to rely on their past relationship to close the deal.