For a little bit it almost seemed like Michael King was going to be the perfect fit for the Chicago Cubs this offseason. A starter with high upside, who probably wasn't going to break the bank in free agency and had the arsenal the Cubs like. But that thought is no more as the San Diego Padres have re-signed King, bringing back the right-handed pitcher on a contract that could be worth up to $75 million.
MLB.com's Mark Feinsand broke the news on Thursday night as King returns to the Padres after an up and down 2025 season. San Diego originally acquired King a few years ago in the big Juan Soto trade with the New York Yankees. King began his MLB career as a reliever, but since becoming a full-time member of the starting rotation he's been excellent, recording a 2.92 ERA in 54 starts since the middle of the 2023 season.
According to Feinsand, King has an opt out after his first and second year of his new deal with the Padres. So, King is either going to earn $22 million in one year, $45 million over two years and if King remains with the Padres for all three years of the agreed upon deal, then he'll make $75 million total.
As a reminder, King did reject the qualifying offer from the Padres this offseason. That's an important detail here because it was doubtful that the Cubs or any other team would have been comfortable giving up the penalties associated with signing a free agent who declined the qualifying offer and facing the real possibility of losing that player after only one season.
The motivation seems clear here for King. As good as he's been on the mound the right-hander has dealt with injuries throughout his career and his value took a hit in 2025, as King only made 15 starts and was limited to 73.1 innings. He gets the chance to raise his value in 2026, with the safety net of his two player options. If King is back to being healthy in 2026, then he'll be headed back to free agency next offseason.
So, where do the Cubs go now in free agency? According to the latest buzz the Cubs are one of the five teams that have shown serious interest in Japanese pitcher Tatsuya Imai. The same report from Francys Romero suggests the Cubs, along with the Yankees, will be a finalist to sign the 27-year-old starting pitcher.
The only other free agent starting pitcher that has been strongly connected to the Cubs this offseason has been Zac Gallen. Not saying these are the only starters the Cubs are targeting, but those are the ones we've seen reports on.
If the Cubs don't find a deal that works in free agency, then they could obviously explore the trade market with names such as Joe Ryan, Edward Cabrera and MacKenzie Gore leading that pool of potential targets.
