There’s a new hot starting pitching trade candidate on the market, and it’s easy to see why the New York Mets might be interested.
Michael King was once a solid middle reliever in the New York Yankees, but at the end of the 2023 season, he was moved to the starting rotation. He did so well that he was traded to the San Diego Padres as a key piece of last winter’s Juan Soto trade, and starred for the Padres as a full-time starter in 2024.
With a 2.95 ERA in 173 2/3 innings, 201 strikeouts, and a seventh-place Cy Young Award finish, King surpassed any reasonable forecasts for year one of his starting pitching experiment. So why would the Padres want to trade him now?
Unfortunately for San Diego, King is a free agent after the season, and pitchers as good as he is typically get paid big on the open market. The Padres are facing a tight payroll crunch amid an ownership dispute, so selling high on King for a prospect haul might be the most sustainable move they can make.
To that end, former Mets general manager and current SNY analyst Zack Scott estimated recently what a trade package might look like for New York to land King: swingman José Buttó, top outfield prospect Drew Gilbert, and right-handed pitching prospect Jonah Tong.
“Michael King is very good. Even even though he only has one year of control, I think it’s going to take a lot (to trade for him),” Scott said.
“That’s a good haul. Buttó can go into the (Padres’) rotation. The Mets have so much pitching depth that they kind of have to move one of those guys if they’re going to take on another pitcher, and then they’re giving up one of their top prospects.”
There’s no doubt about it: Scott’s offer would be very enticing from the Padres’ perspective. It’s hard to speculate what other teams might be offering, but there’s a solid chance a deal like this could get King to Queens.
Gilbert and Tong might both prove to be future stars, and frankly, Buttó’s situation is not unlike King’s a couple years back. But the Mets have an opportunity to win now, and King could be that missing piece that puts them over the top.
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