Are the Yankees considering a Michael King reunion?
The Boston Globe’s Peter Abraham reported this week that New York, the Orioles and Red Sox “are competing for” the free-agent right-hander, whose “decision is not necessarily soon.”
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The New York Post’s Greg Joyce added that the Yankees are “open to” reuniting with King, 30, whom they dealt among others to the Padres in their December 2023 trade with San Diego for outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham.
“The thing about Kinger is he’s got obviously great stuff and a great arsenal,” New York manager Aaron Boone said last week at the 2025 MLB Winter Meetings in Orlando, Fla., according to Joyce. “He’s really smart and has a real good understanding of that stuff. It’s allowed him to evolve as a pitcher, coupled with his confidence.”
Starting 45 of 46 regular-season games for the Padres from 2024-25, King went 18-12 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.194 WHIP in 247 IP. He battled injuries during his second year in San Diego, limiting him to 73.1 IP over 15 starts.
“We are playing around with a lot of different ideas and seeing if it takes us anywhere,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told YES Network last week.
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King transitioned from reliever to starter at the end of his time in New York, a chapter that spanned five MLB seasons (2019-23). He made his MLB debut Sept. 27, 2019, with the Yankees, who landed him from the Miami Marlins in a November 2017 trade.
The Marlins originally selected King from Boston College with the No. 353 overall pick in the 12th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. The Rochester, N.Y., native played at Warwick (R.I.) Bishop Hendrickson High School before heading to Boston College from 2014-16.
