Jon ConahanThu, November 27, 2025 at 5:50 AM UTC·2 min readMets predicted to poach Padres starter after Dylan Cease signing originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
It's tough to say that right-hander Dylan Cease is a lot better than Michael King when looking at what they both have on the bump. When King is at his best, there’s an argument to be made that he was the best pitcher in the San Diego Padres rotation.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementUnfortunately for King, he got injured at a tough time, as the market seems to be relatively hot. Cease just took a deal with the Toronto Blue Jays for $210 million over seven years, and it seems rather unlikely that King will have a similar market.
A reunion with the Padres can obviously never be counted out, but it doesn't seem likely at this point.
Will Laws believes there's another potential suitor, recently making predictions over at Sports Illustrated on where the top free agents will land. He predicted King would land with the New York Mets.
“After years mired in the Yankees bullpen, King got a chance to be a full-time starter with the Padres in 2024 and thrived, posting a 2.95 ERA and 3.33 FIP across 173 2/3 innings. He seemed poised to carry that success over into ‘25, putting up a 2.59 ERA through mid-May, before a shoulder injury landed him on the shelf for three months. Upon return, the results just weren’t there, so how teams evaluate his health will be the big factor in what type of deal he lands. King has shown he can be great, but he’s a high-upside player with a good amount of risk,” he wrote.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Mets have already made it clear that they plan on spending some money on starting pitching. It seems like even if they have to overpay for someone like King, they'd be willing to do so. It might not be a bad idea because when he's at his best, he's just as good as any right-hander in this game.
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