The San Diego Padres’ best option may be to let Michael King leave town via free agency. 

Right-handed pitcher Michael King was dominant at times when he toed the rubber for the San Diego Padres.

The issue was getting the pitcher to make it through a complete season healthy. Well, at least in 2025.

King will be 31 next baseball season and is not considered a young pitcher by any means. He showed promise in his first two seasons with the Padres but missed more than half the season in 2025 with a sore shoulder that was initially diagnosed as minor. The media was told he slept on the shoulder badly, and that was the issue, but that was hardly the case.

The main issue with King is that he throws severely across his body. The deception in his mechanics leads to his success on the pitching mound, but it also puts strain on his right arm and specifically his shoulder. By throwing across your body, your arm does not have a sufficient area to follow through. All the torque assembled to make a throw is abruptly stopped, and that will lead to injury.

So, the real question is- will Michael King pitch enough to justify the contract he will demand?

As an unrestricted free agent, King is likely to take the highest offer. Multiple teams will offer him a $100 million contract easily. At four or five years, a $20-25 million paycheck per season seems about right for the pitcher who owns a 3.24 career ERA.

But is that doable for the Padres?

The real question isn’t if the team can afford to pay that price. It is- should they?

San Diego is invested in multiple position players for the next 7-10 years. Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill, and Jake Cronenworth will all be paid. Trading any of them doesn’t seem feasible. With so much money committed to the hitters, the Padres will need to be wise with their investments in pitching.

The current structure of Major League Baseball rewards pitchers for what they have done in the league, not what they will do.

Every year, we see pitchers earn huge paydays, only to not live up to the whole contract. Staying healthy is tough, and more often than not, a pitcher will go down by injury eventually. The Padres invested in long-term deals in Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove. Both required surgery, and each will miss an entire season. A year in which their guaranteed contract is still paid by the team.

Michael King will get paid. But the likelihood that an injury will occur again is extremely high. That is probably something the Padres should not gamble with at this point.

With Dylan Cease all but gone and Michael King virtually out the door. The Padres will need starting pitching. Especially with the news received this week about Yu Darvish and his arm surgery.

A more sensible idea for the Padres to attain pitchers would be to acquire young arms who are under contract for a season or two. Trade for men who are motivated and pitching for a big contract when they hit free agency. That is when you get the most value from a pitcher. Paying a pitcher for what they already accomplished in the majors never works out.

Michael King is a great pitcher. He may go on to pitch 180-plus innings for the next five years, but the odds are that will not happen. When constructing a playoff-contending team, there is a time and place to commit risk. This is probably not the time for the Padres to hand out more cash. At some point, they need to get great value from younger players to even out the excessive payroll to veterans.

It is time to say goodbye to Michael King.

James Clark

James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. James has written about the Padres and their prospects for over a decade. He also writes about San Diego State as well as other local sports. James is the Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.