The Twins have a fresh pitching name to think about after Michael King turned down his 2027 player option, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. After three seasons with the San Diego Padres, the right-hander is now a free agent, though there’s still a short catch before the bidding opens fully.
King has a five-day window to sign only with San Diego. After that, at 4:00 p.m. CDT on Nov. 2, he’ll be free to sign with any team.
Minnesota isn’t widely seen as a natural landing spot, but the conversation changes if ownership is truly willing to push payroll higher. If Tom Pohlad is serious about increasing payroll, he should give Jeremy Zoll the green light to pursue King, who put together a 3.21 ERA with 159 strikeouts over 185 innings this past season. Former MLB general manager and current The Athletic insider Jim Bowden projects King will land a four-year, $118 million contract.
The Twins already have a group of starters under control through at least next season: Pablo López, Joe Ryan, Taj Bradley, Mick Abel, Dean Kremer and Bailey Ober. The organization also still has Zebby Matthews, Kendry Rojas and David Festa in the system.
Even with that list, Minnesota should be looking for another starter this offseason, and a pitcher at King’s level would make sense. This year was a reminder of how valuable rotation depth can be.
López and Festa missed the entire season. Abel missed most of it.
Ryan lost a month late in the year because of a glute injury and was well off his best after the All-Star break.
King’s path to this point has been a long one. The Miami Marlins took him in the 12th round of the 2016 MLB Draft and later shipped him to the New York Yankees. He debuted in the majors with New York in 2016 and spent most of his Yankees years from 2019 to 2023 in the bullpen.
Then came the trade to San Diego in the 2023-24 offseason as part of the blockbuster Juan Soto deal, and King’s career changed. He shifted into a full-time starter and thrived. Over three seasons with the Padres, he posted a 3.15 ERA with 436 strikeouts over 432 innings.
This season, King leaned heavily on his sinker and changeup, which made up 54% of his pitches. He also threw a four-seamer and a sweeper about 20% of the time each, while mixing in a mid-80s slider.
Will Minnesota seriously enter the sweepstakes? Most likely not.
But Zoll should at least reach out to King and his agent. The Twins may be better served putting their biggest money toward a power bat and bullpen help, but adding a front-line starter would be hard to argue against.
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